Bruja´s 52 (Part 2) + Texture (phew, I made it to the end)

SarahLee said:
Well first things first . . . Happy anniversary to you :) Thanks Sarah

It looks like you were on the same wavelength as me this week . . . again. Although I think I found the grungiest location. And possibly the smelliest, although in that house was the odour of sun baked, and by the evidence, human, 'waste'. :gag:

I was having a quick look at these at work today. I know that my work monitor is VERY dark, but in this case I think these shots actually looked better. Especially No.1. The darkness seemed to provide a better contrast with the light from the window. At home (and I think this monitor is closer to what everyone else sees) it looks a little bit too crisp and clear. Well I wanted the contrast between the clean light streaming in showing the details of 'after the fire'.

Ironically, that's what I would normally like to see in a shot but with the grunge theme I think maybe darker is better :shrug:

No.1 is definitely the better shot IMO. I like the light and I even like the bit of lens flare. There's very nice flaky texture on the walls too that works well with the theme. That's where the paint has been blackened and peeled away by the fire.

Very, very best of luck with your photobook. I think the before and after is a great idea, although it's a shame that this type of location is becoming so sterilised and being stripped of its character :( It's going to be a winter activity for me I think because the temperature here is just right now, the sun is shining and it's great weather for photography:). Just hope I don't come across any more disappointments
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karmagarda said:
I think any of the grunge shots work really well. I commend anyone getting a good shot for this! I've been thinking about it since I got home... and NADA!

Anyway, for you
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Thanks KG. As I said earlier the subject does nowt for me, but we have to go with what we are given
:shrug:
maddog.mark said:
Ohh the b&w treatment works really well, mind you the first shot isn't exactly shabby.....

Happy Anniversary... Louise and I celebrate 15 years on Thursday!
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Thanks MM and congratulations and Happy Anniversary to you too.
 
Dark Star said:
Jill having been slapped on the wrist for my late comments by you today I thought I'd catch up with you first :)

Oo er missus :lol:
Belated Happy Anniversary! Thanks John.

I kinda like the flare and the bright sunshine on the left balances (for me anyway ) the grungey wall on the right! Just what I was aiming for :thumbs:

Total delapidation True Grunge!

A good read and a good shot. That's me, a fountain of useless information ;)
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kennysarmy said:
Grunge shot...

can almost sense a ghost about to walk across the frame at any moment!!!

I like the shot...well done :)
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Thanks for that :thumbs:
 
Well I knew what I wanted to write about as soon as I saw this theme, but, as I said to jeangenie, I thought the picture would be a b****r to pull off (and I was right!) and I'm not ecstatic with the result.

If you've seen my mono shot then you will have read the poem by R D Laing, strangely named after me. So I decided to give it a try myself (with apologies the Rudyard Kipling.)

RESPECT​

If you look in the mirror
and don't like what you see

If you look in the mirror
and it's not who you would be

If you look in the mirror
and all you see are faults

If you look in the mirror
and all you see are wants

If you look in the mirror
and can't see past your face

You need more self-respect my friend
as you are who you see


Distorted over time and space
your memories will say
that who you see is who you were
back then, and all you did
the past is gone, for right or wrong
now leave it all behind
your life is what is now my friend
so don't be so unkind
enjoy your life and like yourself
and live without regret
the past is dead
you did your best

It's time to let it go​


If the words make you cringe I'm sorry. It's my first try at this :(

RESPECT​


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,

Major lesson learned this week (way too late)

Have your laptop in the same room as your camera, not the one furthest away because by the 5th lot of pictures you will be exhausted :bonk:
 
I don't know quite what to say, Jill. Your poem is heartfelt, a snapshot of your journey from self-loathing to self-respect, and very, very moving. You are one amazing woman - and don't you dare argue with me about that, or I really will have to send in the heavies. :bat:

I don't think I would ever be brave (or honest) enough to share my life in the way you have.

The picture is almost irrelevant - or it would be if it wasn't so good. Another terrific sp, and your confident happy pose is a perfect illustration for the poem.

Your learning point was a wine-splattered keyboard moment. :lol: I hope you've recovered. :)

Jean
 
As Jean said your learning point was a giggle moment, I love your words as always :)

I think the picture has worked really well, there is no visable camera which is a big plus imo and your pose really suits the theme :D
 
Superb poem Jill. Bought goosebumps up on my neck... And a stunning self portrait to match. I bet that was hard work running back and forwards to check and reshoot...

Spot on theme both text and image :thumbs:
 
First of all thank you for my B&W grunge shot...I know it was only for me really...:love:

Respect for someone I've never met and only contact once a week (if I'm lucky) I have a lot of Respect for you, you always bring a different approach to all the Themes we have each week and some are truly brilliant...:clap:

But you really got to Respect anyone whos willing to do self portraits on here, so to me you have even more than the loads of Respect I had before...:clap::clap::clap:
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:

Absolutely nothing to cringe about with that poem. It's honest, heartfelt and not overly sentimental - really hits the mark.

