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Glassworks cutting room
As I mentioned in the previous post, last summer we visited old glassworks in Harrachov. It was interesting to see how the glasses are produced manually by men blowing into hot glass pieces and forming thus shapes of the glasses but the part of the glassworks that got my full attention was the room where the clear glasses are decorated manually by cutting their surface by a grinder, creating so various ornaments. I was absolutely taken aback by the quiet atmosphere of that room and I wished I had opportunity to spend at least an hour or two by absorbing the light, the colours and the objects and their mutual…
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Free to have a vision
Sometimes we see or understand things that others do not recognize but we are afraid to share our vision not to be laughed at or misunderstood. And if we muster the courage to share and do not get any positive feedback or encouragement as our vision may not be interesting enough for those around us, we may feel to be let down or not appreciated. But that does not change a thing about the fact that the freedom to have a vision and follow it is still there. Follow your visions. They may not be always breath-taking but they will let you grow…
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Appeal of gardening
Is gardening an acquired taste or do you need to have particular genes to enjoy working in the garden? I loved my grandma’s garden since childhood but for our children (who actually are not kids any more), our garden represents just hard and repetitive work. Yes mom, the flowers are nice, the gooseberries are good, but don’t pressure us to waste our precious time by performing those tiresome and boring gardening activities… How could I make them understand? Perhaps YOU understand? OK, I won’t torture you by asking such questions, I’ll rather share some of the beauty I find worthy of the gardening effort. First, would you recognise the plants…
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Peony magic
The tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) that we have in our garden does not look great this year. The weather has been enormously dry this spring and the leaves of the bush are partly dry as well. Also the buds and flowers have been fading quickly. My son noticed yesterday that one of the lower growing branches was broken so I cut it off entirely and put into a little vase at home. It looked tempting to be captured and eventually I used it and another even more faded flower for my still life photography. Funnily enough, I ended up with quite a different photo than I started with… Isn’t the…
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Focus propriety
The other day I was taking photos of some of my succulents, playing with both composition and focus. In the triptych below I put together three versions of one of the photos. When I showed the photos to my husband, he told me that in his opinion, the focus must definitely be on the succulent as it is the main subject in the photo. He evaluated the first version with the sharp ribbon and blurred succulent as utterly bad. I thought about it a lot but although I respect the opinion, I don’t quite see eye to eye with him on the matter. We put the focus where we want…
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Having realised my word for next year
During this year I made a decision to change things and run this blog without comments allowed. Just to keep the blog as inspiration to myself and to those who find it inspiring and to free myself from expectations regarding any feedback. At the same time I made a relating decision, which was to publish also smaller posts based on let’s say just one photo or a short reflection. All of that with the aim of being more active and creative. Well, while I’m still happy with the first decision, the other one turned empty. Yet the day before yesterday I took a few photos in our village and after…
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Scrapyard inspiration
When shooting photos in a scrapyard for the theme “Rusty” in my photo-project in 2017, I took a photo that I found quite simple and yet intriguing. Several corrugated sheets were lying on the ground among other scrap and sharp sunny light painted lines on the top sheet. I saw a potential in that geometry but after editing the photo for a while I abandoned it, dissatisfied with my results. Today I came across the photo again and decided to give it a second chance by creatively playing with it. I can tell you, I’m glad I did. To start with, I created a black&white version… … and here is…
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Behind the mask
The other day I was passing a parked car and was rather startled by a smiling face with empty eyes “sitting” inside the car. When having looked properly, I found out it was just a mask attached to the front headrest. I was delighted to have my camera at hand and took a photo or two. It’s an image that makes you think, isn’t it? I used to believe that wearing a mask is wrong, that it’s just a form of a lie. Yet I understand today that a mask may not only hide a hideous face but may also protect a fragile face and who I am to criticise…
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Pink hen and flowers
A few weeks ago, when I was thinking about what kind of photos I would like to focus on this year, I was thinking about returning to still life and its creativity. A few days ago, when I was thinking about spring and Easter, I was thinking about creating something playful and joyful and yet a bit serious. So here is my little playful yet thoughtful still-life variation featuring a figure of a hen I bought once as a prop. – In a whirl of events – – Waiting for a decision – – Devoted – – Lost in thought on a sunny day – – Lost in expectation –
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Lovely monster
As a photographer, I’ve learned one really important thing about taking photographs. Use your brain and think about what you want to photograph but also listen to your guts what they tell you. Here and there it happens to me that I notice something and feel the charge right away but I don’t see the result. I used to dismiss such perceptions… Don’t do that, go where it speaks to you no matter how commonplace it may seem, and pay attention. An old agricultural building that spoke to me when passing it in a car brought me to creating the image below. I love it and I’m happy I seized…
