Bo’s 4th Annual Photographic Alphabet – V

go site R IS FOR REFLECTING ON RUINS.

Tumacacori - Window with a View

Tumacacori - Window with a View © 2011 Bo Mackison

I am re-posting these reflections I wrote during my last visit to Tumacacori National Historic Park, ruins of a mission once housing Spanish priests and the Tohono O’Odham they converted to Catholicism and taught the ways of ‘modern’ man. I sat in the garden for several hours, reflecting on the stories I had heard from the park rangers, and the voices that I seemed to hear. Here is a slightly revised version.

Cover your ears with your determination, seek the sacred in this scarred space.
Block the sounds of horns honking, ignore the heated words of the couple standing near the mesquite.

Shhh.

Can you hear rustling leaves, whistling wind? See the shimmer of cotttonwoods?

These winds were in this garden. The trees now camouflaging the sparrows’ nests, they were here.
The fountain — pulsing garden heart — it was here with its cleansing waters.
The dust blowing from the Tumacácori Mountain Range – that dust was here.

Those mountains? They stood in silence and watched.
Arched doorways sheltered the walkway, courtyard sheltered a painted statue of the Virgin with her Babe. They watched.

Tumacacori Interior Bricks

Interior © 2011 Bo Mackison

The yucca were here, the tepary beans trailed along the earth.
The nut tree saplings, freshly planted, they swayed in rhythm with the winds. They witnessed.

The che-che-cheee of the sparrows joined the voices raised in song –  of protest and praise, with humiliation and elation, in mourning and in gratitude.

In the Sun

In the Sun © 2011 Bo Mackison

I hear their voices, the choir lifting their voices in song.
Harmonizing
Chanting
The rising alleluias, the longing amens.

Their voices. Do you hear them?
Che-che-cheee-ing alleluias.
Siss-siss-siss, leaves dancing, twirling along the dusty path.

Hearts dancing, hold your gaze on the star hunter, poised, aiming his arrow at the full moon.
Hidden voices in the whistling winds.
Hidden eyes, watching from Tumacácori.

Listen. Watch. Hush.

https://www.jacobysaustin.com/mercantile/ S IS FOR SEEDS AND THE SEEDED EARTH.

Arizona - Leaf Shadows on Seed Pod

Leaf Shadows on Seed Pod © 2011 Bo Mackison

I love seeds, seed pods, seed heads, dried seeds.

I began taking macro-photographs of the many autumn seeds in a nearby prairie in early October, 2007, and really took my first prolonged look at a few of the millions of seeds covering the earth. At the time I thought of how the earth was a “seeded earth”.

Wabi Sabi Prairie

Wabi Sabi Prairie © 2011 Bo Mackison

“Simplicity is the core of wabi-sabi. Nothingness is the ultimate. But before and after nothingness, simplicity is not so simple.” Leonard Koren

Seeds and seed heads are two of my favorites to photograph. Seed heads are an example of the concept of wabi-sabi which focuses on the essence pared down, but not stripped of its poetry and emotional warmth. remains intact.

Wabi-sabi compels one to look at something, and then look again and again.

Milkweed Pod

Milkweed Pod © 2011 Bo Mackison

In autumn I always include a photo session with a milkweed pod in my “to shoot” list. Milkweed seeds are closely associated with my business name, Seeded Earth Studio.

When I choose the name for my first blog, a writing and photo sanctuary where I planned to feature a daily photograph of nature, the name “Seeded Earth Photography” came to mind.

When I began my business at the end of 2009, it was natural to name my fledgling company Eszopiclone Lunesta Buy Online Seeded Earth Studio.

https://geneticsandfertility.com/patients/fees/ T IS FOR TANGLED.

Tangled

Tangled © 2011 Bo Mackison

There are days when this photograph accurately describes how I feel. All tangled in a pile of to-do lists and responsibilities and demands and deadlines. When that happens, I make an effort to get out of the studio, if only for an hour, and take photos. Occasionally, I look for photographs that symbolize how I feel.

