Simplicity: ONE

Our topic for the month of September in the Focus on Life: 2014 weekly photography challenge is SIMPLICITY and for week 38, Sally has prompted us with:

ONE 

One being, one part, one piece.  We are all ONE.

Capture a photograph with only one subject or one piece or a small part of a subject.

This week I received my first certification in the IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) industry of which my husband and I are immersed in with our business.

It is one step, with more to follow.

I am one, of many.

As is this one,.....

Let's see what everyONE else has captured this week, shall we? 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and One Simple Step.

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

Lazy Days of Summer!

It's week 35 and the prompt this last week of August, where our theme for the month has been"Outside" for the Focus on Life weekly photography challenge, is:

 "Lazy Days of Summer"

I think I can handle this.

I'm lazin' around with the neighbor's frog. He's still online for goodness sakes. Geeze,......you'd think he'd be enjoying the water by now. 

Everyone have a wonderfully fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!

Be sure to check out how everyone else is celebrating the 'Lazy Days of Summer'.  

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Enjoying the Lazy Days of Summer!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Every One's Online These Days,....

It's week 34 and the prompt this week for the August theme of "Outside" for the Focus on Life weekly photography challenge is:

"About The Ground"

Sally prompted us to "draw your focus about the ground; you may be surprised at what you find!"

I found this little guy sitting on the ground over in our neighbor's yard, just pecking away at his computer.

Can you believe it?!  

Seems like every one's online these days,....

I wonder what all the other participants found while looking about the ground this week?

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Looking About The Ground!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

Outside the Box

It's August!  (Already!?!)  

Our topic for the month of August for the

Focus on Life:2014 

Weekly Photography Challenge is "Outside".

This is week 31 and our prompt is 

"Outside The Box".

Sally didn't technically give us any rules for this one and it could be a play on words or it could be literally "Outside the box",  so today I'm going to share a photo I took back on Mother's Day while down at my sis's house.  

We usually take a photo of all the cousins when we get together, but this Mother's Day only Logan and Chad were actually there and so we tried to skype with all the other kiddos who live out of state or who couldn't make it that day.

My nephew had moved to Florida earlier this year and as the boys were standing around the t.v. chatting with Preston, I said, "Boys, squat down in front of the t.v. so I can get a photo of all three of you together."

"Seriously?", was what I think both of them said at the same time.

"Yes, Seriously. How else am I gonna get a photo of all three of you today?"

And if you look really closely, you can see my bro-in-law's face in the little square to the bottom left of the t.v. as he was on the computer skyping with them! LOL!!

So, Preston's actually 'in' the box,...not out of it. 

I'm pretty sure no one else with find this as odd funny as we all did, but I think it's pretty much an 'out of the box' way to take a photo.

What do you think?! 

Catch all the "Out of the Box" pics everyone else has captured and posted today, won't you?

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Snappin' "Out of the Box" !!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 26

Wow - half way through the year.  The first part has flown by, if you ask me.  Hopefully the second half of the year will slow down just a tad bit so we can all catch our breath, right?!

For week 26 of the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge, Sally has given us this prompt:

June 2014: Putting the Fun In Photography

Week 26: Free Space!

"Like the good old bingo cards state, "FREE SPACE" right smack dab in the middle of the card!  We have reached the half way point of the year, REALLY!  

We are half way through 2014!  

For this week you have a "free space" to photography what ever you would like in what ever way you would like."

Oh, so many possibilities.

I took some pics over Memorial Day Weekend while we were up in the mountains at my sis and brother-in-law's cabin.   

I rather like the look of this one, so I played around with editing it a bit. 

And, being our country's symbol of Freedom, I thought it would fit nicely for our 'Free Space' prompt.

I haven't watched the video that Sally no nicely put up on 'softening' your photos - so I'll have to do that because this one might look cool that way. 

Please check out the below links and see what every one else chose as their 'Free Space' this week, won't you?! 

Oh, and be sure to come back 
here tomorrow for the 
Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!! 
Blog Hop - Link Up.

I'd love for you to link up with us and show us what you've created with your pearls!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and "FREE" Space

Cheers,

~Shel~

Free Space to Grow! ;-)

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 11 - Beauty All Around

It's week 11 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at The Studio Sublime has given us the theme of

"Checking Out" for the month of March.

 

This week's prompt is:

 

 

Beauty All Around

 

You've all seen the sunrises and sunsets I've been posting lately, which would have been super for this week's prompt, but I'll spare you yet another one!

 

I was out walking in the neighborhood keeping a keen eye out for something to photograph that would embrace this prompt.

