7/3/12

52 Photos Project: A Different Pathway

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This week's prompt for the 52 Photos Project is "A Different Pathway".  We are told:

often it is easy for us to travel the known way.
we run on autopilot, not really thinking about 
where we are going, because it is all so familiar.
for this week, try a new way. turn left instead of right.
follow a road just to see where it leads you.
what surprises are waiting for you?



This image was taken at the Portland Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.  It was my first time visiting the Japanese Garden, although I had lived in Portland for nearly 30 years at the time.  Visiting the garden was a new experience, and I was there for a specific reason.  I was enrolled in a photography course at the New York Institute of Photography and I was there to complete an assignment.  I was newly retired from a career that had almost literally drained the life from me, and I was exploring ideas for what to do with the years I had left.  Photography had captured my imagination and learning about it was opening up new pathways to creativity.  My decision to take up quilting was still one year into the future.  

The assignment I was there to complete had to do with timed exposures.  I knew there was a waterfall at the Japanese Garden, and so I went there to do a timed exposure of the water.  I wanted to capture the movement of the water and create that bridal veil look.  This is the image I came up with to fulfill the assignment.


As I perused the group of images I have from the Japanese Garden, I was reminded how much I enjoyed my morning there.  I'm thinking I'll have to go back again.  Soon.

To see more images from this week's gallery, click here:

21 comments:

Kate said...

Beautiful images.

We spent only an hour in the Japenese Garden on our one visit to Portland. It's reason alone to go back. It is a beautiful place.

Junebug613 said...

Both images are amazing. I have recently decided to start checking out local things I've driven past for years. My first adventure was a small bridge for the sidewalk on a road I travel to and from work. Just looked interesting and gave a different perspective to the road.

The Slow Quilter said...

The pictures look great and I think you have got the bridal veil look.

Denise :) said...

Wow...gorgeous! I think I'd like to be at that place right about now! Preferably, underneath the falls! :)

Jocelyn said...

I love these pictures Barbara. Beautiful!

Teresa in Music City said...

As always, your photos are beautiful and evocative! I have visited the Japanese gardens in San Francisco and the botanical gardens on Catalina Island. Both just amazing! I may have to put these in Portland on my list :*)

Katrin said...

Beautiful, absolutely stunning!

Judy1522 said...

Your pictures are beautiful. It has been a long time since I have been there (about 20 years) and I don't remember the waterfall or the steps. Guess I need to go again.

Bella Cirovic said...

Beautiful!

michelle gd said...

that waterfall is gorgeous :)

make.share.give said...

Been thinking about how (you said) social work drained the life out of you.
I've been on Grand Jury this year. We meet a couple times a month, and it makes me feel the same way. The first few times I cried all evening, and a few times I've cried in the jury room. Our local judge is a friend from college and I don't know how she does it- hearing this sad stuff day in and day out.
I've had years that social workers met once a week with as many as four children in my class, but this year they were well cared for. I'm very appreciative for the years you put in!

annie said...

So very pretty!

Alexa said...

I'd say you got an A++ on that assignment—good start for a well-earned retirement!

Anonymous said...

I love both of those photos. If I'm ever back up in that area again, I will have to visit the gardens.

quiltzyx said...

Beautiful shots. I see another art quilt in the one with the staircase....

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! It's amazing the beauty a a moist climate can produce! Nice captures for the topic this week!

Linda W. said...

Beautiful images! I too live in Portland, but haven't visited the Japanese Gardens in years. Your photos are inspiring me to go there soon.

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

I love Japanese gardens. My wife and I have been going to a couple of them here in Texas ever since we were dating over 20 years ago. Blessings!

leonie wise said...

those stairs are just begging for me to climb them!

Katie said...

Gorgeous!

Tracey said...

stunning photos!!