The Pattern of Ferns

August 3, 2012 by 8 Comments
Ferns in the Conservatory

Patterns of Ferns © 2012 Bo Mackison

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. ~ Chinese Proverb

The ferns were in thick clumps in the conservatory at the New York Botanical Gardens, and offered plenty of opportunities to shoot them in different positions, layers, color combinations. This photo ended up as my favorite – very simple, a pair of ferns, side by side.

August Break 2012

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  The August Break encourages posting a photo, with or without a few words, not a long blog post. Perfect for the month of August.

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Nature’s Abstract

February 3, 2012 by 17 Comments
Nature's Abstract

Nature's Abstract © 2012 Bo Mackison

A photographer sees the world through a filter. Not the interchangeable filters for lenses, but the filter in the photographer’s mind through which an unfolding scene is seen as a photograph. ~ Bo Mackison

Pincushion cacti are rather small cacti. Globular, lots of protruding, sharply hewn spines. Almost easy to pass by in the search for the giant saguaro, the prickly pear with its oval sculptural pads, the ocotillo waving green branches with the tips turning red with flowers.

Then I saw these little groups of pincushions. I liked how they were bunched together in little pods of three or five, and since my camera was ready on my tripod,  I took a few photos.

Later in the studio, I enlarged the photo  — and wow, it was no longer a simple little cactus. I’m studying the desert, letting in the immensity of the place while still focusing on and  absorbing the tiny spaces. There were sure some tiny spaces in between the spines of this not-a-friend-of seamstresses pincushion. I sure loved it, though.

Spaces — this is an entangled pattern of tiny spaces, tiny bits of shadow and light from the cactus spines.

How do I look at these spaces? Seeking? Searching?

Turn the spaces into words through metaphor? Struggle with the concept of spaces with danger or limitations? Give thanks for the infinite variety of spaces and places? Celebrate life and the wholeness of the world, place by place, and tiny space by tiny space?

Do you examine spaces? What thoughts come to mind when you observe the many complexities of tiny spaces such as these cacti?

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is exploring the Sonoran Desert and examining the smallest of spaces while allowing in big thoughts.

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Time Marches On

August 14, 2008 by 14 Comments
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.

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This is Iowa

December 3, 2007 by 9 Comments
Autumn Iowa Fields

Autumn Iowa Fields © 2007

This is central Iowa, north of Iowa City.  This part of the state is mostly fields and farms, but there is a quality that gentles the mind in these particularly pastoral settings. Perhaps it is that there is no place for the eye to stop, so the mind just continues to travel endlessly and peacefully along.

Photographed from car on a trip heading “back home.” November 30, 2007

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