52frames Inspired by a Photographer

He was right. Taking photos of koi is quite tricky. A Polish photographer Lukasz Palka who lives in Tokyo has taken some lovely photos of koi. So I tried my best at the National Arboretum to do the same. The koi pond just reopened and there weren’t a lot of fish. The water was a bit murky and they were primarily in the shade. They move about so quickly and appear to be rather shy. Aside from the fish we took a morning walk through the azalea park - but we missed the peak blooms. Another photographer I wanted to mimic was an Iranian film maker who has also done a lot of black and white images. So we wandered about the grounds and found some interesting options. Before we left we checked out the herb gardens and roses and arbors, then passed through the substantial bonsai collection.  I was surprised how much attention both the fish and the woods got on my Facebook business page and on Instagram. I use the responses to gauge which photo to choose for the weekly challenge, along with my husband’s opinion. I ended up selecting a single koi - there was something about the contrasting color of the fish and the water even though it wasn’t very crisp. Regardless of the challenge it’s a great excuse to get out of the house. 

52Frames Inspired By A Photographer Photo Challenge

This weeks 52Frames photo challenge was quite different. I needed to get an image that was inspired by a photographer. You could randomly get one from the website, or select your own. Since I didn’t have anyone in mind, I started searching for options. Since my husband is from Iran, I thought it would be nice to find a photographer from there. And I did. His name is Ali Shokri, and he is noted for taking black and white images of trees that typically have a solitary tree, sun in the backlight, long shadows, and interesting backdrops. I really don’t care for black and white photos, but didn’t have anything else to go on. We also traveled to central Virginia for Thanksgiving to spend with our family. It would give me a different landscape than what I’m used to here. Our son mentioned that there is a huge 400 year old white oak that sits on Oak Ridge Estate that is about thirty minutes in to our ride back home. After taking a few really nice shots of trees on their property by the James River, we stopped at Oak Ridge on our way home. That tree was a monster! We parked at the side of the county road, and I walked up the hill - on the private property. We didn’t go as far as the estate that was built in 1802! When I reached the top I noticed three grave markers of very young and recently deceased people - the “newer” owners family members. The wind was howling and it was freezing up on the hill. That tree was almost spooky looking. Imagine what that tree has witnessed in 400 years! I think I may have captured the essence of the photographer that inspired this week’s challenge. After that we drove another thirty minutes to get humble pie at Dr. Ho’s. Both of these ideas were suggestions of our son - and they were excellent.