52Frames Door Photo Trending With a Poem

This is such a wonderful streak. Ever since April my 52Frames photo for the week has trended. That means on their website a carousel of images appears and switches up every few hours. My photo usually shows up on the day after the album opens. It’s really something that I look forward to seeing every week - especially when there are over 2500 entries from all over the world! The subject this week was “door” and I had so many choices after visiting Old Town Alexandria. The selection was a very old crooked house with blue and green doors. But a composite was created to make the scene black and white except for the colorful doors. What was really nice this week was a comment about the photo made by a fellow framer from California. He submits very quirky images that make me laugh. He also has a way with words and could create a children’s book with his unique commentary and photos. This week he wrote a poem about this very crooked house and doors. I really appreciate all of the comments my photos receive every week and I also enjoy commenting on their photos. All along the way new things are learned and friends are made. It’s really such a nice hobby and the interactions make it so much more meaningful. Thanks T for the kind words!

52Frames Door Weekly Photo Challenge

It was really hard to make a choice for this week’s 52Frames weekly photo challenge. The subject was “door” so that meant a trip to Old Town Alexandria where there are doors of every size and shape. The problem was is that my husband had a favorite and so did I. I was also experimenting with black and white with a pop of color. He liked the old grungy door in front of a shop on King Street; I liked the blue and green doors on a very crooked and old house in the neighborhood. In between were so many other beautiful doors and colors and backdrops including a fire boat on the Potomac River and so many others that we found while strolling along the sidewalks of a town established in the 1700’s. Old town is one of our favorite places to visit because there is always something to see. I ended up submitting the old crooked house. It was a composite image made up of three layers - the original image in black and white and two more layers for each color door. The sign post was edited out of the front to make it less distracting. It would be nice to get selected this week. But I won’t hold my breath. It was quite a project. My husband is such a good sport about helping me not only take the photos by driving and walking to all of these places, but also critiquing them. We usually don’t agree and this time I overruled him. It usually doesn’t work to my advantage. 

52Frames_door

When the 52Frames photo challenge called for “doors” last week, I knew we would need to go to Old Town Alexandria to take the perfect image. The 1700’s beautiful townhouse and row house doors are a sight to see. We parked the car on Fairfax Avenue and started walking. We could have walked for hours but it was too hot, and I had enough options to pick from. I posted some of my favorites on Instagram and my Facebook business page to see which ones stood out. My husband and I never agree on the best photo, so that’s one way to get an idea of other people’s opinions. I really liked the red door behind the metal fence, and a the turquoise door with an interesting knocker and wreath. An additional piece to the challenge was to “tell a story.”  Based on that we both decided the skinny “alleyway” door that was open between two row houses looked weird and spooky. On the door was a sign that read “beware of the cat,” and the length of the pathway yonder looked scary enough. I don’t think it was technically the best photo, but it sure was unusual. I don’t think I ever end up picking out the right image for this challenge. After all, I’m not a photographer, but I love to take photos. And I’ve had to learn a few different techniques with my iPhone to meet the requirement each week. It’s also been a fun “hobby” over the last year given our limited ability to do much of anything. This week’s challenge is “macro.” I have something in mind, but it rarely turns out the way I’d like it to.