Flower Mandala – Pink Zinnia

Pink Zinnia ©2015 Bo Macksion

Pink Zinnia ©2015 Bo Mackison

Flower Mandala – White and Yellow Peony

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“Come out of the circle of time
. And into the circle of love.” ~ Rumi

5th Annual Photo Alphabet – Part III

I is for iPhonography and Imagination

All in Green

All in Green © 2012 Bo Mackison

In just a few short years, taking photographs with a cell phone has become its own niche. iPhonography with a multitude of apps for in camera processing and post processing, can do amazing things. Photographs I never dreamed of creating can be created in just seconds. My imagination goes a bit wild when I start playing with my iPhone’s capabilities. I am less hesitant to explore and more open to the weird and unusual.

For me personally, iPhones and other smart phone cameras do not take the place of my more traditional camera gear. But my cell phone camera sure has one advantage that most other cameras do not have. It is always with me.

And the best camera in the world is the one that is with you when you want to take a photograph.

J is for Joy and Journal Writing

Road Trip - Joy Kansas

Joy, Kansas © 2012 Bo Mackison

At first glance, you might wonder what this photograph of a grain elevator taken on the wide open plains of middle America has to do with Joy and Journal Writing. But it is a real life example of the Joy I find from my daily practice of photography and journal writing.

The photo is a snippet from my travel log I wrote as I traveled across the United States. This grain elevator is in the tiny town of Joy, Kansas.  That may be important or it may not be. But it is a part of my life, a part that I took time to document. I don’t write down everything nor do I take photos of most places. But I document enough about the daily bits of my day-to-day activities.

Here’s why this brings me such Joy. When I return to the notations in my journal, re-read a passage, look through the sketches I crudely drew in the margins, find a ticket stub or a pamphlet describing a sightseeing treat, I instantly re-create memories of that time in my life. They may seem trivial, but they are moments I have lived.

And I love being able to open a journal or a set of photographs and get transported back in time. So much is so easily forgotten. The things I often read about I would never remember without these memory jogs. They may be important only to me, but that is enough. More than enough.

K is for Knowledge and Keys.

Locked Gate

Gate without a Key © 2011 Bo Mackison

I once lived for a while in a place where there were locks, but no keys.

I spent many hours of ‘most every day holed up in a corner of a library, in a room of a thousands books, but it offered none of the knowledge I sought.

Then I went out into the world, far away from what was safe, comfortable, known.

And there I found myself – uncertain yet hopeful, silent yet filled with song. And the sun warmed me and I walked the earth and I gave thanks.

L is for Labyrinth.

Garden Maze

Garden Labyrinth © 2011 Bo Mackison

Have you ever walked a labyrinth? The kind where, once you begin, you follow along, around and back, and come to the center, where you can stand awhile or continue on and finally you come out at the end which is next to the beginning, and there is no way, when you follow the lines, that you can do it wrong or get lost or bump into some one else.

There is a pace and that pace has a peace. Not at all like real life, though to me it feels exactly like real life.

M is for Meditating, Mindfulness, and the Muse.

Meditative...

Meditating…© 2012 Bo Mackison

I love this photograph. I took it while I was walking along a park in New york City, a park resurrected from an abandoned railway corridor called the High Line. Usually the park is crowded with people – walking, enjoying the art installations or sampling the food from vendors. Maybe watching a dance troupe or dancing to a jazz trio. But early on this cool June morning, with threats of rain in the forecast, the park was nearly deserted.

It was the perfect place to sit for a while, absorb the beauty of the natural plants growing amidst the tracks and seating spaces. I wasn’t the only person in the park who was doing some slow work while the city bustled around us.

Meditation, even for twenty minutes or a half hour, has become a daily part of my morning. It sets my internal thermostat at an even temperature, and helps me prepare for the rest of the day. Doing meditation coupled with a mindfulness practice during the day not only slows me down so I can get my work done, it also makes room for my muse to visit with amazing frequency.

Less pressure, more ideas, more creative energy.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Part IV of the 5th Annual Photo Alphabet continues with Nature thru Quest.

Following the Garden Path

Watering Allen Centennial Gardens

Crooked Gardens © 2012 Bo Mackison

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.     ~ Henry David Thoreau

If ever I am in need of some spirit lifting, one of my first remedies is to find the nearest flower garden and follow a path or two. I seem unable to hold onto a bad mood or an angry thought or hurt feelings once I begin to wander from one flower bed to the next.

And for an even more delightful experience, one sure to make me smile and even laugh, I run through sprinklers and cool water drops while looking for the newest blossoms. There is nothing finer than to walk through a garden while being spattered with cool water from the twirling watering hoses – especially when it is 90˚ and there’s not a cloud in the sky.

These lovely gardens were photographed at the Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin’s campus in Madison. This summer the staff has added vertical tubes of color in all the flower bed, each tube’s color coordinates with the flowers and foliage. Fun!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She spends as much time as possible wandering in flowering gardens, usually with camera in hand.

“Sunset” Coneflowers

"Sunset" Coneflowers

“Sunset” Coneflowers © 2011 Bo Mackison

A visit to one of my favorite gardens in Madison proved disappointing last night until I rounded the last corner of a small enclosure and found a patch of hybrid coneflowers. (The garden is under going major renovations and the atypical heat we have had has taken a toll on many of the summer gardening projects.)

I am not a fan of most of the purple coneflower hybrids, which are no longer purple, but instead they are white, yellow, orange. I don’t think I mind the change in color as much as the change in the prickly cone head center of the flower. Many of the hybrids have a flowery center and it seems they lack the character of the original prairie flower.

Most of these have not undergone much testing so the hardiness of the flowers is unknown. I thought the “Sunset” coneflower was one of the nicer varieties and still had the typical center. A bumblebee seems to like it fine, too.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is experimenting with a new photo techniques with the huge variety of flowers in bloom as her willing subjects.