This was definitely taken on an “all tangled up in details” day.

Buy Prednisone Online Without Prescription U IS FOR URBAN ART.

Bours House

Red Fence © 2011 Bo Mackison

This may not be what many people think of when asked what urban art is, but I love to look for the artistic designs that I see when I am exploring and photographing the architectural works of Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries. I love this red wrought iron fence, love its simplicity, love how it is combined with the plantings to make an artistic statement.

Side Entrance Detail on Bogk House, Frank Lloyd Wright architect

Geometric Trim on Door © 2011 Bo Mackison

It isn’t hard to find artistic touches on these Prairie Style homes. Windows are art glass. Planters, moldings, lighting, even the concrete edges of the eaves decorated with layered geometrics, are examples of urban art. I think it is one of the reasons I get so much pleasure from photographing architecture. It is the almost unseen details that I love to capture.

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Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters R, S, T and U.

Tomorrow’s post will be brought to you by V, W, X, Y and Z.

And yesterday’s post was brought to you by N, O, P and Q.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. The alphabet series will end with tomorrow’s post.

 

 

4th Annual Photographic Alphabet – IV

And now for a brief (non-commercial) message:

  https://bettierose.co.uk/307_baker_fotor/ Sending you wishes for a Happy New Year’s Day
https://thesentinelgroup.com/talcum-ovarian-cancer/ and a perfectly matched 2012, filled with good health, inner joy and true contentment.

 Now we return to Bo’s photographic alphabet:

source site N IS FOR NATURE.

Poppy Composition

Poppy Composition © 2011 Bo Mackison

My year-end alphabet would not be complete if I did not include a few of the photographs which have become my photo identity and art festival favorites. I’ve worked a set of eight poppy photographs that I took in the garden of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in many ways.

In White

Composition In White © 2011 Bo Mackison

And I’ve learned much about the possibilities of Lightroom and Nik Software, programs I once thought I could never learn how to use. These new avenues of exploration brought my botanical photographs into places I only thought existed in my mind, in my vision.

"Sunset" Coneflowers

“Sunset” Coneflowers © 2011 Bo Mackison

So many wonders, so many possibilities!

https://thesentinelgroup.com/camp-lejeune/ O IS FOR ORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES AND OUT-OF-ORDINARY ONES.

Round Barn - Fromme-Birney Barn

Fromme-Birney Barn © 2011 Bo Mackison

On our drive from Tucson to Wisconsin this spring, we left the Interstate and took State Highway 54 through Kansas. It is hard to see much of anything while zooming along the interstates at 75 mph, squeezed between double semi trailers, and when I did see something of interest, it was never safe to pull on the side of the road or stop. But once we were on a two lane highway, I felt like we were traveling and seeing.

I love to shoot architectural subjects, so when we noticed a sign for “Historical Barn – 3 Miles”, we turned off the highway and headed into the countryside. Soon this amazing structure came into view.

Round Barn - Second Floor and Ceiling

Round Barn Ceiling © 2011 Bo Mackison

What a wonderful place to explore, and we had it all to ourselves. The Fromme-Birney barn was planned in 1912 by Henry W. Fromme. He hired William “Pat” Campbell to build a round barn to house his 28 draft horses and a special stall for the Percheron stallion that he imported from France.

Shortly after completion, the tractor replaced the horse and the barn became obsolete and eventually fell into disrepair. It was restored in the 1980s and then listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A good reminder to keep taking advantage of those experiences which sound quite ordinary. Never know what you’ll find a few miles off the hurried road.

Ambien 10 Mg Price P IS FOR PINNACLES.

Three Rocks

Three Rocks © 2011 Bo Mackison

Sometimes life takes me to the top of the highest pinnacle. The view is mighty fine, but I discover that climbing up was doable because I could only see where I was going, I did not look back to see the treacherous open space behind me. I concentrated on moving, not on falling.

