Where analytic and creative thought collide and all kinds of weird stuff can happen.

The other day, as I was cooking dinner, I walked into the family room to say something to Hubby. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some unusual light in the foyer.

When I turned to look more closely, this is what I saw.

Blue Shadow

The setting sun was coming in the front window just so. Lighting up that blue vase and casting a very cool (in my opinion) blue shadow on the wall.

I ended our conversation abruptly so I could go and grab the camera. That’s one of those things you probably will never see again unless you have a lot of time to sit and wait for it to happen. But what if it is cloudy? What if the Earth has rotated just far enough that the sun is at a slightly different angle?

It was a hard image to capture. I wanted to be able to see the flowers, but I also wanted to see the shadow. The image above used the flash.

The image below did not use a flash…

More-intense Blue Shadow

The flowers are a bit blurry in the second image. In low-light shots, even the slightest movement will cause blur. But I think it’s clear enough. You can certainly see the blue shadow better.

It may not be an image I would frame, but I think it is interesting enough to share with you guys.

So, what do you think? Really cool? Or just okay?

One of the things I like most about participating in memes and other blog challenges is meeting new people and discovering new things. The You Capture photography meme is what led me to some of my now-favorite bloggie friends.

You know I like photography, right? I don’t mean just taking pictures. I mean looking at other people’s work, too. Vacation pictures, family pictures, artsy pictures, whatever. Maybe I’m just nosy? Anyway, one of the coolest things about You Capture is getting to see some amazing stuff. Snippets of people’s lives. Views of how other people see the world.

I just think it’s neat. That’s how I found the goat.

That shot made me chortle. (Now, there’s an underused word for you.) I just HAD to share it.

Bonnie Blackboer (from Eden Hill's Blog)

Here are some other entries I really liked this week:

• From Still Life – Fiber and Photos, some beautiful flower pictures. The second shot is my favorite.
• The lady at Coneflower Ranch experimented with something called painting with light. I just LOVE the third shot with the bottles. That is definitely a technique I’ll have to explore.
• And I really dig this Batman and Robin shot (scroll down when you get to Naptime Notes).
• Who would have ever thunk bubbly fruit could be so awesome? Look what Chic Homeschool Mama did with it.
• The lady from Girasole Farm captured a riveting barbed wire shot and a pretty flower, too.
• How could I not love the lady at Gone Walkabout 2, who packed home 53 pounds of rocks from a vacation to Scotland? (Have I ever told you about my rocks?)
• There was even a graphic sax image from Awesomeville (those crazy Brits).
• And I really enjoyed visiting the snowy forest with Who is Tiffany?
• There’s a cool stack of buttons and other great work at Fluffy Bunnies, too.
• How can I forget Beth, who hosts You Capture? She really knows how to harness light.

Anyone can participate in You Capture. Whether you have a fancy camera or not.

It’s fun.

I discovered something else indirectly through You Capture. You know how that goes, following a link to a link to a link.

Despair, Inc., the company responsible for images, as seen below, which have been appearing on Facebook quite a bit lately.

Their collection of demotivational images is perfect for people like me who get so sick and tired of seeing all the sugary, happy-happy-joy-joy stuff people come up with.

This snippet is from their website…

At Despair, Inc., we believe it’s time people face the truth- that any kind of motivation you can buy isn’t worth owning, and in the end will produce even greater demoralization. Given that inevitable fact, we’d like to invite you to skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointment that follows!

Here’s another one…

It isn’t just the sarcasm that gets me with these images. It’s the shiny-on-the-surface, what you see is not what you get aspect of it. There’s been so much of this motivational crap plastered about, who really takes time to read the small print?

Maybe these images will make folks stop to take a closer look at things again.

That and, I just think they are funny.

Another week has gone by and I didn’t get out on any good photo expeditions. Sigh…

The theme for this week’s You Capture is COLORFUL.

I could have just walked around my house and taken pictures of stuff. Like the big bag of plain, dark-chocolate M&Ms. Before I ate them. Or crayons. If I had some crayons.

But I didn’t. That would just be boring.

One day soon I’ll be able to share pics of my colorful new office. But that’s another blog post…

I did capture a couple of cool images worthy of sharing in this week’s challenge. Both actually feature store windows here in town. I added some texture to both images because I just felt like being different.

That first image captures a large painting in one of several of Warrenton’s cool art galleries. Some people may have tried to capture the shot without the reflections. But I like the reflections. I think they frame the image nicely. Especially the tree in the upper left-hand corner.

The love shot, which is certainly colorful, is from the window of the ceramics store.

Our love affair with this town continues…

To see what other folks captured this week, pop on over to Beth’s blog to peruse the work of the many good photographers who participated.