Close Up and Personal - Day 7

Traditional Portuguese Embroidery  

 Folk Embroidery Stitches 

- detail of a pattern on an old family apron  

Front panel of apron, oval shape, depth approximately 15"

As in other countries, different regions in Portugal have distinctive embroidery designs and techniques.
In the district of Viano do Castelo, the historic peasant costume consists of colorful shawls, blouses, skirts and aprons, textured knit stockings, filigree jewellery and a recognizable style in embroidered patterns.
The white stitching on a red fabric shows up strikingly in this detail of a traditional apron design.

Close Up and Personal - Day 6

Christmas Lights  

Rope Lights in a Spiral  

- It's Old Christmas day and soon the decorations will come down for the season 

That's it, the Christmas holidays are over for another year.
And so we move on to other things - onward into 2014!

Close Up and Personal - Day 5

Stacked Rocks 

Balance and Reflection  

- with a mirror image  

I have a collection of rocks that I have picked up along my way - smooth beach rocks, stones with interesting colors and patterns, pebbles with shapes that reminded me of something at the time. Some of these are on my windowsill, stacked on top of each other. It's an engaging puzzle, requiring some patience, to get the stones to balance on top of one another. It's something of an engineering feat to get them to stay there.
There are five rocks in this stack, along with their mirrored reflection.

Close Up and Personal - Day 4

Navel Orange Gazing  

Orange Peel Rim Shot  

- Intense back-lighting reveals textures in bouncing light  

Along with their tangy tastiness and their health-food goodness, oranges - especially navel oranges with their umbilical bump - have a lovely textured peel, smooth and pebbly, which is oh-so-attractive in how it catches the light.
I placed this orange at my window and exposed for the dark side of the sphere, resulting in blown highlights, yes, and also a fantastic rim lighting that sets off the texture around all sides of the fruit.

Close Up and Personal - Day 3

Eye Candy 

Sunshine On A Holiday Treat  

- Can you keep from reaching for one?  

Which ones are your favorites? The limey-green ones or the tangy orange ones? How about a striped peppermint? And do you savor the flavor or do you crunch the sugar and come back for more?
Thank goodness we still have some Christmas candy left in the house.

Close Up and Personal - Day 2

Budding Anticipation 

Brilliant Sunshine and the Joy of a Simple Surprise  

- the potential of color and light   

What a pleasant surprise I had this morning!
The geranium I have been nursing along at my desk has sprouted several flower stems and in the brilliant winter morning sunshine the plant was showing me these tiny pink flower buds.
Oh, yes, this may not be an earthshaking event, but simple joys are sometimes the ones that carry you through the day.  

Close Up and Personal - Day 1

Christmas-time Reflection  

Fifty Years of Reflecting Christmas    

- what has this ornament looked out on?    

One of our holiday traditions is using old family decorations, like Grandma's silver and blue glass ornaments, which we have been hanging on the Christmas tree for more than fifty years. Although the glass is intact, the mirrored coating inside the bubbles is starting to break down and get cloudy, in the way old mirrors do. To my mind, this patina of age makes the ornaments lovelier to look at.

Christmas and New Year's is a time for personal reflection, and as I'm photographing this ornament, I am wondering what other Christmas scenes has this bubble reflected over the years?

Happy New Year 2014!