The "Through the Window" (TtW) photo challenge I created to keep me motivated and picking up the camera might not be appealing to the masses (understatement), but it could not have come at a better time for me - when a distraction from my current routine (more about that tomorrow, maybe) is most welcomed.
My first TtW photo was taken on Monday, a rare day out of the house. While Emily ran into Old Navy, I sat outside in the air-conditioned car and took photos through the car window across the parking lot. I was instantly drawn to the bright greens, yelllows and rusty reds in the landscaping close to the car. When I shot across the hedge with a shallow depth of field, those lovely bokeh leaves in the trees were created in the distance.
The photo below compares the above photo with another one with a much less shallow depth of field.
Before we left town Monday morning I wasn't thinking clearly and brewed a full pot of vanilla nut coffee - with only enough time to drink one cup. I refrigerated the rest of the pot, and the cold vanilla nut coffee was perfect for making iced lattes the next day. The rose bud on the windowsill next to the mason jar mug had just been cut and is the same bloom in yesterday's post.
I'm not that pleased with the photo, looking east across the street to our neighbor's pasture, but the iced latte was delicious.
The two photos below were also taken on Monday while we were out of town running errands - the first one while Emily ran into Target and I (once again) stayed in the air-conditioned car in the parking lot. Stimulated by the various reflections on car and store-front windows and mirrored images, I amused myself by taking photos - hoping that no one reported me to the authorities for suspicious behavior. You never know these days.
I've taken many side-mirror view photos over the years, and I'm always challenged to include the contrast between where I'm going with where I've been and reflections on the car windows without including me or other vehicles in the picture. The easiest way to keep other vehicles behind you out of the picture is to take the picture just after the road bends - like this one.
Wednesday I took photos through a west-facing bedroom window that overlooks our backyard and toward the thickets along the creek beyond. Mid-summer, the three tall sweet-gum trees in the backyard are thick with both spiny seed pods and bright green foliage. The first photo below was taken in the late afternoon, just before a thunderstorm.
The two photos below - my lonely backyard swing and a sweet-gum tree - were taken through the same window as the photo above, but mid-morning with the sun coming up in the east and the trees casting shadows on the thickets in the background.
I've always preferred to shoot into the sun, like the photo above, rather than with the sun behind me. The challenge in doing that is to have enough light on the subject to avoid creating shadows and unintended silhouettes.
The last TtW photo for this week was taken yesterday morning through a north-facing window in the study. The soft "textured" look resulted from shooting through a screened window that slightly distorted the images. It was unintentional.
Though I invited others to play along with me this month, I didn't expect anyone would. There are a gazillion photo challenges available with exposure and access to a multitude of talented and creative photographers that are much more appealing than mine.
The majority of my photography friends are already involved in many of those challenges and I don't blame them for not joining the TtW challenge. You can imagine my delight when a few dear hearts did participate this week.
Some of this week's participants added their photos to the {Through the Window Flickr Group}. Please take a look, say "hello" and enjoy all their contributions. There are a few TtW photos from my 2010 archives in that group, as well.
Two friends to Pollywog Creek, {Mary} and {Lisa}, posted their TtW photos on their blogs. I do hope you will click on over and read both of their wonderful blogs.
My challenge next week includes getting the windows washed. I'm running out of windows here at the house that are clean enough to shoot through. I'm also hoping to be able to get out of the house more. There's only so many photos of all that's green outside my Pollywog Creek windows that I can post before everyone (including me) is bored silly.
If I were to take a photo right now, it would look very much like the other photos I took through our house windows this week. It's a hot, bright, sunny and very green morning. I can also hear the mower in the distance, as Louis mows the fields and pasture.
I'd love to know what it's like outside your windows today.
