Body  /ˈbädē/  n.  The physical structure of a person or an animal, including the bones, flesh, and organs.

I call this “In Your Arms.”  And yes, it is an arm.  I’m just no sure if I’m feeling it these days.  I need a swift kick in the butt to get my creative juices going.  I always seem to have these grandiose ideas and not be able to see them into fruition.  So sad.  I will have to up my game a bit in the next few days.  Not sure how, but we’ll see!

Earth  /ərTH/  n.  The softer, friable part of land; soil, especially productive soil.

Today’s challenge was earth.  I couldn’t think of much else, although my vision of this photograph was a lot different than what came out.  I’m not exactly happy with the final product, but I’ve been pretty busy and can’t do much about really fine-tuning the image.  So here is what I have!

Pair  /pe(ə)r/  n. A set of two things used together or regarded as a unit.

Well, I missed my first day yesterday since we started the 30 Day Challenge.  But that’s okay.  I’m doing double-time today.  Today, I have a pair of queens.  This one is called Queen of Hearts.  I noticed that the queen on the card wore mostly red, black, and yellow.  Since I didn’t have any yellow clothing, I just wore a red shirt with a black scarf.  I also noticed the queen is holding a small flower.  Since I don’t have any small flowers, I got a peony instead.  It’s a little funny looking, but I think it may work.  What do you think?

Purple /ˈpərpəl/ n.  A color intermediate between red and blue.

Today’s photo was manipulated quite a bit in Photoshop.  The Russian dolls were actually red in color and I changed the hue and saturation so the purple would stand out more.  Look closely, or you might miss my creepy face in each of the dolls’ faces.  This one took me the longest, I think, out of all my manipulated images so far.  It had twelve layers before I flattened the image.  I’m not sure if it looks real or not, but I have to say that I kind of like the element of falsehood.  So today’s something purple is actually bumped up red.  Enjoy!

Reflection /riˈflekSHən/ n.  1. The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.  2. Something, such as light, radiant heat, sound, or an image, that is reflected.

This poem by Emily Dickenson really resonated in my being and I wanted to share it with you all.

Heart, not so heavy as mine

Wending late home –

As it passed my window

Whistled itself a tune –

A careless snatch — a ballad — A ditty of the street –

Yet to my irritated Ear An Anodyne so sweet –

It was as if a Bobolink Sauntering this way Carolled, and paused, and carolled –

Then bubbled slow away!

It was as if a chirping brook Upon a dusty way –

Set bleeding feet to minuets

Without the knowing why!

Tomorrow, night will come again –

Perhaps, weary and sore –

Ah Bugle! By my window I pray you pass once more.

Fire  /fī(ə)r/  n. Combustion or burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke.

I had this idea that I would be in the bathtub with the bathtub on fire, but the more I thought about it, the harder it seemed to do so I kind of copped out on that idea and tried something a little more simple and entry-level and a little less morbid.  So here is Kamron with his harookin power.  I am having a whole lot of fun with Photoshop, but it’s more challenging than I imagined it would be.  This is good practice for me though.  In the back of my mind, I am wondering if eventually I can come out with a body of surreal photographs.  One step at a time though.

Portrait  /ˈpôrtrət/  A painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person.

We are starting another round of 30 days of photographs.  Today’s challenge is portrait.  I was forced to make it a self-portrait because I did not find anyone to pose for me.  But that’s okay.  It came out better than I expected.  I didn’t plan to posterize the photo through Photoshop, but because it looked too super-imposed, Kamron had the idea to manipulate the image more than just cutting and pasting.  So here’s my first surreal image of the challenge.  It’s called Round and Round.

Self-portrait  n. A pictorial or literary portrait of oneself, created by oneself.

Today is the last day of the 30 Day Photography Challenge.  It’s been a great exercise taking at least one photograph a day.  I’ve also had fun playing with Photoshop and Lightroom, enhancing and manipulating images.  It’s been a great 30-day journey.  Every day has not been a prized photograph, but I got to use my creative spirit, and that’s what counts.  The group that I joined on Facebook, Daily Photo Challenges,  is starting up a new list of 30 challenges.  I haven’t decided whether or not I will participate in the next 30 days, but if I do, I may challenge myself to doing more than the challenges set before me, but also add a little surreal twist in it.  I really love Magritte and Dali, and I have been enjoying looking at surreal photography.  Unfortunately, this requires much more time and effort.  So that’s why I haven’t decided yet.  I may go ahead and try it on for size and see how it goes.  We shall see.

With that said, I would like to thank those people in the Daily Photo Challenges group for sharing their photos and letting me share my photos.  I have really loved looking at each one of your photographs and getting creative inspiration through them.  Thank you for embarking on this journey with me and I will be looking forward to all your artwork in the future!  A special thanks goes out to Nicole and Star for putting together the new list and the group as well.  Thanks for all your hard work everyone!

For my last photograph from the list, day 30, comes a self-portrait.  I seemed to have taken a lot of self-portraits in these last 30 days.  I hope it doesn’t come off as narcissistic, even though I probably am, at least to a certain degree.  So here’s my last image:  a faceless, black and white self-portrait.

Black and white adj. (of a photograph, movie, television program, or illustration) In black, white, shades of gray, and no other color.

I call this one Empty-handed.  End of story.

Flowers  3rd person singular present, plural of flow·er /ˈflouər/  n.  The reproductive structure of some seed-bearing plants, characteristically having either specialized male or female organs or both male and female organs, such as stamens and a pistil, enclosed in an outer envelope of petals and sepals.

I don’t know anything about flowers.  I know so little that I had to take some time to look up what kind of flower I photographed today.  Yes.  That is sad.  But I did find the name.  It’s an orchid.  You already knew that though.  Apparently, they are hard to care for and to keep alive.  If you water them too much, they will die.  So what my mother-in-law, Hilda, does is place a few cubes of ice every few days in the pot and let them slowly water the orchid.  Ingenious.  So here are some beautiful orchids that Hilda has so expertly nourished.  I was lucky to capture them with the soft light hitting them from behind.