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A 18 x 24 framed matted print of this is now available at Aiken Center For the Arts, This is a little different take from my normal type of shooting, but it's good to step out once in a while. Title for this one is "AN ILLUSION OF REALITY " A percentage of the sale goes to the Aiken Center to help support them, their are a real treasure for Aiken.  #BODIELIGHTHOUSE,#BOOKCOVER,#IMPRESSIONSTIC, #ANILLUSIONOFREALITY#MINDSEYEPHOTOGRAPHY, #DSOWENS, #MINDSEYE,#FINEARTPHOTOGRAPHY, #BLACKANDWHITEPHOTOGRAPHY, #BOOKCOVER,#DSOWENSCOM,#HOTELART, #ARTDECO, #BNW, #FINEEYEPHOTOGRAPHY,#OUTBANKS,#EDISTO,#LANDSCAPES, #FORREST, #TREES, #PATHWAYS, #INTERIORDESIGN, #INTERIORDECO,#MINDSEYEPHOTOGRAPHY, #DSOWENS, #MINDSEYE,#FINEARTPHOTOGRAPHY, #BLACKANDWHITEPHOTOGRAPHY, #BOOKCOVER,#DSOWENSCOM,#HOTELART, #ARTDECO, #BNW, #FINEEYEPHOTOGRAPHY,#OUTBANKS,#EDISTO,#LANDSCAPES, #FORREST, #TREES, #PATHWAYS, #INTERIORDESIGN, #INTERIORDECO,
Found this flower blooming on the Edisto River at Aiken State Park, in May of this year, and thought how unusual it looked, something like a bottle brush, but different, so took some pics, and found out it's a "Itea virginica" commonly known as "Virginia Willow", or "Virginia Sweetspire". Photo # (state park-62)  #edistoriver,#aikenstatepark,#virginiawillow,#flowers, #blackandwhitephotography, #mindseyephotography,
IT'S MAYBE EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (#LOTUS B&W 61) #FINEARTPHOTOGRAPHY,#MINDSEYEPHOTOGRAPHY,#BNW,#BLACKANDWHITEPHOTOGRAPHY,#DSOWENS, #LOTUSFLOWER,#INDIANLOTUS,#SACREDLOTUS,#NELUMBONUCIFERA,#FINEEYEPHOTOGRAPHY, #BNWFLOWERS  Well, the truck is no longer for sale, something about it wouldn't start I think, but, you're still in luck though, the print of the truck is for sale! Sorry, shameless promotion, maybe even bait & switch, guilty... but, man, wouldn't this look good hanging on the wall in a man cave, or even my son's bonus room ! (#RA-2261)  This is titled "PEPPER No.30" By Edward Weston, in 1930's, it's just an unusual shaped bell pepper, but he turned it into Modern Abstract Art, he worked for a week just shooting peppers. To quote Weston, he said , "It is classic, completely satisfying,-----a pepper-----but more than a pepper: abstract, in that it is completely outside subject matter. It has no psychological attributes , no human emotions are aroused: this new pepper takes one beyond the world we know in the conscious mind, this one take one into an inner reality----the absolute-----with clear understanding, a mystic revealment. This is the "significant presentation" that I mean, the presentation through one's intuitive self, SEEING "through one's eye, not with them"; the visionary. In my opinion this is what I feel is lacking in today's teaching of photography, it seems to be about teaching about the gear and the software, but not about the ability to see the images before you take it in one's mind, most of the great photographers understood this, Ansel Adams, would wait for hours for the shot that he had in his mind, before taking it. IT'S JUST A PEPPER ??   This use to be a school in Saluda county, try to imagine !
I hear about this school from several people and many directions as to where it was at, and it took me quite a few trips to find it.  Quite often it is necessary to remove the clutter from your overworked mind, according to the Dalai Lama, one should seek at least an half hour each day to be alone, in order to refresh the mind. But, I find it necessary to get out in nature , hopefully at least once a week to free my mind. It works best for me to take the camera along, as this makes me look at things differently, and inversely causes my mind to concentrate on anything other than the reoccurring information that caused me to seek the solitude of nature in the first place. This event is best preformed by being alone, with no expectation of what to expect ! Just wander the local park or sit at your local coffee shop, or in bad weather, retreat to your local library, find a seat with a view of the outside, and just wait...... soon you will be drifting away in a barrage of new thoughts and you will feel the weight of the issues you had earlier diminishing, and in some cases you’ll see some solutions that you didn’t see before.. Bonus points!
