SOTC 229/365

Deep Breath and Stretch of Morning

This never. gets. old.

I have a picture of the tulips breaking through the earth for every year I've lived in this house. They rise up along the whole length of the driveway, and the delight never ceases when I spot them that first time each March.

And when I rake the leaves clear, it's like throwing back blankets and taking that big deep breath and stretch of morning.

They're a reminder of life.

Of hope.

Of resilience.

A reminder that we can endure the cold and the dark seasons. That we are not meant to bloom all year 'round. That sometimes we must rest--lie still and wait, conserve our energy, focus inward.

But trusting implicitly that Light returns; always returns. And when it does, then we explode forth our bright colours; unafraid and dazzling.

Self-Taught (SOTC 228/365)

I am part of a photography meet-up group called the Edmonton Shutterbugs. Over the last five years, I have participated in countless photo walks, as well as some unique lesson-style opportunities to practice new photography techniques in the company of other like-minded individuals.

For 2017, the group decided to host a 52-week photography challenge. Each week, the organizer posts a single word around which we are to create our image. I've had the right mix of inspiration and free time for about half the weekly challenges so far, including this week's.

This week's challenge word is "learning." I visualized my image so quickly that I'm not sure it's fair to call this particular submission a 'challenge,' lol.

Most of my photography skills are self-taught. I've owned a camera for the last thirty years or so, but it has only been in the last ten that I've taken my natural affinity for the art and built upon it with some intentionality--book by book; an article here, a YouTube tutorial there; and by looking at a lot of photographs taken by other people. If I am not out actually taking photos, I'm generally learning about the art in some capacity.

So some days, learning looks like this.

Other days, it looks like this: