Framing

The magic possibility of framing a certain space and time is what brought me to photography. This process of recording elements of 3 dimensions in the flow of time, and fixing them in a 2 dimensional image, creates a new context for the elements of the photograph.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

(See his photos)

What seems to hold you

Only frames you fleetingly

You were always free.

I have been thinking about and playing with frames in photographs.

How they can change an ordinary scene into something special.

How they can focus the eye, capture light, create intimacy with the vast.

You have escaped the cage. Your wings are stretched out. Now fly.

Rumi

Maybe this is something you can try yourself, if you’re interested. Go for a walk with your smartphone or camera and look for objects, doorways, fences, holes in walls, forks in trees - anything that you can look through to emphasize your subject beyond, within, or possibly even perched on your chosen frame. I would love to see what you come up with! You can either send it to me directly or just post it and tag me if you’re on Instagram @randomrho.

Thank you so much for being here! I am going to be traveling for the next couple weeks with unknown connectivity- so I might be posting on a slightly wonky schedule - but I’ll see you next week-ish 😊.

Potential frames are everywhere. Green Heron on the ropes at the Miami Beach Marina.

Small Struggler

Life is a beautiful struggle.

Talib Kweli

With its neck and feathers tucked in, the small green heron looks tense.

When he stretches his neck out - he can look pretty fierce.

Stress

Crouching Green Heron,

swiftly shoots forward to strike -

struggling, like me.

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.

Vincent Van Gogh

The green heron is a fierce little fisherman. Drawing its feathers in, tucking its neck into its body - it drops little lures on the water to bring its prey to the surface, and waits. Then, suddenly, it strikes out with that sharp pointed beak, extending its neck to catch them when they appear. It looks like two different birds from one moment to the next.

Last week, when I wrote about the night heron, I admired it for its patience and trust in the flow of things. The green heron seems to strive a little more. They are both following their natures, but I often think it would be better to be like the night heron - calm and graceful. Sometimes when things are harder though, I know I’m more like the green heron. I can almost feel the stress in its hunched shoulders when it’s standing on the edge of the water, and its striving when it stretches out its neck in the treetops. It’s like me when I’m doing my taxes. I guess it’s all an ebb and flow. Sometimes I struggle, and other times I flow.

I really appreciate you being here, reading my musings. Thank you so much for all your feedback. I’m thinking about doing another photography challenge…let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll see you next week!

Settling back into his perch. (If you want to know more about green herons, click here.)

Sounds of Silence

Silence is a sounding thing, to one who listens hungrily.

Gwendolyn B. Bennett

January 25, 2023 - Pigeon watches the seagull fly away

Listening Practice

Listen to the pigeons on the pier-

just cooing, you might say,

except for a rumbling bass note

deep in their bellies

following it

solemnly rising at the end,

into a plea.

Listen as they murmur together,

on the rocks of the pier-

turning toward the sun

where the seagulls fly.

January 25, 2023 - One step

January 26, 2023 - Seagull bathing in sunlight

January 26, 2023-South Pointe, Miami Beach

how do i capture the sound

of the ocean on a calm day,

when waves lightly kiss the sand

and the white foam lingers there -

slowly sinking in

beneath the seagull’s feet?

At the beginning of the year, I wrote about a few themes I wanted to focus on this year (Savoring Transition). Listening was one of them. Not long afterward, my friend Lisa sent me a great article called Sound Tracking by Rob Walker, with a listening practice to try; which I did nearly every day this week; focusing my attention on and trying to identify the sounds I heard around me.

When I wanted to write about what I heard, I looked up words for sounds (like the pigeons’ “coo”) and realized how inadequate language can be to describe the sounds we hear. Too many of the words are the same for completely different sounds. Is that because we don’t listen, or because the sounds are too complicated to be captured in a word?

January 26, 2023 - Sargassum sunrise

January 26, 2023

Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them. A.A. Milne

These weeds, sargassum, float on the water and are left behind by when the tide moves out. They pile up on the beach this time of year, until the tractors come by and bury them under the sand. Most people think they are a nuisance; but today, in the sun, this little one was beautiful.

January 27, 2023 - Fish Crow holding court

January 27, 2023 - A fish crow looked like he was holding court over the seagulls on the sand today when I walked by. It is amazing how many different varieties of gulls there are here. From a distance you might think they’re all the same; but even in just the small sample in this picture; you can see that they are not.

January 30, 2023 - Larus Gull

January 30, 2023 - This seagull caught my eye because of its varied feathers. I believe it’s a Laurus Gull, possibly a banded-beak laurus. I didn’t realize how striking its eyes were until I got home from my walk.

January 31, 2023 - Boat-tailed grackles gathered to sing with a wren listening.

January 31 2023. The grackles were singing their hearts out on this sign overlooking the boating channel in Miami Beach. The other bird (maybe a wren) flew in afterward. He looked like he was listening.

As I walked along the marina, I got lucky and saw the green heron below, just calmly sitting on the rocks. - probably waiting for a fish to swim by? He didn’t seem to mind me stopping.

January 31, 2023 - Green Heron Fishing from Marina

January 28, 2023 - Another iguana stopped by,

January 28-January 29, 2023.

Last week, I wrote about the iguanas that have been sleeping in the trees next to my apartment. I couldn’t resist taking a few more pictures, because two more showed up this week. One of them was HUGE. Since I took these pictures all but one has left the trees. I think they like these trees because they’re sheltered from the wind but still in a high and sunny location. Now that the winds are not as strong; they’ve moved on.

January 28, 2023 - Make that two.

January 29, 2023. A Big Iguana of a different color appeared for a few hours today.

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January 29, 2023 - This is the same little iguana from yesterday; his pose and his smile almost human.

January 26, 2023 - Gently rolling surf at sunrise.

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.

A. A. Milne

A final moment of zen. I love the quote from A..A. Milne because it feels like daydreaming, and that’s what you should do sometimes when you’re walking along the water, or even just staring out your window. I hope you get a chance to try it this week. Thanks for joining me here!