Focus On You

This stunning image quickly caught my eye. Blue is my favorite color and I love these seedpods. Rhadonda1 combined them into such a lovely image. You can see more of her beautiful photography on her flickr photostream. Thank you Rhadonda, for sharing this with us.

It's been a wonderful month of sparkling beauty in the FOY photostream. Thank you for sharing your GLASS photos with us this month! 

Do You Suffer From Text Neck Syndrome?

by Linda

A funny thing happened to me a while back. Not so much funny-haha, funny in that it was something unexpected and brought with it a little stress and an epiphany, sorta.

You see, I have one of those devices that keep me connected with the outside cyber world. Have you seen it? It's a marvel of our modern technological world, it contains the power of a computer that once needed to be housed in a very large building with very strong air conditioners. Yet, I can hold it in my hand!

I can read email, google search anything, text, check the weather, take pictures, edit pictures, check facebook/instgram/twitter etc. and make a phone call. I am always fearful of dropping it either on the floor or in water and when it's time to upgrade, I make sure I don't lose ANYTHING that is stored on it. I love it! It is my dear friend!

That is why one day, when I became separated from it, I suffered a brief panic attack.

Here's what happened and what I did-

I was out back with the girls roasting chile. This is an activity that needs to occur outside and takes several hours. Older girl was helping and the younger one was playing PokemonGo on my phone. If you play PokemonGo, you know it sucks the battery like crazy. So it wasn't long before I was informed that my phone was out of juice. Older girl volunteered to take my phone inside and plug it in. Thanks! That was a big help!

Soon their dad arrived to take them home. They went inside to gather their things then came outside to say goodbye. They went in the back door and out the front door. After a little bit, about 15 minutes, I decided I needed to go inside and get something out for dinner. So I went to the back door-locked. So I went to the front door-locked. Great. Now what! I don't have my phone! I can't get anyone here to unlock the door and let me in! It was hours till someone came home! I have to get in! Should I break the glass on the door? Break a window? Try to have superhuman strength and pull open the garage door? Panic!

Well I could go to a neighbor and ask to use their phone but the problem was there were only 2 phone numbers I knew and one was my home number and the other was my cell number. Great! I'm stuck outside and it's starting to rain!

An then a calmness came over me. I had a covered area to get under while it rained. I had water and the dogs were out with me. No biggie. I could wait. So once the rain stopped, I finished roasting my chile. Then as I looked around my yard I noticed just how pretty the trees were swaying in the breeze. I listened to the birds calling and the cicadas singing. It was lovely! There was nothing to distract me from all the wonder and beauty of nature that was waiting to be noticed in my own backyard!

I cleaned up a few flowerbeds, played with the dogs and just let the time pass. Can I say that it was the most relaxing thing that has happened to me for a long time? I obviously spend too much time in the cyber world and that isn't a good thing for me.

I was disconnected and unplugged from everything. I couldn't check anything to see who went where or who did what. And I couldn't share what I did and where I went.

And guess what? The world didn't end. Nobody cared that I wasn't online and I'm just fine with that!

...

How about you? Have you ever stepped away from the cyber world and truly experienced the life that is all around you? You really should try it! I am making it a practice that at least once a week, I am totally unplugged!

..

My dilemma ended after about 3 hours when trophy husband came home from work and let me back in the house.

Stories Through a Glass Window

by Carol

Since our Focus On You theme this month is Glass, I thought I would say a few words about a photography subject I have long enjoyed playing with - stained glass windows. If you have ever tried photographing stained glass - you quickly found out it's not for sissies! The challenges encountered are many!  The overly bright light streaming through the windows, while standing in a darkened church wreaks havoc with exposure. The fact that you are taking the shot from below, and at a distance makes alignment a factor, and distortion very  likely.  Often historical buildings and churches forbid the use of tripods, creating a real issue when you are trying to overcome the darkness. The sheer size of many of the windows is overwhelming. How do you choose what to include to give the viewer the appreciation for the size of the overall window, yet the intricacy of the detail? All of this must often be accomplished while respecting the people who are in these places for prayer and contemplation. Please don't ever lose awareness that there may be people in the pews praying for grace during a life crisis - and certainly getting your shot should not EVER encroach on the dignity and privacy of those moments.

And yet these windows can be incredible subjects. They are full of color and history. They are intricate examples of the most delicate of arts, representing hours and sometimes years of artistic creation. They are lessons in symbolic story-telling. They are studies in symmetry and pattern. So lets explore some ground rules for capturing their essence.

First lets deal with finding the best place to stand. Professional window photographers use scaffolding or ladders to get level with the window and reduce the distortion, but you can achieve decent results by getting as far back from the window as you can, and using a telephoto zoom lens. It's best to look for a spot that lines you up with the center of the window. Even so, you may have to play in post-processing with straightening your vertical lines. You can use a wide-angle lens, but chances are that you won't get the full window in anyway without great distortion.

Of course, it is preferable to use a tripod. With the surrounding darkness, long exposures most certainly would be beneficial, and hand-held shots are tough! If tripods are banned, see if you can support your camera on a post or pew. If the camera is in a steady enough spot, use a remote shutter release, so that the added vibration of you pushing the shutter button doesn't add to the difficulty. At the very least, lean back against a wall, steady those elbows against your body , and release your breath.

