52Frames Complementary Colors

I thought I knew what complementary colors were. For a weekly photo challenge it has a particular definition. So I had to look up “color wheel” to better understand what it meant. The main opposing colors are red/green; purple/yellow; orange/blue. Before I figured that out we had spent a couple of days taking photos of things that were not in that definition. And even after I thought I got it, it seemed difficult to find something that really worked. We were walking though the US Botanic garden and the purple and yellow cabbages looked perfect. They weren’t crisp colors, but the contrast was definitely there after a bit of editing. There was another cabbage that looked okay, but the yellow wasn’t bright enough. Then we walked down to the Hirshhorn Museum and the orange birdhouse against the blue background looked right. In front of the Arts and Industries building was a sculpture of sorts at the entrance made up of red and green plastic square pieces. That might work. I wasn’t happy with my options so we decided to take a ride to old town Alexandria where there might be a row house that fit the bill. There wasn’t. But what we did find were red and green shutters that stood out from the rest. After putting the images on my business Facebook page and Instagram the shutters seemed to be the winning image. But there was something more artistic about the cabbage, and besides, my husband liked that one more. As far as I was concerned the cabbage and the shutters were equal, so I posted the cabbage. I have a feeling I missed the boat this week. After all, the idea isn’t to “win” the weekly challenge, but just get out and look for something. But I have to admit that when an item gets noticed, it feels good. 

Old Town Alexandria Halloween Door Decor

We love driving to Alexandria. We used to go there for lunch all the time when we lived on Capitol Hill. Now we go for the ride from our northern Virginia home, take a morning walk, and take photos for this blog and a weekly photo challenge. This week we also came to see the Halloween decorations as Old Town typically goes all out. And this year was no exception. The architectural elements in Old Town are beautiful - especially the front doors. And there were a lot of decorated front doors for the holiday. It was an exceptionally beautiful fall day when we parked the car on Duke And Royal Streets. After walking past the dazzling and dizzying skeleton display down the road, we walked in to the more residential areas and we weren’t disappointed. It must look even more interesting in the evening. So it was a really nice morning after a week of doctor appointments. The air smelled good and the sun was out. What more can you ask for? 

52Frames Red Photo Challenge

Since gas supplies were at a premium last week we decided to stay close to the neighborhood. So that meant I needed to capture images for the weekly 52Frames photo challenge somewhere close by. I needed something “red.” The first opportunity was my husband returning home from the dentist after a tooth implant. He looked great against the red sidewalk in a shot I took from above on our balcony. The begonias in the window baskets also looked nice. Then we took a morning walk through the park and found some graffiti, a large earring, some really interesting bits of red on the wooden benches, fire hydrant, car light, and some grass clippings on a painted ladybug on a “sculpture” in front of the local library. What was interesting was a photo of my camera roll that showed all of these pictures together. That way I wouldn’t have to make a decision, but probably wouldn’t meet the “rules” of submitting only one photo. Then we were able to find gasoline later in the week so we filled the tank and took a ride to Old Town Alexandria. There were some wonderful very old crooked red doors and shutters, fire hoses, and bricks. We also just bought some flat bread from the Persian bakery that had a great red wrapping. When it got time to finally post my favorite photo before the deadline last night, I decided on the ladybug with the purple background and snippets of cut grass. I liked the contrasting colors and the sun hit the scene just right. My husband preferred the old red doors. The wooden benches also looked artistic and the fire engine red hoses looked like snake skin. My husband and I have not once agreed on which image to use. I keep thinking it should be more than just a photograph and lean to the artistic side. I also post the photos on Instagram to see which one gets the most attention. It seems that no matter how I approach it I rarely get any comments. I suppose the idea is to be occupied with the pursuit of the challenge. But once in a while it’s nice to get a little attention!