But once I’ve taken in the view, I realize I must get off the top of this mountain.

But how?

The answer is in this quotation I copied into my quote book a few years ago:

Come to the edge,
He said.
They said:
We are afraid.
Come to the edge,
He said.
They came.
He pushed them,
And they flew.
~ Guillaume Apollinaire

Buy Soma Overnight Q IS FOR QUAIL CONDO.

Quail Condo

Quail Condo © 2011 Bo Mackison

Joseph Wood Krutch, who wrote the book The Desert Year in 1985, discovered the Sonoran Desert and its evocative beauty quite late in life. I discovered the book last February and couldn’t stop reading it. I copied several quotations into my journal that seemed to resonate deep within my soul.

“More rarely…one experiences something more like love at first sight. The desire to stay, to enter in, is not a whim or a notion but a passion.”

“Verweile doch, du bist so schön.” translated from German to “Linger yet, you are so beautiful.”

If I do not somehow possess this, if I never learn what it was that was being offered, I shall feel all my life that I have missed something intended for me. If I do not, for a time at least, live here I shall not have lived as fully as I had the capacity to live.” ~ Joseph Wood Krutch

Last March, on the very day that Sherpa and I were to return to the Midwest from the Tucson area, we saw an “open house” on a realtor’s sign. It was near the condo I had rented for two months, in an area I had fallen in love with. Impulsively we went in to see what we might see. That condo was too large and too costly, but the realtor offered to show us some smaller condos in the area.

Sherpa and I explored one of those condos with growing enthusiasm and with a great deal of growing doubt. How could we be serious about purchasing a place when we were getting in a car and driving 2,000 miles to our home in a few hours? After a few amazing, coincidental happenings, the pieces of the ‘property purchase puzzle’ fell neatly into place. We made an offer through the realtor, also a neighbor, and drove away.

Yes, we did buy the place. We agreed to the contract while we were driving in northeastern New Mexico, and finalized the deal by email and fax when we reached Wisconsin.

I’ll be flying to Arizona in a couple of weeks and I am thoroughly thrilled. Like the owners of state-sized ranches and fifty room mansions, Sherpa and I christened the tiny condo with its own name — Quail Condo! (Because when we were there in November, there were many Gambel’s quails strutting through the back arroyo every morning.)

As Krutch wrote, “…not a whim or a notion, but a passion.” Now I can take photos of the deserts and the surrounding area for an extended time and do art festivals in the winter and spring. So excited! A dream realized.

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Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters N, O, P and Q.

Tomorrow’s post will be brought to you by R, S, T and U.

And yesterday’s post was brought to you by K, L and M.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Posts brought to you by the letters of the alphabet through January 3rd — what would we do without alphabet letters!

4th Annual Photographic Alphabet – III

click here K IS FOR KINETIC.

Autumn in Color

Three Trees on Blue © 2011 Bo Mackison

When people ask me what I do — a very popular question judging from the number of times this subject comes up — I tell them I am a photographer. And then the next question is often, “Oh, what do you shoot?” I occasionally say “Anything and everything, except for a bride walking down the aisle.” I’ve cried at every wedding I’ve ever attended, I explain, and who wants a wedding photographer who can’t see through the camera lens.

Abstract Pond Reflection

Abstract Pond Reflection © 2011 Bo Mackison

But most often, I give my answer that is most truthful, that I photograph flowers and other botanicals, and that I often use a macro lens so that I get a close up shot of a flower, or perhaps only a part of the flower. But in my head I am shaking my head and laughing, because if I tried to explain what it really is I photograph — well, I’m not sure I could always explain it coherently to myself.