  

This was some of the
beauty I found all around.



Pretty flowers outside our subdivision

And, even more.

Beautiful Bougainvilleas

 

 

Okay - so I couldn't resist.
 
Here's another sunset.

Friday Night's Sunset Over the Big Lake
(sorry I couldn't make it bigger w/out it running off the page!)



And here's a duck landing on the water, too!

  

 

 

 

Please go check out the "Beauty All Around" that everyone else found this week, won't you?

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beauty All Around!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Chasing Ghosts!

 

So, if you've read the blog recently, you know that last

weekend I was in Jerome with my girlfriends. 

 

 

 

 

(Love these crazy kids!)

 

 

Kyle calling The Ghostbusters upon arriving at the Jerome Grand Hotel.
Janet grabbing Elvis - what a hoot!
Us getting photo-bombed by a local shop owner in front of Passion Cellars Wine Tasting!

 

 

Jerome is one of Arizona's most talked about, historic, unique, colorful, artistic, and haunted, little towns.

 

 

 

 

 

(Lot's of cool stuff to photograph, too!)

 

 

 

The Textures of Jerome remind of the ones in Italy.

 

 

 

You can read the pre-trip post, here, about the 'Ghostly Encounter' I had the last time I stayed over night at the Jerome Grand Hotel (room 43 I think we decided it was)

 

 

 

 

 

Picked up a new book while it town,....should have read this before my last trip! ;-)

 



I've been fascinated with ghosts and ghost/supernatural/spirit stories since I was a little girl, but since I wasn't really looking to hit the 'replay' button on the above mentioned experience again, I was careful to 'ground' myself prior to entering the hotel this time; and, I had a little 'talk' with the spirits who inhabit this super cool, old building (it was once a hospital), letting them know my rules and intentions from the get-go!

 

 

For the people who have asked how our weekend was and told us to post some things, here's a little pictorial for you.

 

 

 

The 'Haunted' Jerome Grand Hotel

 

 

My sister and I were up rather early Sunday morning and got the chance to chat with Carrie, a super nice guest at the hotel who was also up with the sun and sitting outside. After exchanging stories and telling her to go to the Flatiron for the best coffee on the planet once her friends woke up and started moving about, we went our separate ways - saying hello to them at the restaurant later that morning.

 

 

You can read my 'review' of The Flatiron, here!

 

 

Well, Carrie messaged me this week with quite the story telling about how she recorded some 'whispering' in her hotel room during the night with her phone!

 

She said she didn't hear the whispering while it was happening and didn't bother to listen to her recording until returning back to the Valley at the end of the weekend, and that's when she discovered it!  You can read her comments, here, at the bottom of the post.

 

Pretty scary stuff if you ask me!!

 

You'll be happy to know (or possibly disappointed) that I was not visited by, nor did I see any ghostly beings,...although, we did capture something in this photo (an apparition, perhaps?). 

 

 

 

4th Floor landing at the Jerome Grand Hotel
Photo taken 2-22-14 - approximately 7:00p.m.
Taken with my Htc-rezound phone - no editing, except for the photo frame.
The 'yellow' light is a reflection of the lamp light that was next to this bureau.
The white-ish cloudiness that's smeared across the photo?
Well, let's just say it's 'something' interesting.

 

 

The people who were up on the 4th floor with their EMF meter and IR thermometer were picking up quite the activity in this exact location and upon seeing the photo, were certain that our 'something' really was 'SOMETHING'!

 

 

I hope if you're ever in Arizona, that you take the time to visit Jerome.

 

 

The Sights of Jerome

 

 

 

It's a great little place, full of excitement, full of history, fun, adventure, great people and lots of photo ops.

 

 

 

Lovely old, rusty car in the Jerome Grand Hotel Parking Lot

 

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and

Hanging with Friends in Haunted Places!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Focus on Life 2014 - Week One: The Minimalist Photograph

I was so happy when Sally, from The Studio Sublime, continued in 2014 with her wonderful photography challenge, Focus on Life.

 

 

 

I have to say I was quite pleased that I managed to photograph and post for every single one of the 52 weekly photo prompts in 2013.  This was a challenge that truly made me stop and think about my surroundings and the things going on in my life each week and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire journey last year, along with all the wonderful and caring people I 'met' along the way.

 

So, when I saw the information for the 2014 Focus on Life Photography Challenge, I signed up immediately!

Sally's changing things up a bit and will be focusing on a specific subject each month, with weekly prompts pertinent to that subject, for us to post each week or just keep to ourselves if we choose to go that route instead.  She's also giving us tips, techniques and photo recipes through out the year so we can better our picture taking skills as well.  