As for exposure. if you have the choice, it simplifies things to shoot on on overcast day, or in the early morning or evening to reduce the brightness of the sun. When you are aiming to highlight the glass itself, and you don't mind if it is floating in a black background, you can under-expose by a few stops. But if you want to include the frame or building structure as well as the window, your task is harder.  I find it is best to use a small aperture with f-stops of  f16 or f-22, at least. Use center-weighted or spot  metering and expose for the mid-tone colors - usually the yellow, gold or red. This assures that everything from the bottom to the top of a large window will be in focus. If however, you are focusing on a small area within the design, using matrix metering works and shots can be successful with even a 50 mm prime lens to work with. Just remain aware of what the camera is using to meter and work around it's demands. Camera exposure meters are easily fooled if we aren't paying attention. Of course you can always bracket, particularly if you are on a tripod. Take one exposed for the surrounding frame and one exposed for the bright window, and combine them later. Don't be afraid of doing something different - black and white photos of stained glass compositions can be stunning! And playing with the symmetry with twisty filters can yield some great abstracts!

Finally - be alert to what your artistic goal is in this particular exposure. Are you trying to highlight the story within the window. Is color exploration your goal? Are you after the patterns? Are you making abstracts? Are you using the window like a mandala to communicate peace and contemplation? I love exploring all of these possibilities, and my travel companions usually have to drag me away from the world's gorgeous cathedrals so I don't miss the rest of the country!

Give it a shot in a local church or in your future travels, and post your results in our gallery hash-tagged glass. You may find yourself in our Friday Focus On You gallery!

Focus on You

by Terri

While browsing through the FOL Flickr gallery to choose an image to focus on this week, I saw so many beautiful images using "glass"!  However, the above image stood out to me for several reasons. It is by Nikki Agnew, who I  have long been a fan of, and her gallery is a delight. She has an amazing eye for light, focus, perspective and color. Being a collector of  aqua Ball jars, this image of a Canadian Mason jar really jumped out at me, and that color -- wow!   For a real feast for the eyes, check out Nikki's Photostream.  

Thanks Nikki for being a part of the FOL family and thanks to all of you who so graciously share your images with us.  They are truly an inspiration.

The Magic of Glass

by Dotti

Glass. We take it for granted, don’t we? Before Cathy chose this month’s theme, I really didn’t give much thought to glass. But as I pondered this post, my curiosity got the best of me.

First, I consulted this Wikipedia article to find a little bit about the history of glass. I won’t bore you with a lot of details – and there are a lot. If you’re interested, you can read the article. Here are some tidbits, though.

It seems that the origin of glass can be traced back as far as 3500 BC to Mesopotamia, more specifically, present day Iran and northern Syria. With all the turmoil over there, it’s easy to forget that it really is the cradle of civilization. And needless to say [but I’ll say it anyway], because of the fragile nature of glass, it was considered a delicacy.

Moving forward in history, we find that colorless glass probably made its debut in the 9^th century BC. Clear glass mirrors were introduced in the 11^th century in Arab Islamic Spain. And of course, the Romans were not to be outdone. Stained glass made an appearance in the 12^th century and as we know, there are many surviving examples of this incredibly beautiful craft.

The article gives extensive history of glass in regions around the world but the one I found most interesting is glass industry in Murano, Italy, a tradition which survives today. By the 14^th century, the glass makers of Murano developed new techniques which allowed them to make dinnerware and mirrors. This enterprise actually began in Venice, but during the Venetian Republic, the government was so afraid of fires running rampant through the city, which had mostly wood structures, that glassmakers were ordered to move to the island of Murano, across the canal. It was forbidden for glassmakers to leave Murano but many took the risk anyhow. Thus, this craft found its way to England and Netherlands, allowing the industry to spread around the world.

I don't have any Murano glass but you can bet the next time I visit there, I'll do my best to bring something home!

There’s so much more in the article but I cherry picked what I found most interesting. It did lead me to think, though, of all the ways in which we use glass every day and probably never even give it a thought. So I trolled through my archives and was surprised to find that I had so many photos of glass and how we use it.

Glass allows us to let the sunshine into our homes and to see the weather and scenery outdoors.

How would we enjoy our favorite beverages without glass?

Glass provides vessels for flowers and other decorative items.

Can any photographer resist the sparkle of sunlight on glass?

And last, but not least, glass, a.k.a. lenses, allows us to pursue our passion in photography. Sounds like a good reason to celebrate glass! Let's continue the celebration by filling our Flickr gallery and Instagram feed with the beauty and wonder of glass.

If you’re interested in digging deeper, there is a vast archive of information available about the origins of glass. Another article that captured my interest was found on this website from Corning Museum of Glass.

Focus on You

Hello friends and happy Friday!

Today we are delighted to share this beautiful photo by Jette Waltzer.  I was immediately drawn to the beautiful, dreamy tones and the moody feel.  Plus I love the vintage, nostalgic vibe...so timeless.

Be sure to check out the Flickr pool for lots of beauty and inspiration.

Have a great weekend!

Focus on You

There are some beautiful examples of glass in the gallery for this months focus! Be sure to add yours to the gallery HERE!

Here is a little sample of what's in the gallery!

Top- https://www.flickr.com/photos/62524522@N08/  ,  https://www.flickr.com/photos/backporchphotos/

Bottom- https://www.flickr.com/photos/128016608@N06/

Stop by these artists Flickr page for more beauty!

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Thank you for sharing your art with us!