At first glance, Scott’s new assignment looked to be a piece of cake.  Photograph “Water.”  Okay.  No problem. 

So I thought I’d try and be a bit creative…the plan was to travel around my area and photograph bodies of water from different perspectives, trying to take into account the skills I’ve learned since last Autumn.  Well, I got as far as photographing Lake George from the top of Prospect Mountain.  You will remember my Prospect Mountain views from last year?

Well, the colors last year were glorious…this season cannot compare.  However, I thought, “I learned about Storytelling this year, so I’ll take that into account as I photograph this year’s view.”  So…..

And…

Thomas Jefferson had this to say about Lake George: “Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a a contour of mountains into a basin thirty-five miles long and from two to four miles broad, finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal and the mountainsides covered with rich groves of silver fir, white pine, aspen and paper birch down to the water, here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony. An abundance of speckled trout, salmon trout, bass, and other fish with which it is stored, have added to our other amusements the sport of taking them.” (History of Lake George, Chamber of Commerce Site.)

So, on to the next local body of water and another learned skill!!!  

Yeah, and I never got there.  😦  My plan of taking y’all on a photo tour of the local water holes, went down the drain.  (See what I did there?  *wink*wink*)

So instead, I decided to try something I have never tried before, but have seen done a hundred times—macro shots of water droplets.  I know, not very original, but I’ve wanted to give this a try for a year now, and Scott’s assignment seemed the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

It’s WAY harder than it looks, and if someone out there has done this successfully, I would really appreciate hints as to aperture and shutter speed settings.  Over a hundred attempts and I only got three keepers. 

(And here’s where I start to really go off course, but bear with me for a bit longer….this really is related to my photos!)

So, I’ve had a weird symptom (a buzzing leg…please don’t laugh…I already know it’s weird) and had to go through a multitude of tests only to be told they have no idea what could be wrong with me.  Only one doctor was able to point to a possible cause…….”Are you sleep deprived?” he asked.  At first I chuckled.  Many answers came to mind such as, “Who isn’t?” and “I have a two year old who continues to wake up twice a night, what do you think?” and “My husband almost bled to death in the middle of the night a few months ago, so I’m still dealing with post traumatic stress disorder…of course I’m sleep deprived!”  and, the answer I actually gave…”I don’t *think* so, but maybe.?.”

I tell you this little story to help explain what I saw when I viewed these three photos on my screen…as a set, they are a pictorial representation of my nights.  I had no intention of doing Conceptual Photography for this assignment, but here it is nonetheless.

So, here are my REAL exhibitions for Scott’s assignment! 

I call this one “Hovering.”  This is the stage of my night when I can’t slow my mind down enough to settle into sleep…I hover above it’s inviting surface in a fog, waiting, suspended.

This one is “Dream State.”  This is where I spend the majority of my night, not  awake, but not fully immersed in sleep, able to hear the slightest noises in the house, and yet adrift on the surface of sleep, riding the waves of surrealism.

And this one I call “Yanked.”  This is how I feel when Mister’s screams rent the quiet air in the middle of the night.

And then the process begins all over again….Hovering, Dream State, Yanked night after endless night.

Am I sleep deprived?  I believe that would be a definitive “yes.”