We’ve just said goodbye to our French exchange student, Guillaume. Hosting a student from another country forced us to get out and about, and be tourists ourselves. In the three weeks he was here, I’m sure we saw more of our own city than in the previous ten years combined.
One of the places we visited was Araluen Botanical Gardens, which, in all the years we’ve lived here, I’d never visited. It was cold and a bit wet, but we had a lovely day wandering the paths, catching the first tulips and blossoms, eating lunch in the tea rooms, and, of course, taking photos. When we climbed back into the car at the end of the afternoon, my husband turned to me and said, ‘We should do this more often’.
I took hundreds of photos of flowers, and when I couldn’t decide, I asked Monique to choose. She liked this reflection of sky and tree in the windscreen of an old truck, which formed a centrepiece in one of the gardens. It was rusted and a couple of its windows were broken, but its tray burst with potted flowers.
Here’s the truck and its colourful cargo:
This is the first, and only, tulip that was blooming in the adjacent garden:
Monique feels that her photo of a candle is a metaphor for her busy life:
‘Often I feel like I’m burning the candle more than I can handle. There’s so much going on – author talks, planning for Book Week workshops at schools, my paid job, Serenity Press work, my novel … and of course, my loved ones need my attention, too. Finding the balance is hard and on those occasions you fail, there’s the guilt.
While there are times I fall in a heap and need a bit of time out, I’m usually able to pick myself up pretty fast, and get back on track. Why? I want to live an intense life. I want to feel – to laugh, cry, imagine, talk, read, write … I want to DO. And sometimes I want to BE. But, since I’m someone who 99% of the time has to be doing something, that is how I be. Can you relate?
While Blue Eyes rinsed the dishes after a candlelit dinner (rare in a house of six), I took a few moments to take photos of the candles. We have a rule in our house that whoever cooks dinner doesn’t have to wash up, but since I can’t sit around doing nothing while Blue Eyes is busy, I played with the camera settings.
This one was my favourite. It’s almost as if the candle is floating on water, with blurred reflections echoing moonlight on a dark night.’
I love the gentle light of a candle, and this one really appears to be floating. I think she’s captured a ‘being’ moment, don’t you?
About Midweek Moment:
Monique Mulligan and I are writers who share a passion for photography. As a creative digression from the written word, each week we share our favourite photos in a ‘Midweek Moment’. Please click over to Monique’s website to view more of her photography and read her writing. If you’d like to see more of our moments, click here.
I love the reflection in the truck window!
Thank you! I didn’t realise it was reflecting the sky until I sat down for lunch and scrolled through the photos I’d taken. When I saw it, I went back and took some more. I had to hold the camera high so the tree was centred, and I couldn’t see if it was focussed. Eventually, this one worked! (I won’t show the ones that didn’t!)
Lovely, uplifting to read both experiences of “time out” to just be with the beauty of what is…
Yes, it’s always nice to take ‘time out’, isn’t it. x (PS. Are you back yet?)
I love them all but the truck with the tree reflection is brilliant.
That photo was deliberate and orchestrated—and there were a few technical problems. People walked into the frame (no concern for a photographer!), and I had to hold the camera high above my head to centre the tree. Because I couldn’t see if it was focussed or not, I ended up with a dozen blurred shots of a fuzzy tree with hazy people in the background.
In some ways both images are about reflection, aren’t they? Yours in a more literal sense, of course, but the single candle floating in darkness evokes the idea of taking a moment out of life to reflect. At least, it does to me 🙂 Lovely photos as always, I do so enjoy these posts.
Thanks, Helen. Like you, I feel that both have that reflective aspect. For me, in a more philosophical sense, while for Louise, as you say, a more literal sense.
Definitely both about reflection and Monique’s is very reflective, too. I love the candle floating in the darkness. I’m glad you enjoy these posts. Thanks Helen. ????
I really do????????
We might keep it going, then! 🙂