A Change and A Move

Blowing Seeds © 2012 Bo Mackison

Blowing Seeds © 2012 Bo Mackison

“How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be.” ~ Elizabeth Lesser

I’ve been blogging on Seeded Earth since 2007.

I chose the name quickly one afternoon, as I was setting up my blog for the first time. That autumn most of the photographs I took were of landscapes, gardens, prairies, flowers, all growing things. Since these all had their beginning as seeds in the earth, I determined that Seeded Earth would be an appropriate name for my new blog.

Seeds are, indeed, good beginnings, and Seeded Earth took root and grew.

It began as Seeded Earth Photography, morphed into Seeded Earth Studios when I added new products and services, and eventually became my official, government approved, business name, Seeded Earth Studios LLC.

The name served me well as I embarked on the art fair circuit and traveled in the Midwest and Southwest, showing my macro-photographs of botanicals. It worked less well as I photographed fewer landscapes and more desert-scapes. And when I added stories about the arts and healing, and more personal writing, it lost even more of its cohesiveness.

While I still love the Seeded Earth moniker, it’s time to step up and re-christen my soon to be launched website Bo Mackison.

The seeded wonders and desert wonders will still be featured as I continue to post my photography, but I am expanding. I’ll be offering online photography workshops beginning in early 2014, and adding Desert Wisdom Workshops and Retreats later in the year.

Seeded Earth has grown, flowered, given fruit. Now the fruit’s seeds have burst from their container.

In a few days, my new website will be launching at BoMackison.com. Please join me soon in welcoming my newest venture (and adventure).

Happy 5th Blog Birthday

 Happy 5th Blog-a-Birthday, Seeded Earth Photography!

I have posted nearly 1900 photos to my photoblog in the past 5 years.

I pulled out a sample photograph from each of the Octobers I have been photo-blogging. When I began in 2007, I was new to digital photography, new to computers, new to blogging. In short, I had a lot to learn. And learn I did by daily practice.

I hope you enjoy watching as my photography years go by!

Read until the end, there are details on how to enter for a give-away in celebration of my blogging birthday.

 OCTOBER 2007

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Double Yellows © 2007

Deep blue lake trapping
Reflection in calm waters
Double yellow orbs

Photographed just after sunrise on a calm mid-October morning at Indian Lake County Park in Dane County, Wisconsin.

 

OCTOBER 2008

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park © 2008

We camped at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado in mid-October. I wanted to photograph the dunes at sunrise. The temperatures had dropped into the teens in the early morning hours and iced the sculptured sand, making the trek up the dunes rather easy. It’s much easier to climb frozen dunes than to sink, with every step, into soft sand…

 

OCTOBER 2009

Blue Pumpkin? Yep! © 2009 Bo Mackison

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. ~~ Henry David Thoreau

You tell ‘em, Mr. Thoreau. Can I join you if I choose a pumpkin on the other side of the patch?

 

OCTOBER 2010

Interior Room at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

Table for Two © 2010 Bo Mackison

This little room is in the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, tucked just off the main lobby. The closed door, leading to a storage room, is quite short, and reminds me of an Alice in Wonderland portal. The stairs wrap around the room while allowing natural light to come in through the windows…

 

OCTOBER 2011

Changing Leaves

Changing Leaves © 2011 Bo Mackison

Everything in life is speaking, is audible, is communicating in spite of its apparent silence. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

In autumn, the colors of nature are what speak to me. They tell me to pay attention, remind me that what I saw yesterday or earlier this morning may well disappear into nothingness by noon. Autumn is the ultimate reminder that nothing remains the same, that change is a constant, that though we may hold treasures in our hands today, tomorrow our hands may be empty…

OCTOBER 2012  – Today’s post!

Autumn Oranges

Autumn with Orange ©2012 Bo Mackison

As I walked through Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens this past weekend, I was happily surprised to see an art installation new to me – orange metallic cones near the bridge across Starkweather Creek.

What a joy to photograph! I love how the bright orange sculptures pop across the water, unexpectedly, and how the bright orange color complements the autumn background colors.

A favorite theme – a bridge crossing reflecting water – becomes even more appealing to me, with the sculptures in orange adding a sense of play to the setting. What an inspiring combination.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

I am offering you a birthday gift during this birthday celebration of my photoblog. Leave a comment below and I will choose one (by computer number generator) for the birthday give-away.

I will send an original photograph to the winner, The photograph, either an 8 x 10 or an 11 x 15, your choice, will be a photograph I currently offer, and will feature a botanical or garden scene. Please allow me to do the choosing for you! (Special requests considered… 🙂 )

I will pick the winner on October 16th (my birthday, too!) and post the winner’s name on the blog.

Thanks to all who visit. Without you, blogging would not be nearly as much fun.

Blogging and The Land of Enchantment

Hot Air Balloon over Albuquerque

Hot Air Balloon over Albuquerque ©2008 Bo Mackison

There are many reasons to keep a blog. When I started this blog just over a year ago, my goals were straight-forward. I wanted to practice my photography, a brand new skill then, and commit to a daily practice of posting a photograph. Simple enough.