 

Pretty cool stuff, eh?

Sally mentioned this week that:

 

Every year we approach the new year with high expectations of changing your lives.  We jump in with both feet and the water quickly splashes over our heads,  we begin to feel overwhelmed.  Before we know it the water subsides carrying our expectations in its ripples and waves.  We reach, we grasp, but everything becomes out of reach.  We sink.  Our progress stops in its tracks and with head hanging low we feel like we have completely failed. 

NOT THIS YEAR!

Let's change the view.  This year let's focus on entering 2014 by first tiptoeing into the lapping water, testing the strength of the waves.  Let's give ourselves a better chance to succeed, to feel good about ourselves, let's allow ourselves to reach our fullest potential.  Let's use the minimalist's approach, strip down to bare bones and chose one or two goals to pour our energy into for 2014!  Let's scale back the world around us and focus our viewfinder on one subject and snap the shutter.

 

Week One: The Minimalist Photograph - capture an image using a single subject

 

I was out for a walk and discovered this single leaf laying in my path that captured my attention and thought it would be perfect for this week's prompt. But once I got back home, I noticed that the shadow behind it and the concrete it was laying on completely distracted from it's minimalistic simplicity.

 

So instead, I captured one of my 'loves'.

 

Click to enlarge photo :-)

 

 

Isn't she a beauty?

 

Feel free to check out all the links below and see what Single Subjects the other players captured in their Minimalist Photograph this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and The Single Pearl!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

 

 

 

Focus on Life: Week 52 ~ Goodbye

Well, it's week 52 of the Focusing on Life: 52 Photos weekly photography challenge for 2013

 

Sally's last prompt for us this year was:

 

 

Goodbye

 

"Well, we are here at the end of our year long journey. It is time to say goodbye.  This week for one last time in 2013, I ask you to focus on how you would like to say farewell and then capture it in a photo(s)"

 

I'm certain that so many things went through your heads (and your hearts) for this prompt, as they did mine.

 

I thought of the Farewell song from the Sound of Music.  And, annoyingly, The Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" has been a constant (I am not really a big Beatles fan!) in my head all week long.

 

I thought of Shakespeare's, "Parting is such sweet sorrow,...." and Chaucer's "All good things must come to an end" and of course, the various fashions of the famous one liner in so many movies, "I bid you adieu".  

 

 I thought of how to capture a wave goodbye, some one walking alone down a road, boarding an airplane or leaving in a car,...all sorts of photographic ways of saying 'farewell'.

 

My thoughts were of saying 'Goodbye' and how I would wish you all well and much success and happiness in the coming year.

 

I was saddened to see this journey come to an end.

But happy that it happened and better off for it, too!

 

Then last week when Sally sent out the invitations for the 2014 Focus on Life: 52 Photo challenge, I was not so blue or sad about this last post of the year. 

 

I thought of the seasons that have come and gone only to come and go again and of how it can be bitter sweet to see things come to and end. 

Yet with the passing of the seasons, the days and the months, there's the endless cycle of hope.

 

Of renewal, of birth, of life. Of hello.

 

 

 

I'm excited to continue this journey and look forward to seeing what those of you who continue will be 'snappin' in 2014.  And, even if you don't pop in to share each week with photos, I will be sure to see you 'around' here online.

 

At least that is my hope.

 

So, I will end with this:

 

"May you fare well in these last few days of 2013 my friends.

I look forward to seeing you in the New Year!"

 

And in the famous words of Dr. Seuss,...

 

 

"Don't cry because it's over.

Smile because it happened!"

~Dr. Seuss~

 

Until Next Time, (I don't say goodbye well at all!)

Peace and Love!

Cheers,

~Shel~

*To sign up/register for the FOL: 52 Photos 2014*
Click HERE!

 

 

Focus on Life: Week 40 - Give Us A Smile!

So this week's prompt from Sally over at

The Studio Sublime was, "Give Us A SMILE!"

 

 

 

It really does help to lift the spirits of people when you give them a smile, or you get one in return.

 

These two are always smiling. 

 

The "Masked Rider"(Unmasked!) and his sweet and beautiful girlfriend.

 

Their future's are bright, they are both respectful of each other and those around them, they're funny, smart and all around good 'kids'.  

 

Seeing them happy, makes me smile! 

 

Scroll on down the page here or head over to the Studio Sublime to see who else is smiling and what they're smiling about this week won't you?

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and All Smiles!

Cheers,

~Shel~