Week 29 of 52

Bands of Gold is the title of this photo. This close up is the theme for the MCP Project 52, Get in Close. The structure, my theme for 2011, is wearing earrings. As most little girls, I would try on my mother's jewelry. She wore clip-on earrings. I loved wearing earrings but those clip-ons were painful. I knew why my mom took off her earrings when she got home, they hurt. I promised myself that because I loved earrings that I would have to get my ears pierced because I couldn't go through life wearing clip-ons. So for me, earrings are a structure of life. I feel naked without them. If you see me in public, I have on earrings. I even have an extra pair at work just in case I forget them or loose one.

Week 28 of 52

The tittle of this photo is Sweet Relief from the Summer Heat. the MCP Project theme for week 28 was Sweet Relief. Through the hot days we have been having, water is a sweet relief, as this boy show us. I did not post this last weekend as I usually do because my father passed on the day after taking this photo. I submitted this photo to the project on flickr but took a hiadeous from the weekly blog posts. Structure is the frog fountain that are part of this two part fountain structure. The two parts allow the public to get wet on hot days.
Sweet Relief from the Summer Heat, a photo by kymlatt on Flickr.

Week 27 of 52

This week's theme from the MCP 52 Project is Nature's Finest. Well as a bona fide City Girl, nature is not something I am that familiar with. I'm not a bird watcher, a beachcomber, a rock climber, a white water rafter, a horseback rider, or any number of things at occur in nature. Camping to me is a night at the Motel 6. It's not that I don't like these adventures into nature, it's just that I don't have the skill nor the practice. So, when I thought about one of natures finest things, I think about the view of the San Gabriel Mountains. I just love that view. Oddly enough, my favorite view is while driving east on the 134 Freeway taking the north bound on ramp of the 210 Freeway gives you an unobstructed view of them. They just seem to go on for days. I feel this is the meaning of the lyric from America the Beautiful's, "purple mountain's majesties". I just love that view. It seems to take my breath away every time. I don't know how to capture that view since you would have to be driving to do it. Also, I'm not sure that can be captured in a picture by me, in this point of my development in photography.

So, I asked my cityfied self, "What else is so awe inspiring from nature to be considered it's finest?" I thought of a West Coast beach sunset. Those are also remarkable. I have captured many of those. This is the West Coast after all. Sunsets are kinda our thing. But I have been noticing the sunrises lately. Yes, I'm up to see them. From my bedroom window, along side the small second story of the house behind me is a lone, grand, old palm tree. This tree is not thin, tall and wimpy that move with every gentle breeze. This is a grandfather palm tree that has seen time and stands strong in it ready to see more. That palm tree transforms from an indistinguishable mass in the darkness of night to a foreground silhouette of a background that spans the of color wheel that becomes dawn. I love that too. So, my task now was to photograph sunrise. But this is the West Coast. The sun rises in the East. How can I do that?

Those of you who know me, you know, I went online and googled the best+sunrise+ southern+california. I got Mount Hollywood. So, I'm thinking, the Hollywood Hills, okay that's doable. Well, on my list of things I'd like to photograph, is the Griffith Observatory. This was a must for me to do. I got up, not quite at the crack of dawn, but early, I am on vacation, and headed to the Griffith Observatory.

To my surprise, that is a busy place shortly after they open at 5:00 a.m., I was there around 6:00 a.m. Hikers, walkers, bird watchers, golfers, you're out in nature for these things, were all there. This was a whole new world for me. I thought it was grand. A new day, new light, new air, was refreshing. As I get up to the top and parked, I had not noticed the sunrise because I was driving and looking at all these people out in nature. Well, what I had not accounted for was the early morning haze we get when there is so much moisture in the air. So, I got nada, zip, bupkis for the sunrise. But early morning light is the best for shooting. It is soft and new and it brings a glow to the items you shoot. So, it little flower is my offering for Nature's Finest. My theme, Structure is the sunrise and the sunset that is new and different each day. I will get my sunrise and when I do I will share it with you too. I'm grateful that I live in Southern California and can enjoy them both in my own way. You may check out the rest of my pic on my flikr site. And thanks for following.

Week 26 of 52

This is the half way mark. I am half way through the 52 Project for 2011. Its' hard to believe, but I guess time does fly when you're having fun. The weekend I'm posting this is the 4th of July Holiday weekend. Yesterday, was the Annual Cavarlez Beach Party at Dockweiler Beach. I was there 12 hours! That's a long time. And needless to say, I'm still recovering. All that fresh air, sun and sand, I'm not used to. I'm preparing to go to another, much smaller gathering this afternoon in the valley where temperatures may be in the 100's. I don't think my skin has recovered from yesterday. I think I sunburned my lips? They itch, that is sunburn right?

Anyway, the Week 26 theme of the MCP 52 Project was Hidden Objects. This Star of David was a gift, not to me, from a friend through a friend. That friendship is representative of my theme for 2011, Structure. I was sitting at the table of a friend and she shared with me this piece of jewelry, the Star of David, and how she bought a gold chain to wear with it. I saw the chain and the Star and she told me the story of the friend who gave this to her from someone who passed away. The memories, friendships and love in this tiny piece of jewelry gives great power and connection to this piece of metal and stones. We continued talking about this, that and the other, as conversations with friends go. I was shared the MCP 52 Project theme while we were playing around with my new iPad 2. This has Photo Booth which takes bizarre and distorted photos with it's camera. So I took one of just my mouth, entitled the Hidden Scream, and she remarked that would be a good photo for the week. I said, "okay" and we moved on again in our conversation. At some point I saw this a little heart shaped box and asked, "What's in there?" and she responded, "the Star of David." I then became curious all over again and this shot was born.

During this holiday weekend I hope all of you have the opportunity to share time with friends and family. That you think about love and friendship. Care for each other and be grateful for all of it. Enjoy!