“High Strung”
“From lights, to streamers, to celebratory garlands, a simple strand of something special makes everything more festive. Look around you and discover what’s ‘hanging’ around,” read today’s photo prompt. I was stumped at first, as I usual am with these daily emails. The idea of celebration and being festive gave me the clue that led to today’s photo:
Dear friends of ours have a Mardi Gras party each year. Although that party is still more than a month away, I thought of our large stash of purple, gold and green beads. These “disco ball” style beads are a recent addition to the collection. The sun again graced us with its presence here in Massachusetts, so I thought these beads and the sunshine might make a fun combination.
This simple looking shot took a bit of ingenuity. First, I wrapped the three strands of beads together with a smaller strand, and used the smaller strand to hang the whole cluster from the curtain rod above my sliding glass door. I started taking pictures. They were okay, but not what I expected with the beads hanging in beautful sunshine. Next, I went back to the white sheet I used the other day for the flower backdrop and tried with the sheet hanging just behind the beads on a near-by cupboard. Couldn’t get an angle I liked. Then, I spread the sheet along the curtain rod, opened the slider, and went outside into the briskly cold day. (Daytime high of 20°F today) I clicked away at my sunshiney beads until a cloud moved in, all the while leaving the sliding door wide open so I wouldn’t have the glass interfering with my shot! (Hubby, if you are reading this, I apologize if the heat bill spikes a bit for today!)
Karma's When I Feel Like It Blog 
The things we do for the sake of a picture! 😉
I like it, it’s nice and cheerful on this dreary day. (My first thought was “disco ball”!)
Comment by thedailyclick — January 23, 2011 @ 3:09 pm |
Cheerful was my thought too! Although we’ve been cold ’round here, it hasn’t been dreary lately. It was nice to catch the sun shining on those disco balls!
Comment by Karma — January 23, 2011 @ 9:11 pm |
Don’t you just love it when a plan finally comes together… Isn’t it amazing though how sometimes what you think will be the simplest of shots turns in to something utterly frustrating.. or thoroughly enjoyable depending on your outlook.. lol.. 😉
Comment by FS Photography — January 23, 2011 @ 3:57 pm |
I think if a shot didn’t turn out sooner rather than later (like yesterday!)it definitely would have moved toward frustrating due to the cold temps today (overnight lows are expected to be -17 degrees F, which I think is about -27 in Celcius).
Comment by Karma — January 23, 2011 @ 9:15 pm |
WOW… Now THAT is cold… Now 20f I could put up with for the sake of a photograph, but you’d not get me out of the house at -17f… That’s insanely cold… Brrrrr…
Comment by FS Photography — January 24, 2011 @ 6:11 pm
These are abnormally low temps for this area – and I agree, no way you’d catch me out taking photos at -17. I don’t suspect the camera would like it all that much either.
Comment by Karma — January 24, 2011 @ 10:08 pm
I agree with “The Daily Click” – we do some crazy things for that perfect photo, don’t we! But, when we see the finished result, it all comes together, and it looks great! Nice job!! 🙂
Comment by photobyholly — January 23, 2011 @ 4:07 pm |
That’s been a good thing about this Picture Winter class! I’ve done some crazy things to come up with pictures this month, but that’s good – otherwise I’d likely be moping around about having nothing to shoot.
Thanks Holly.
Comment by Karma — January 23, 2011 @ 9:18 pm |
Mardi Gras!! That was my first thought when I saw your photo, before reading the text. You can’t get much more festive than that. 🙂 I love the way the beads look like disco balls.
It’s amazing what we do for a good shot. Maybe we have to be a little bit crazy to be artists.
Comment by Robin — January 23, 2011 @ 5:28 pm |
Purple, gold and green are dead give-aways for Mardi Gras, aren’t they?
An artist, eh? I guess I never really thought of myself that way. Thanks for the thought, Robin, even if I am a little crazy!
Comment by Karma — January 23, 2011 @ 9:20 pm |
I’m still wrapping my mind around the concept of being an artist, Karma. But that’s what we do. That’s what you do. Look at how you interpret the prompts (creatively and brilliantly, with your own twist). The photos may not always be up to “professional standards” when viewed by those looking for certain style elements (or those looking to follow the rules), but they are expressions of you and your views on life. To me, that’s art. So yes, an artist. Eh. 🙂
Comment by Robin — January 23, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
I like the way you think Robin! (and I’m not sure why we’ve stuck that Canadian “eh” on the end of our lines! LOL!)
Comment by Karma — January 24, 2011 @ 10:03 pm
I really like this, Karen! I like your composition, the color and the light.
Comment by Becky Sue — January 24, 2011 @ 8:55 am |
Thank you!
Comment by Karma — January 24, 2011 @ 10:05 pm |
I like your perseverance and your creative problem-solving. Also your sparkly purple and green and gold cheer! I’m curious. Did you try different backgrounds before settling on the white, or was white your choice to begin with?
Comment by Gerry — January 24, 2011 @ 3:19 pm |
Thanks Gerry. I didn’t try other backgrounds unless you count my glass door and my cupboard which just ended up in the background. The white sheet was available, and I thought if it worked for the flowers, it might work for the beads.
Comment by Karma — January 24, 2011 @ 10:07 pm |
And work it did. I am, of course, going to steal the idea.
Comment by Gerry — January 26, 2011 @ 9:07 am |
Steal away! I will love to see what you do with it.
Comment by Karma — January 26, 2011 @ 7:51 pm
It’s always the ‘simple-looking’ shots that are the most complicated! You did good! 🙂
(We made it through the deep freeze…now we need to survive the Nor’easter that is hitting Wednesday night! I so envy the bears that hibernate!)
Comment by milkayphoto — January 24, 2011 @ 8:49 pm |
Thanks, Tracy.
You’d think good ol’ Mama Nature could lay off us for a while, couldn’t she?
Comment by Karma — January 24, 2011 @ 10:09 pm |
Actually, I’ve been trying to figure out who the heck pissed off heat miser so much that he has foresaken us and is allowing his cold brother to do whatever he wants!
Comment by milkayphoto — January 24, 2011 @ 10:37 pm