WRITING PROMPT

Looking Up — The Blue Sky Edition

Shifting your focus can lift your mind

I don’t know why but I’ve been wanting to capture these beautifully colored trees against a blue sky for a while now. Pretty much for as long as they’ve been changing colors this fall. But somehow every time I went out we had a gray sky. Or a white sky.

Eventually, I didn’t care and just started photographing the trees. As they were. Against a very bright background. I was amazed how bright those colors still stood out.

This was when I came up with the idea of creating a writing prompt.

Just look up.

I often change perspectives in my photography. Lately, I tend to go down on my knees and shoot things from the forest floor. I took lots of pictures with my camera hovering inches about the ground.

I decided to try something new. And I wanted to invite others to do the same.

I was overwhelmed by the writing prompt responses coming in from my first post “Looking Up”. Initially, it was just a topic for my upcoming walk. But then I loved the idea of inspiring others and getting to know their world.

I challenged my writer friends to put their heads in the neck and show me what they see. The first one to respond was Barb Dalton. She came out with two posts.

Then more and more responses came in. This is Dennett with “Onward and Upward”. The variety she brings in her collection is astonishing. Accompanied by a few words she takes us through the neighborhood.

Pene Hodge responded with “Looking Upwards”. She made me blush with her opening words and compliments towards me. I appreciate it.

And then I got a nice comment from pockett dessert who read a few of these writing prompt responses and got inspired to write her own.

I was surprised as I just kept on getting tagged and responses were coming in. K. Barrett also captured trees from below. Her images in “Leaf Gazing” are full of small details and incredibly colorful.

Thank you everyone for joining.

As someone who is fascinated by nature and is an absolute outdoor lover it was obvious I’d shoot out there. Having this beautiful forest right at my doorstep gave me the opportunity to capture fall right there.

With my head in the neck.

After my first walk in the forest with the head in my neck, I was pretty happy about the results but wanted to come back on a day with a blue sky. I just imagined how much brighter the colors would be. How much more they’d stand out in front of the blue.

And so I did.

Well, it wasn’t a full blue sky. There were some cirrostratus clouds crossing the sky but I guessed that was as good as it would get. Who knows if there will be another day with blue skies in November. And who says that the trees then will still have leaves in different colors on them.

So this is how it went.

It was a pretty chilly day. My winter hat fell off twice. That was how far back I put my head to capture these gigantic trees. But I caught the hat each time before it dropped onto the ground.

I felt like a ninja. Just that there was nobody. There was nobody to witness my move.

I just kept on shooting. Looking for a patch of blue in the sky and the right angle towards the sun. Preferably pointing the lens away from the sun.

And for sure, today’s results were very different from the ones on the previous walk.

The colors were just so vibrant. They were shining. Like really shining. Even though many would describe our forest at the moment as “brown”. I would have to disagree. The forest is much more diverse.

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” — Jim Bishop

With a smile on my face and a memory card full of images, I went back home. This was truly worth the cold.

“Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.” — William Cullen Bryant

It’s not too late to jump on board. Put your head back and shoot. Trees, buildings, lamp poles, fruits, or whatever else you get to see. I invite you to join the challenge.

Erika | LucianoSphere | Denise | Kim | Susan | David | LensAfield | Diana |

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