In a matter of a few weeks, the blogging grew into a habit I enjoyed. Not only did my photos improve, but after many months they began to attract some attention on their own. Some people asked to buy copies; a couple of non-profits asked permission to use a photo or two in their various organizations. The exposure also led to a writing gig for a Wisconsin Travel blog. And I developed a core of readers who visited regularly, left comments, and whom I visited in return. And so I thought that is what blogging accomplished and I was quite pleased with the results. Little did I realize there would be more.

Last spring, I discovered a writers’ blog, red Ravine, and submitted a couple of writing pieces to the site. They were published and I found I enjoyed that experience. I also enjoyed the red Ravine community and began reading the blog regularly and commenting. I exchanged a few e-mails with one of rR’s founders, ybonesy. Ybonesy often writes about place on her blog. In her case, place is New Mexico.

When I began making plans to travel in the Southwest, I dropped ybonesy a note, telling her I would be in her neighborhood, in person.  Was she interested in meeting for coffee or lunch?  She responded enthusiastically and so we began our planning.

Last week, I arrived on her doorstep with my spouse and camper in tow. We explored her awesome piece of land, I met the snake and the turkeys and the dogs she so often blogs about. Her husband Jim greeted us as well, and shared his enthusiasm for the wide open spaces in New Mexico.  Then we went to the perfect local restaurant, Perea’s Tijuana Bar, where we indulged in carne adovada and tamales. It was a truly delightful experience – great food plus face-to-face conversation with a “blogger friend”.  I’m a self-avowed introvert and this was a remarkable feat for me. I had a great visit and I felt like I had rediscovered a long-gone friend.

When we all blog together, we do get to know a lot about each other, but the connection isn’t quite complete. It is very nice to actually meet someone from the virtual world in the real world. Very nice, indeed.

I hope, ybonesy, if you or another frequent visitor at the Seeded Earth ever visit Wisconsin, you’ll drop me a note. I’d love to share my part of the country in the same manner you shared your part of the country with me.

Blogging has a lot of benefits. Exposure, a bit of profit, new gigs, virtual friendships all around the world. Now I can add another plus – new friends to meet in new places. Wow! This is pretty awesome stuff.

Thanks, ybonesy, for the wonderful visit. It was great meeting you after learning so much about you from your writing and art. This kind of connection really makes blogging come alive.

Time Marches On

Time Marches On

Time Marches On © 2008 Bo Mackison

Today I was sitting in the Apple Store waiting for a 1-on-1 lesson on how to promote my long-planned-for, new website when I decided to pop open my blog and see what was going on. It was 2:58 pm CDT and my eye caught my blog visitors counter-50,001 visits. Wow! That’s a lotta clicks. Seems like a milestone to blog about…

I started posting on this photoblog on October 5, 2007. My intention when I began was to post a photo a day for a year. I wasn’t sure who would look at the photographs-I was just learning how to use my Olympus E- 500 and didn’t know much about photography-or who would want to read my rambling words. But it was something I needed to do for myself. I needed to set a goal for myself and then work hard until I achieved it. Prove something to myself, in a way.

I’ve not quite finished the year-I still have another 50 days to make that goal. But I’ve been pleased with my attempt at blogging. I’ve learned an amazing amount of stuff about WordPress and all that techie stuff I always claimed I would never need to bother with. And I’ve got a website – Seeded Earth Photography – that I’m planning on unveiling on October 1st in response to the kind visitors who have asked how to purchase my photographs. (more on that coming soon)

I’ve taken thousands of photos and written nearly 400 posts and I’ve had 3,126 comments. Some of you who comment now have been commenting since the first weeks. I’m rather proud of that. You guys who have been hanging around a long time include Montucky at Montana Outdoors, Chrisy at visuallens, Ron at rtd13, Bernie at BFK Photography, nouveau fauves, Ankush at Ankush Vimawala Photography, Mon@rch at Mon@rch’s Nature Blog, amuirin at Stop and Wander, Robin at Bountiful Healing. How awesome! I didn’t even know that happened in blogland!

I also read and hear from other bloggers regularly, including Anna and Preston at Surface and Surface Photography, Gypsy-Heart at Gypsy-Heart I Am, Marcie at Daily Practice, ybonesy at red Ravine, Jules at The Way I See It , Grace at The Wild Pomegranate, Laurie at Capture This Photography, Richard at Capturing Light, Pat at Wandering Wonderings, and Joanna at Confident Writing. If I’ve missed you, sorry-check my sidebar for more of my favorites places and people. I love all of you!

So – thanks everyone. I don’t know what will happen on October 5. I’m writing for a Wisconsin website now, WisconsinNative.com, and with the launch of Seeded Earth Photography, I don’t know quite what I will do with this original blog. But I’ve learned a lot and have climbed mountains and swum oceans, as the saying goes. So thanks again. Your presence has been an important part of these last 10 months for me.