It doesn't look like it was an easy shot to pull off - especially running from room to room for your laptop (although that did make me smile!).
Very, very well done. The perseverance paid off and you managed to get the camera positioned perfectly.

I'm always amazed by how much you share of yourself on your thread and it makes it something very special to read. You certainly have my respect for that and it adds a whole other level to the theme this week.

p.s. Re: grunge. sun-baked human "waste" - I think your location might just have been a bit smellier than mine :lol:
 
Another great interpretation on the theme and the words ring so true as well:clap:
 
Excellent! :clap: throughout the last few weeks you've made me look forward to either your pictures or your words! And you've delivered me both in true style yet again! :thumbs:
 
Superb Jill, superb, there have been a few self portraits in the 52s, mine included and an earlier one of yours, but this is perhaps the most meaningful.

The poem is lovely and fits the image and the theme with which it is coupled wonderfully too (lets have more poems :D)

Its a great shot and, as Ruth says, no hint of a camera! :scratches head: and great eye contact!

You have my respect as I suspect you do of most people who have read your words and seen your work in this challenge! :thumbs:
 
Well, it's been a horrible week. When I move my eyes I feel dizzy and nauseous. I'm really tired and my joints hurt. I'm wobbly on my feet and very clumsy. I've knocked 3 glasses over just today!

So I want to say sorry for not keeping up with your 52s and thank you for all the lovely comments you've made on my Repect theme, and my first poem.

I don't know if I'll get a picture in this week, but I know it doesn't matter. It's the first week I haven't managed but I can't even think about it at the moment.

I know this will pass and I thank you all for the support you give me. I was reduced to tears with the comments I received this week. But sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

It's the TP Convention in 2 weeks and I'm definitely going to be there!

I hope some of you will be too. :D

Jill
 
Yes, I do hope you are feeling better soon....chin up!;)
 
I'm sorry to hear that Jill. I hope you feel much better very soon, and enjoy the convention.
 
Hope your feeling a bit better soon Jill

It's not the same without you...:shake:

But that just makes the return all the more Special for me...:love:

So see you when your feeling up to it...:hug:
 
Aww, I was looking forward to yours this week too :'(. Hope you feel better soon :)
 
So what is Friendship?

I must admit it is something of a puzzle to me.

I don't have any friends from childhood, from school, from previous work, from university. My oldest friend is from 8 years ago and I can count on one hand the number of friends I actually have.

I think I maybe tried too hard, out of insecurity, and this weakness was eventually exploited in secondary school where I so wanted to fit in and as a result, as I've told you earlier, I was bullied.

It also meant that sometimes (alright, often :() I confused affection and friendship with sex, which, with my self-esteem issues at the time wasn't really surprising.

I said to one of my friends last year that I found friendships difficult as I didn't know the rules. She was shocked by this and replied that there aren't any rules. But I replied that you can say that because you know what they are, you learned them at an early age, whilst all I learned was mistrust!

So, making friends has always been difficult although I seem to be getting the hang of it at last. Mind you, I've made a lot of mistakes along the way, trusting where I shouldn't have. In my case the saying 'you find out who your real friends are when you are in a crisis' is certainly true. :(

This happened 3 years ago, and I should have listened to the things I told my patients when they were unhappy about the way a 'friend' behaved.

Some friends are good friends and some are 'toxic' friends. And sometimes we mistake the 2.

A good friendship is one where there is a relatively equal amount of giving and taking whereas a toxic friendship is pretty much all about taking. But they can be very subtle about it. These people can appear good fun and make you feel very relaxed, but, in hindsight, after you really needed them and they didn't deliver, you realise they only ever talked about themselves, and when you interrupted they weren't listening but just waiting for a chance to continue their story.

Another type of toxic friend is the one that appears very supportive but subtly attacks your self esteem. For example (and this didn't happen to me), you are a woman with a very responsible job that requires a lot of psychological and social skills. Your husband dies and you find out he was an alcoholic and had left you in serious debt. A few years pass and you have dug yourself out of the hole he left you in. You continue to meet regularly over this time with a group of old friends, but every now and then one of them says 'but how could you not know?'. And this is still happening more than 5 years after his death :shrug:

That is someone using someone else's tragedy to make themselves feel superior. But what is it doing to the so called 'friend' who goes through the same range of emotions every time this is said?

So friendship for me is still a bit of a difficult subject, but I have to say that my best friend is MrB :love: but you've already had a couple of pictures of him so here's one of my cats instead :D

I realise that to Mimi I'm just a servant, but she gives me a lot of comfort and 'affection'. I tried to get one of her and Scooby together as they are really good 'friends and sleep curled into each other, but any cat owner out there will know how unpredictable the little beggars can be ;)



FRIENDSHIP​


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Welcome back....:wave:

So glad you feel well enough to bring us a lovely shot of Mimi she has such beautiful eyes, and the focus is spot on for me...

Brilliant and a big X from all your friends on this site...well over the half a dozen you think you have...:thumbs:
 
Welcome back Jill, I'm glad you're feeling better. You're on form with your writings this week... Wow... and what a great shot of Mimi. Spot on focus, the setting works superbly too.
 