Paper Birches in Sunlight

Birches in Sunlight © 2011 Bo Mackison

Sometimes I shoot kinetic photographs, photos taken while I intentionally move the camera, usually along a wide plane — up to down or left to right, or diagonally. I love the surprise of the photo. I usually have a good idea of what I am photographing, but with kinetic photography, the photos are always a surprise. Sometimes it’s the color I love, sometimes I love the abstract swatches, sometimes I can almost make out the scene and I love how the real is hidden and the imagination has to substitute for reality.

https://thelonelycreative.com/wishlist/ L IS FOR LINES.

Gabel House

Gabel House © 2011 Bo Mackison

Another type of photograph I take for my pleasure are objects that include lines. Lines going every which way, lines in different colors, lines made up of light and shadow. One of the reasons I’m fascinated by the study of lines in composition is because I like to determine how I ‘look’ at a photograph of many lines.

Fence, Bench, Bricks

Fence, Bench, Bricks © 2011 Bo Mackison

By that I mean, where do I look after I’ve looked at the whole photograph?  Try it on one of these line photos.

Typically you will take the entire photograph in with a first glance, and then you will methodically look at the photograph, piece by piece. I like to study where my eyes travel, and try to understand what draws my eyes in that pattern.

Shadow and Light

Roof of Shadow and Light © 2011 Bo Mackison

Does it work for you? Do you look at the entire photo quickly and then begin to decipher it? If so, how did you look at the photo of the roof?

  • When did you look at the white in the center, the cloud nearly hidden from view by the slatted roof?
  • When did you look at the dark corner? Did you search the darkness to see if there was anything to see?
  • And when did you notice the string of metal lights along the edge of the roof? Did you notice all three of the lights, or only one or two of them?

There is often more to photography than just looking at a pretty photograph of a flower, and though I love my botanical photos, I also love to shoot for the pleasure of learning about photography.

source link M IS FOR MINIMALISM.

Kansas Minimalist

Kansas Minimalist © 2011 Bo Mackison

I also like to shoot minimalist subjects, though I hate to spell or pronounce the word minimalist. All those m’s and n’s get mixed up. In some ways minimalist photographs are almost the opposite of the ‘L’ photographs of lines. Why?

Grasslands

Grasslands © 2011 Bo Mackison

Many people look at these two types of photographs in different ways. In the minimalist photos, viewers will often search for what is not in the photo. Is there something ‘hiding’ in the photo that is the main point the scene? What am I looking for?

Instead of searching each part of the photos to see what is there, as one does in the photos with many lines, we search each part of the minimalist photographs to see what it is we have not seen on first glance. Often, after that search has not recovered a sleeping lion in the grasslands or a red boot in the snow, the viewer relaxes a bit and takes in the photo as a whole, noticing horizon lines, breaks in lines, or diagonals that lead the eye into the distance.

Wisconsin Minimalism

Wisconsin Minimalism © 2011 Bo Mackison

You thought you were just looking at photographs of roofs and benches and snowdrifts? Well, you were doing that, too.You were looking at the subject and the lighting, the textures and the colors, the shadows, and comparing it to other similar scenes you have stored in your memory. Amazing, hmm?

Photography is pretty darn amazing, Now go and celebrate the ringing in of the New Year.

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Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters K, L and M.

Tomorrow’s post will be brought to you by the letters N, O, P and Q.

And yesterday’s post was brought to you by E, F, G, H, I and J.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Posts brought to you by the alphabet — what would we do without alphabet letters! — through January 3rd.

 

4th Annual Alphabet – Part II

Order Clonazepam Online E IS FOR EMERGING.

Upon Opening, Tulip at Allen Centennial Garden, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Upon Opening © 2011 Bo Mackison

Anaïs Nin’s quotation — “…the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” — seems to apply to some of the challenges that I’ve overcome this year. Years ago, after a series of losses, I found it safer, less painful to curl tightly into myself and hide rather than face the beauties in life coupled with the possibility of yet more loss.

Eventually the ‘too quietness’ in my head and the loneliness in my heart became to difficult to bear, and so I, with great hesitation, opened my eyes and looked around. It seemed safe enough. I uncurled. Stretched. And made the decision to begin connecting with people again, no matter how uneasy I was with this change.

