Feel The Earth

What with everything going on in my life right now, and Matt finally coming home last night, I was feeling refreshed.

I took myself off into nature today.

I needed to feel the wind caress my skin, and the sun kiss me.

My freckles are emerging now with this warm weather.

I started in a field, looking out over the river, I walked barefoot through the grass - dandelions and daisies, and buttercups dancing in the waters breeze.

Finding a particular sunny patch, I wrote in my journal for a while.

Fluid thoughts floating through my pen.

Then my bare feet took me into the woods.

Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy, and the air was warm and balmy around me.

The Woods are my happy place.

The feel of moss between my toes, and grass tickling my ankles.

Just having the earth under me, soothes my woes.

My message for today is to get outside. Feel the earth, and experience nature.

---------------------------------

And I never usually do this, but as I'm reading more, with all the wonderful books emerging this year, I'm going to leave this recommendation here. >>>>

I am a HUGE Sarah J Maas fan, all of her work is extraordinary, and when 'A Court Of Mist And Fury', landed on my doorstep, it did not disappoint.

Honestly...This book blew me away.

The first book in the series is called 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' - If you can get your hands on a copy, and enjoy fantasy romance, I suggest you read them.

The first one is inspired by a loose retelling of Beauty and The Beast. Set in a world of political fae, that Maas has tremendously pieced together.

This is the second book.

I read it within a day, devouring every morsel she offered to me, and then once I'd put it down...I picked it back up and read the whole thing again.

Book Three cannot come out soon enough.

Self - Portraits

Thousands of years ago, cats used to be worshipped as gods...they've never forgotten this.

This morning I woke up with all the inspiring images I'd been browsing last night rolling around in my head - and also with a cat under my cheek. One of the main things I was looking at last night, was the work of Casstranaut and Kindra Nikole. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kindra-Nikole-Photography/495800123770510?fref=ts One of Kindras main photographic subjects is herself. And she creates truly gorgeous images. Self-Portraits are a great way to utilise your skills and time. Finding models, has been something I've been struggling with a lot recently. My old friends, who were kind enough to put up with my mad ideas, have moved away...and I am left, searching high and low, for lots of pretty ladies. But looking through 'Kindras' work and feeling totally inspired, I've been contemplating, atleast a few of the ideas for shoots in my head, could be done as Self-portraits. I'm not a confident person, but I think like every photographer, I have dabbled in self portraiture before.

It's hard to look critcally at yourself in terms of a photograph...But I feel that to get passed this little block I'm having, I might need to get back infront of the camera. I've only ever taken solo shots of myself, never a full set...so I think I'm going to take singular images, but with bigger concepts.

There are some limitations with self-portraits, but I find that the shooting itself is very theraputic. It is wonderful to drive to a location, with your favourite album blaring from the stereo, leave your car parked somewhere, and traipse through nature, arms full of clothes, tripods, ladders, etc. Being alone with nothing but your camera, and the world around you.