Photo Essay: Try to Live a Colorful Life

I am nothing if not a perpetual student – of L.I.F.E and all the many fascinating things to learn while hanging out here on my momentary visit to Planet Earth.  Indeed, my worst nightmare is waking up one morning and thinking:

xxxx
For me, life is like a candy store, and I want to sample every delicious flavor of jellybeans, caramels and chocolate.  Ever so many intriguing treats to savor: experiencing new cultures, meeting fellow global citizens from all corners of the Earth, making a small dent in the gazillion interesting books (mainly non-fiction, I figure there’s plenty of fascinating true stuff there alone, so will save the imaginary novels for another lifetime), hobbies (like photography, geocaching and art quilting).  And don’t even get me started on all the lovely geeky stuff like whittling websites and blogging.

Thus today’s post is but one small example of what I like best:  learning something new, and especially – my all time favorite – fiddling with a camera and pushing around colorful pixels on my computer screen.

First a little background:

Along with taking part in bi-weekly photography “Mini Challenges” with my fellow amateur f-stop aficionados in various photography forums, I’ve recently hitched onto a year-long membership in learning how to “Blog Brilliantly”. Not so much to “monetize” these pages of blather (though a stray ruble or three for the many hours I peck here wouldn’t be unwelcome), but to simply learn the inner workings of the vast “Blogosphere”, as well as improve my writing and photography skills. My new BB chums are a most talented and active bunch, with (sincere but nonetheless often scathing) peer site critiques, and weekly challenges on various aspects of blogging. Recently the challenge was to rustle up a photo essay on a “theme”. For this, one BB lass put together a most fascinating array of photos taken with the aid of a prism held in front of the lens, and taught us all how to “free-lense” – take photos with your lens OFF the camera a smidge – with most fascinating and unique results.

Yep, poinsettia’s bloom year-round here in Dalat.

My Photo Essay Entry:  But for my own challenge entry, I chose something a bit more tame:  to simply photograph the many glorious flowers that abound in my little “Garden of Eden” here at L’Auberge Ami – BUT WITH A TWIST.  You see, I figure that what the world DOESN’T need, is yet another gallery of pretty flowers.  No doubt lovely, but oh so DONE to death, yes?  So…Inspired by the mantra emblazoned on my candy-pink motorbike helmet (“try to live a COLORFUL life”) I opted to create a kind of “Before” and “After” essay to visually illustrate the theme – desaturating the colors in duplicate images as a metaphor for turning a drab moment, day, or life –  into a “colorful” one.

Thus I present you with…

“In the end, people will judge you anyway.
Don’t live your life impressing others.
Live your life impressing yourself.”

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

“It’s far better to try and fail, than to never try and always wonder…”

“Don’t quit. The moment you’re ready to give up, is usually the moment right before the miracle happens.”

And miracles DO happen.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

And last but not least, my own life-long mantra: “This ain’t a dress rehearsal, folks!”