I even have had success by just escaping to the front porch late in the day, and plugging in some ambient music and watch the clouds flow by. Give it a try, all you have to lose is a half hour if it doesn’t work, but , I feel it will be time well spent! Cheers ! Awe inspiring I received an email from an artist friend that received it from one of her artist friends, about bringing more AWE into your life. It is a very moving piece of work. I somewhat addressed this in my own words in a previous blog post sometime ago, titled “Natural High”. But this article does a much better job of explaining it, and I felt it was worthy of sharing it to Y’all. Enjoy, and leave your feelings about this if you are so moved! Keep shooting!  How to Bring Awe Into Your Daily Life
We have all experienced it, even if we didn’t know what to call it. Whether we’re overlooking a beautiful view after a challenging hike or watching a new leaf grow on the plant we’ve been nurturing in lockdown, the feeling we get in that moment—amazed, inspired, transported—is what researchers call awe. In his new book, “Awestruck,” psychologist Jonah Paquette explains the process underlying the experience of awe and uncovers both its complexity and its value to our well-being. Walking readers through various scientific findings, he shows that awe helps improve our relationships, decrease our stress, and make us happier. By illustrating awe’s many benefits, Paquette gives us a reason to seek more awe experiences in our lives—and then shows us how to do it. How We Experience Awe An awe experience, as Paquette defines it, involves two primary components: encountering “vastness” and experiencing transcendence. Vastness happens when we come across a view (like a spectacular sunset) or concept (such as the existence of black holes) that is too incredible to fit into our current worldview, forcing us to expand our understanding of what is possible. Transcendence happens when we take in this new, awe-striking idea or image in front of us and try to make sense of it. Not only is awe a pleasant feeling akin to wonder, it also helps us to experience a different relationship with the world around us, says Paquette. When we are overcome with awe, he explains, we often experience a “small self”—the sense of our ego becoming smaller, and our needs, hopes, and purpose more integrated with the people and environment surrounding us. “Awe blurs the line between the self and the world around us, diminishes the ego, and links us to the greater forces that surround us in the world and the larger universe,” he writes. In that way, awe can serve a dual purpose, improving our well-being while bringing us together. The Benefits of Awe Like many positive emotions, awe can make us feel good. But awe goes beyond that, helping us to connect with others. Here are some of the main benefits of awe, as recounted by Paquette. Awe decreases stress levels. Awe has been shown to reduce stress levels in both the short term and the long term. In one study described in the book, researchers examined the impact of an awe experience on stress levels among both urban high school students and war veterans. Participants taken on a one-day river rafting trip had reduced levels of stress and symptoms of PTSD that were maintained weeks later. Critically, it wasn’t just spending time outdoors that seemed to lead to reduced symptoms, but nature’s specific ability to induce a sense of awe. The evidence supporting the link between spending time outdoors, experiencing awe, and lower stress levels “has become so persuasive that many physicians have begun to ‘prescribe’ time spent in nature or in green spaces, the way one might typically prescribe a new medication,” says Paquette. Awe increases generosity and kindness. In a study conducted at the University of California–Berkeley, researchers had students spend a minute either gazing up in the middle of the campus’s eucalyptus grove or staring at a drab science building. When a “stranger” (actually, someone working for the researchers) walked by and “accidentally” dropped a box of pens, participants who experienced awe by gazing up at the trees were more likely to help the stranger collect the pens. Later, the same participants also scored lower on entitlement and demonstrated a higher degree of ethical decision-making. Other studies have also found a link between awe and generosity and kindness. Feeling awe makes us more willing to help those in need, and in turn increases our sense of connection to others. “By enabling us to feel connected to each other, form alliances, act generously, and explore new possibilities, it stands to reason that the story of humans would not be possible without awe,” he writes. Awe makes us happier and more satisfied with life. Paquette points readers toward numerous studies that demonstrate how awe can impact our mood. In one study conducted a few years ago, participants were shown a slideshow of either commonplace nature scenes (like an oak tree) or awe-inspiring nature scenes (like the Grand Canyon) and were asked questions regarding their mood both before and after the slideshow. Both groups showed improvements in mood, but those who watched the awe-inspiring slideshow reported a far greater improvement. While awe can make us happy in the short term, research has shown that this benefit lasts, too. In a study from UC Berkeley, researchers had participants track their mood and awe experiences over several weeks. They found that people experienced awe two times per week, on average, and that having awe experiences led them to have greater well-being and life satisfaction even weeks later. These are only a few among multiple studies that, according to Paquette, confirm our intuition: Awe makes us feel good. By reducing stress, increasing generosity, and improving our life satisfaction, awe really is good for us. How to Experience Awe in Everyday life Given that awe has these benefits, says Paquette, we should try to experience it more in our everyday lives. Though many of us may only associate awe with special vacations or occasions—like graduation ceremonies or visits to the Grand Canyon—he describes numerous ways we can incorporate awe into daily routines (and help intensify the experience, too). Hilton Head Island at Shelter Cove, at sunset.   CHAPMANS POND
Took a ride yesterday morning in the fog looking for shots, well not much fog here, but I still liked it. This was my uncles pond a long time ago, and they even baptize people from Talatha Baptish Church here.  AUGUSTA LOCK & DAM
A little play on the location. From my new BnW collection. "Through The Trees" from the Homeland Gardens- Study #1  Took this images donkey years ago while on leave in Japan from Vietnam, took it with my Nikon film camera (a Nikkormat FTN - which I still have) and a 205mm lens, while riding on a bus, part of the reason it's not very sharp at all, but I still liked it.  |
