April's Best Candid Captures

As promised here are my favorite candid "street" photographs from April.  I put street in quote because it is more like park photographs that I adapt the street photography technique too.   There were so many great photos to choose from that it had it hard to narrow it down to my "fave five" .  If there is a favorite that you have seen before that I didn't include I would love to hear which one.
 
These photos are a mix of black and white and colour.  I like using both for street photography depending on which suits the story the best.  For these photos I decided not to include a short description for each like I did yesterday.  Street photographs tell their own story to each viewer so I would love to hear what your favorite photos are what story it is telling you.  I will reply to your comment with what I loved about the story when I took the photo.  Hope you enjoy :)
 

 
 

 
 

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April's Best Urban and Landscapes

I had mentioned earlier in the week that this past weeked I went through all of the photos I shot in April.  I thought I would share what I believe to be my best shots from the past month in a two part series.  I hope you enjoy! 
 
 

 
 
The colours on this sunrise were just magnificent.  I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to capture it.


 

 
I just loved the flow of the colours in this picture and the angled tree taking up most of the frame.
 
 

I loved the juxtaposition of old versus new in this photo.  You have an elderly man sitting on one side of the river listening to his old radio in his old chair stairing across at the bright vibrant restaurant

 
The menancing clouds in this photo are what make it one of my favourites.  It just seems appropriate to have a photo with a lighthouse in such stormy conditions.
 
 

I loved how the edges of the willows where lit up by the street lights and the unfocused lights in the background play off each other.  Makes the willow feel like it is under a spotlight
 
 

 
This was an experimental photo that I took that received a lot of positive feedback.  Usually when I am out I play around with some different perspectives to see what happens.  In this case I find it really messes with your senses because because the wall is curving in such an unnatural way. 
 
Well those are my favorite "scape" photos from April.  Stay tuned tomorrow for my favorite candids.  I have found a place that will do fairly cheap prints.  I have considered putting a couple of the best photos available for prints but would like to hear from you?  Would any of you be interested in that?
 
Also I am curious, is there a favorite image that I have shown over the past month that didn't make it on this list?
 
 

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Imagine....Living in Peace

Note: This is not my usual post reflections but it was pretty powerful reflection and I thought I would share it with you all.  I hope you enjoy

As human’s, one of our most natural instincts is retatialitation after we are hurt.  But how many times have we all heard growing up as children, “be the bigger person”.  From a very early age we are being taught to ignore and overcome this urge for retaliation. 

Yesterday while driving home from the passport office I was listening to the version of “Imagine” sung by Eva Cassidy and it got me reflecting on this most natural of instincts as it relates to recent world events, the death of Osama Bin Laden.  If there is any topic/discussion that will polarize your ethics and morals it is this. 

From one standpoint justice has finally delivered for the horrible events that took place on September 11, 2001 and all the lives lost since.  For many, including those that lost loved ones in this tragedy, this must finally bring a bit of solace, comfort, and closure.  This is the root that drives our need for retaliation isn't it?  To bring comfort and closure to our own circumstances? 

But I ask what really did the death of Osama Bin Laden achieve, other than just one more death in this seemingly ever lasting battle between Western and Middle Eastern cultures?  Lets not be naive to think that with this death the battle between the two cultures will be over and the "war" of terror is finished.  Instead, did his death just potentially make it worse?  How many more lives are going to be lost when Bin Laden’s followers give in to their basic needs for retaliation?  Will we retaliate once again after their retaliation?  When will it stop, or will it?

As I was getting lost in my reflection and listening to the beautiful lyrics of the song I was reminded of the powerful words of Martin Luther King Jr.  

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

We grow up being taught to be the “bigger person” and overcome our urges for retaliation but somewhere along the way that lesson seems to be lost.  There has been over $1 trillion dollars spent on the retaliatory “war” on terror.  Let me repeat that, $1 trillion dollars.  Now imagine if that money was spent towards building relationships between the two cultures so that there is understanding and love instead retaliation and hatred, what a different world that would be. 

Let me leave you with the epic words of John Lennon that actually inspired this reflection for me:

“Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

living life in peace

you may say that i’m a dreamer,

but I’m not the only one. 

I hope that someday you will join me

and the world will live as one.”

Remember “Hate cannot drive out hate”, lets get back to the lessons of being the bigger person we learnt as children, try to make this a better place to live. 

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April Showers bring May Showers??

What ever happened to that poem where the April showers were supposed to bring May flowers? Apparently this year our April showers decided to bring us some more showers for May. 

This past weekend was one that mimicked the weather quite literally for me.  I had my sunny moments and my cloudy moments.  The weekend started with my first "setback" in quite sometime (the cloudy period).  I put setback in quotes because it wasn't a true setback but more of a stalling period.  I have been having mild GVHD flare ups in my face and eyes since Thursday so I decided to put off tapering my steroids until I see the doctor this Friday.  I was disapointed with not being able to conitnue with my weekly success of tapering but I would rather let my body calm down a bit than going back to the days of not being able to see and 200mg doses of steroids :)  Because of the flare ups in my eyes, I was very careful not spend much time on my computer from Friday to today to ensure they had time to recover. 
 


The weather on Saturday was just beautiful here, which was quite fitting as it was the final day of April and signified not only a changing to May but also numerous milestones that I have achieved.  To celebrate and enjoy the weather I went out for an extra long walk and take some photos.  I didn't get to many keepers as my 1km radius is getting pretty stale (more on that in a later post) but I was fortunate to find a swan's nest that I am sure will render some great shots in the future with my longer lens.  I didn't want to get to close with my 50mm as I could tell the mother swan was getting stressed with my prescence so I decided I would wait until I had somemore reach.

With the passing of April, it brought with it my achievement of 3 milestones. 

1. First, I have officially passed through day 130 post transplant.  Now that I am outside of 100 days I don't pay as much attention to this but when I do stop and reflect it still pretty amazing how far I have come.  The next big date I will looking forward to is Day +150.
2. Although, I have been blogging for over a year now I was very sporadic and not very serious about it at the beginning.  On November 1st of last year I redesigned my blog and rededicated myself to it.  My "serious" blog has now been in existence for 6 months.  I looked over some stats and since November first my blog has registered over 27,500 pageviews!!  That number blew me away.  I never in a million years would have thought people would have enjoyed my thoughts so much when I started this project.
3. Finally, with the closing of April brought the completion of my 30 days in my Project 365.  It was an interesting first 30 days.  Sometimes I had to just snap a photo or two just to keep the "streak" alive but for the most part I was very dedicated to using the project as a catalyst for improvement.  What is pretty amazing is of the entire 30 days I only left my 1 km radius once to take pictures.  This really pushed me from a creative standpoint to start looking much diffferently at things to find new and interesting ways to shoot the same areas.  I am hoping I will start a little more "venturing" out in May but I do think there still is more growth for me here in my little "world" on the lake :)
4. This isn't a milestone but with the completion of the first 30 days I decided to go over all my images and pick my "best of".  I will be sharing with you these shots in the coming days so look out for it. :)

As I said my weekend mimicked the weather and the sunny weather didn't last long as May has decided to bring showers instead of flowers.  On Sunday I developed a bit of a cough that has been present since.  I can assume that on Friday I will be sent back into the CT scanner to make sure it isn't anything serious.

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