You're back, and wow, back in style! Yet again more amazing words from you. And I love the picture. You really made those eyes pop! Love it :clap:
 
Yea, the book is back....with a good shot too!!! ;)
 
Good words Jill and a lovely shot - the plain background and the compostion elevate this above the average pet shot and the colours are lovely - those eyes :) A fine looking friend :)

Welcome back!
 
Thanks everyone for your comments.

I'm going to be late again this week and I promise I will catch up with you all this week.

And a big X back to you all :love:
 
Glad to see you back and I hope that you're feeling better.

Great words again this week . . . very heartfelt.
I often think that it's the quality of friendship that matters much more than the quantity, but I think you've probably got far more friends than you actually realise (especially if you count your virtual friends on here)

This week though I was so drawn in by the photo that I almost missed the words altogether. Those eyes! Almost hypnotic.

Mimi is a truly beautiful girl and you've really done her justice in that photo. I just love that plain simple background against her creamy coat.
I know that animal photography isn't easy, but you've pulled off a great shot this week.

Brilliant interpretation of the theme too :clap:
 
A belated 'welcome back' from me, Jill. And I shall look forward to Fresh Starts whenever you are able to do it. :)

First of all the photo: This is stunning. You've caught the texture of Mimi's fur so beautifully I found myself reaching out to stroke the screen. Honestly. :) Her expression and those gorgeous blue eyes are lovely, and I'm going to run out of superlatives in a minute. :lol:

The very, very tiniest niggle though, and I wasn't aware of it when I first looked at the photo. If possible, a slightly lower crop to include at least some of her front legs would make it more 'complete'.

Secondly, the words. As always, you've made me think. I found friendship very difficult as a child. I never seemed quite to fit in, and didn't understand that having a disagreement with a friend didn't mean that the friend hated me. My mother never seemed to like my friends much and, as an only child, I spent a lot of time with adults. I still wonder what my friends really think of me, and I don't belileve I know how to be a 'good' friend. Dogs, on the other hand, were straightforward. Always pleased to see me, totally accepting of me and a source of constant affection, which I found very easy to return. :)

I hope you realise that you have many virtual friends on TP, Jill, and that you find us helpful, supportive, funny and caring.

Jean
 
Thanks Sarah and Jean. The picture wasn't cropped and I didn't dare risk moving further back cos she's a flighty redhead and would have moved :D
 
Here in Spain the place is littered with the results of people trying to make a fresh start.

In some ways it encouraged the building boom which is now a bust and has flooded the market with reduced in price resales from people who want to return to the UK.

Of course not everyone who moves here is out to make a fresh start (me for one) but a significant proportion are.

They fall into the trap of thinking that if we go somewhere completely different then our lives will be different too. What they fail to realise is that as well as all their belongings that they are shipping out they are taking all their emotional, and, therefore, relationship baggage with them.

And instead of having a fresh start (which for them means something better than they had before I'm guessing) they find themselves in a country whose language they don't speak, customs they don't understand and, in the main, living among other Brits.

Couple this with the suggestion that the majority are people who have recently retired and are sharing life together full-time for the first time then it can be a pressure cooker environment. One neighbour, who has now returned to the UK after 5 years here referred to the place as 'God's waiting room' and both her and husband drank to excess as they had no other interests in common (and it's very cheap here). This resulted in emotions spilling over on more than one occasion :eek:

So next time you feel like making a fresh start ask yourself 'what am I running away from?' 'What am I hoping will improve?' 'What can I change about my current situation and what do I need to do to make it happen?'

You see, I didn't move to Spain to make a fresh start, WE moved here to spend more time together, have a healthier lifestyle and to continue developing our relationship now that the parameters have changed.


FRESH START


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Works for me every morning (along with 2 double espressos :lol:)
 
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Salutory words of wisdom from you again, Jill. Your reasons for moving to Spain are probably the same ones that enable you to enjoy living there. :)

The photo is totally spot on - exposure and lighting are great. The composition (2 separate itmes/people) is, imho, a difficult one, but you have pulled it off very well. :) :clap::clap::clap:

Cheers.

Jean
 
:clap::clap: very wise words again Jill, and a spot on shot... as for 2 double expresso's how long is it before you're able to blink again ?
 
What a gorgeous friend to have :hug: And a lovely fresh start shot! :thumbs:

If it makes you feel any better Bruja[completely forgot your name :o!] I don't have any 'friends' in the true sense of the word, I have a couple of long distance friends - but because of the distance it means it's just phone contact most of the time.[Which is good enough, they're fab people to have in my life[oh and the fact they're both almost double my age, but that don't matter either!]
Have no fear though :hug:
 
What lovely and well thought out shot, yes we have had a few orange and glass shots on here for this weeks theme, but as always yours is clean and un cluttered and straight to the point.

You really nailed this one Jill and I'm so glad your back on the up.

and I have to say your insight to the world is spot on, you really are a inspiration to me and other on this forum...:thumbs:
 
:thumbs: from me regarding the photo, and wise words as well
 
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