How wonderful to rediscover that the world is a bright, beautiful place. That there are beautiful, loving people in it. And that even if you cannot see the sun, it is always shining somewhere.

source site F IS FOR FAMILY.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve 2011 © 2011 Bo Mackison

Family. I am truly grateful for my sensitive, supportive, and loving family. What a gift – the love of those nearest and dearest to my heart. Sherpa. My children and their partners. My extended family. I send my love to all.

https://www.52editions.com/introduction/ G IS FOR GARDEN GATE.

Garden Gate

Garden Gate © 2011 Bo Mackison

Ah, offer me an afternoon of solitude and time to commune with nature –  in a deep thinking space where I can journal and photograph – and lead me to the gate of a yet to be discovered garden. As perfect a recipe for heaven on earth as I can imagine.

The garden doesn’t have to be the typical garden, either – though garden paths and courtyards and tended flowers are indeed lovely. I also find delight in overgrown gardens and in natural gardens. To me a space with any type of living plants is garden-like enough, be it mountain peak, desert floor, a prairie rise, a deep woods path.

When I spend time in a garden – any kind of garden – I feel revived.

https://www.appliquecafeblog.com/raggy/ H IS FOR HUMOR.

Sculpture Garden

Turquoise Cow, Grazing © 2011 Bo Mackison

You say you’ve never seen a turquoise cow, painted with dandelion flowers and grazing in the grass? Well, now you have.

Sculpture Garden

Purple Cow © 2011 Bo Mackison

And you’ve never seen her purple sister cow? Well, now you have. Are you smiling? I am.

Because I can never look at these wonderful sculptures without breaking out in a huge grin. They make me smile, they lighten my heart.

There is humor all around us. I am learning to look for the humor in life and in life situations. I am learning to laugh. What a glorious feeling – the moments when a smile breaks into laughter which turns into unstoppable glee. Those moments when laughter is contagious, when the laughter just won’t stop. What treasured times those are.

source I IS FOR INTERIOR.

Colors

Atrium of Colors © 2011 Bo Mackison

I’ve been thinking about interiors lately. Interiors of buildings, yes, for I do love the lines of good architecture, but more important to me are the interiors of people as a whole, the insides of the society we live in, the inner workings of human brains, and who I am on the inside. There is a much inside work to be done.

If the foundation is not sturdy and well-built, the structure will not be functional and safe.

Tramadol 50 Mg Price J IS FOR JOURNAL TIME.

Two Benches

Two Benches © 2011 Bo Mackison

No matter where I go, I carry a short pencil and a small notebook — about 3″ by 4″ — in my back pocket. And it is almost impossible for me to sit and enjoy some quiet time without taking out that notebook and writing down a thought or two. Often the notes are reminders of things to do, or things I want to look up. Once in a while I capture an Aha! moment and I record it for remembering.

Yellow Chair

Yellow Chair © 2011 Bo Mackison

Any seat will do, and if there’s a table and a cup of coffee to go with my journal time, so much the better. Journaling has been a part of my life since I was in my early twenties. In the midst of chaotic times, happy times, quiet times, and times when time stood still, I have always kept a notebook and pen nearby.

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Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters E, F, G, H, I and J.

Tomorrow’s post will be brought to you by the letters K, L, and M.

And yesterday’s post was brought to you by A, B, C and D.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Blog posts are brought to you by letters of the alphabet — what would we do without alphabet letters! — through January 3rd.

 

My 4th Annual Alphabet – Part I

As I have done for the last three years, I again end the past year and welcome the new year with a Photographic Alphabet Post.  The very first one (2008-9) rhymed and had a Wisconsin theme. In 2009-10 I didn’t get my Alphabet post done until the second week in January, but I made up for the short post with a photograph that looks quite Arctic-ish! Last year I posted a single photo and wrote a short paragraph for each alphabet letter in four parts.

