The Muffed Target

The other day I said something to the effect of the almost full moon brushing the treetops before plunging into the mist.
Of course I wanted to take a photo because the scene was beautiful. However, I forgot to adjust the settings and got a massively overexposed imitation of an abstract painting.
What next? Adjust the settings and repeat action. Only, the battery thought better of it and refused to give enough power for another snap.
Oh well, an opportunity lost but more stuff to post for Thom's weekly meme.

Moonstruck

This morning...



Two days ago...

Reflecting on a sunny midday work break

Not the best photo - the light was too sharp - but it'll have to do...

A somewhat dark 55 on Friday

Her past haunted her. Tyrannic father, paedophillic neighbour, abusive therapist. Her almost 40 years older lover, an impotent pervert after her flesh. Dead... they were all dead now. However, he who asked her to marry him was very much alive. But how could she ever trust another man after all they had done to her?

The ultimate answer?

haiku my way

power lines
filling with swallows...
this urge to travel south

The Muffed Target

Alright, Thom, I'm in...
This is another definite delete:


It's hard to discern the subject of the photo as it blends too much with its surroundings. For that reason the autofocus didn't do its job particularly well. Besides, the lens in question is always soft at open appertures close to minimal focussing distance which, in this lens'case, is over a metre (actually, closer to 4 feet) at 300mm.

However, the photo can be improved (still not good enough to save for posterity but slightly better) which I have done solely in picasa: crop, contrasts, sharpening, a tiny bit of desaturation. These things could be done better in photoshop or some other picture editing programme but... well, picasa comes free...

Microfiction Monday

This just for fun...


A detective wants to see me? About my missing wife? Send him in. He'll never figure out she's with me in the surgery. Or what's left of her.

Resting rooster

He was enjoying a dust bath and hardly moved as I approached but he did give me a threatening glare. I knew better than to keep bothering him and moved on but not without a couple of his photos.

Some critters that kept me company today

Almost a miracle

This whole year there have been very very few Saturdays with nice weather. Sundays have been much better but if the weather was going to get messed up, it would surely happen on a Saturday.

Anyway, today was one such Saturday... mostly sunny and warm. A bit too humid to be perfect but still nice enough to be spent outdoors. So we set out to the surrounding hills and it turned out to be a good decision. There were not too many people around and I actually got to sit on a bench on the crest of a hill all by myself except for bees and butterflies and crickets and a green lizard keeping me company for a while.

All in all it was nice but my shoulders and face are showing signs of sunburn as a result of the lack of outdooor time this summer.

A bit of drama in the sky

senryu my way

new hairdo
getting up to date
with the gossip

The Muffed Target

Mostly cloudy and windy weather with occasional sunburst, 100mm macro lens (no built-in image stabilisation), all the nearly 6 feet of moi (sans built-in stabilisation), squatting down to try and capture this squash tendril, and what do you get? Instant delete - except now there is a meme for showcasing failures just like this. Mahalo Thom for hosting. Is fun.

Tonight I Can Write

This poem by Pablo Neruda speaks to me on so many levels that I simply have to share it... enjoy

*

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example,'The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before.
Her voice. Her bright body. Her inifinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

A morning shadow

About a month ago we even got some morning sunshine which, these days, is more or less just wishful thinking...

Some sky and a reflection

55 on Friday

Lightning tore the night apart.
Thunder roared.
Blinds rattled.
Rain bucketed down the windowpanes.
Wind wailed around the corners.
The storm in all its primal force pulsated through the land.
In a dark shelter two bodies sought warmth and found it in each other. Two strangers joined by a primal force conceived a new life.

Rural delight

Meeting some family in the middle of a wine growing country last Sunday. T'was nice. Not far from home - nothing is in a country like Slovenia that would almost fit in a teacup - but we come together on far too few occasions. When we do, however, we usually have a fairly good time, mostly thanks to the hosts.

haiku my way

ceaseless rain
i open another block
of dark chocolate

The Muffed Target (or something)

Mahalo Thom for taking this over.

*
Some would say this is a great shot.

Well, it isn't. The focus is not where it should be - and in macro type shots that is the head (eyes) of the critter you photograph - unless you want to break the rules and go for artistic impression (obviously not the case here).
In this shot the focus is behind - the sharpest parts are the body and the left pair of dragonfly's wings. Besides, the light is less than perfect; the sharp, intense middle-of-the-day light creates too much unwanted contrast and makes parts of the picture overexposed.
Also, the composition is too central. If there are enough pixels available, this could easily be corrected but as for the rest... well, better luck next time.

I'm adding a still not perfect but much better attempt below...

Failure of success?

You decide...


(the photo is of a dead vine on a wall)

Waiting...

for the sun to set...
for the clouds to close the sky...
for the storm to come...

The sun did set, the clouds came and went, this time the storm raged elsewhere although the thunder could be heard, and the bird flew off the roof.

One morning...

... when summer was still summer...
Haven't seen the sky this blue for a couple of weeks (there have been sunny periods but overall more rain than shine) so I needed a reminder it still exists.

55 on Friday

''So, when are we leaving tomorrow?''

''Well, you said 8.30...''

''I did? And just who was talking about early departure all the time?''

''But you told Boris we're setting off then.''

''Only because you weren't home and somebody had to say something. Besides...''

''Women! Why must you always have the last word?''

The sight and sound of reality

This used to be a lawn in front of out block of flats. Then the heavy machinery came to fix something that didn't need fixing and now part of the walkway is all dug up, the lawn ruined, the roaring and pounding the usual morning sounds. How pleasant!

The blackbird doesn't seem to mind, though...

haiku my way

the place i called home...
getting stuck in traffic jam
driving into town

*
this was a real experience from a few weeks ago. i forced it into 5-7-5 form although this is not my habit. for real use i would probably pare down this senryu (it is more senryu than haiku although the differencers can be subtle) and rephrase it - eliminate redundant stuff while still give all the necessary information - into something like this:

the place
i used to call home...
traffic jam

Of flowers and bees (well, flies) II

Another photo failure

a.k.a. 'when railing gets in the way of shooting a butterfly which, in the meantime, decides to change location'

Of flowers and bees

With the sun comes life...