This year I’m featuring more photographs and fewer words, though something about the end and the beginning — it encourages my tendency towards verbosity. (See?) I’ll watch my word count…promise!

https://thesentinelgroup.com/round-up-lawsuit/ BO’S PHOTOGRAPHIC ALPHABET — 2011

https://thesentinelgroup.com/personal-injury/ A IS FOR ART AND ART FAIRS.

Seeded Earth Photography Booth at Agora Art Show 2011

Agora Art Show 2011 © 2011 Bo Mackison

Art Fairs were a significant part of my life during 2011. Sherpa and I took Seeded Earth Photography to fourteen shows beginning  in February and ending the weekend before Thanksgiving. We did shows in six states – Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Arizona.

Great Dogs at the 57th Street Art Fair Hyde Park Chicago

57th Street Art Fair © 2011 Bo Mackison

This was my second full year exhibiting my photography on the art show circuit. In 2010 I did local and area shows in Wisconsin, and learned the art business. By the end of 2011, after a total of 24 completed shows, I felt less like a novice and more like an artist. That was a grand feeling.

Seeded Earth Studio Booth at Winter Art Festival

Winter Art Festival © 2011 Bo Mackison

In a few weeks, I will be heading to Arizona. My upcoming shows in the Tucson area will be the first ones I’m doing solo. No Sherpa to grab a drink for me or tend the booth while I walk to stretch out muscle kinks. No Sherpa to help me set up the tent or the booth interior, or hang the art. I’m excited and nervous, both.

 

B IS FOR BOOJUM AND BOTANICALS

Boojum

Boojum © 2011 Bo Mackison

I love photographing botanicals. A boojum is a botanical. Therefore I love shooting boojums. But I would love shooting boojums even more if I could attach my camera to a crane, because the part I want to photograph with my macro lens is not in a convenient place.

 

C IS FOR CACTI AND CONSEQUENCES.

Cactus Portal

Cactus Portal © 2011 Bo Mackison

Ah, now cacti are also botanicals, and they grow in a more convenient size than the boojum. Or at least many of them do. There are many a saguaro or an organ pipe cactus that are far beyond my reach. But I still have plenty of macro opportunities with the smaller cacti crowd.

Cactus Catch

Cactus Catch © 2011 Bo Mackison

I love to take photographs of the mighty cacti, and the smaller varieties, too. But I’ve decided that the entire cactus family has been introduced into my life to teach me a big lesson.

Saguaro Spines

Saguaro Spines © 2011 Bo Mackison

They teach by consequences. Almost every time I photograph cacti, I am so focused on getting a photo that I inch closer and closer to the plant. And each time the cactus teaches me a lesson about their boundaries by poking me with a sharp thorn, or by attaching a cluster of spines to my clothing or shoelaces. If I didn’t have a camera up to my eye, perhaps I would learn the cactus lesson much quicker.

 

 D IS FOR DELIGHT AND A DOODLE-DOODLE-DOO.

Pottery Chickens

Pottery Roosters © 2011 Bo Mackison

It is quite common for people to imagine that an artist’s life is filled with creating and traveling and meeting new and interesting people. True, true, and true. I can’t think of a thing I would rather do than take my camera out on a photo exploration and I love to bring home the filled memory cards and watch the photographs ‘develop’ on my computer. And now I am adding what I consider to be the frosting on the photographs – post processing so that the vision I saw when I took the photo can be captured in my studio.

But I work long hours, many more hours a week than if I had a 9 to 5 job, and so I’ve learned to add delight into my day whenever I find it. These roosters, rows and rows of roosters on an outside stand, made me laugh so hard I could hardly hold the camera still. I was waiting for one of them to begin crowing at me.

It’s those bits of time that add the ‘extra-extra’ to the unpredictable life of an artist on the road.

And a doodle doodle doo to you, too!

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Today’s post has been brought to you by the letters A,B,C, and D.

Part II is brought to you by the letters E, F, G, H, I and J.