Jumping for Joy

Jumping for Joy, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadly growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.

From Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo (1951 - )

Joyous Viewed Large On Black

Butterfly Dreaming

Butterfly Dreaming, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

And the butterfly dreamed, as is often the case
With indolent lovers of change,
Who, keeping the body at ease in its place,
Give fancy permission to range.

From The Butterfly’s Dream by Hannah F. Gould, 1997

This little fellow was fluttering around my garden and came to rest on a sheltered Flax leaf as respite from the howling wind. This has a dreamy feel with all the pastel greens and the soft light... so I like to think the Butterfly is dreaming...

Sweet Dreams everybody! ツ - Butterfly Dreaming Large On Black

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble

Punakaiki Memories

Punakaiki Memories, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

This is another film shot from the archives, this time scanned from a print. These are the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki on the wild west coast of the South Island. This shot dates from my first trip to New Zealand in October 1996. Taken with a Canon IXUS(ELPH) Mk1 APS film camera, if I remember correctly.

From my very first visit I was struck by the quality of light and majestic beauty of the land and the sea here in Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud in the southern Pacific. So much so I fell in love with the place and have now lived and worked here for 9 of the last 14 years. I still pine for my homeland the North of England and majestic Scotland though, and hope to get back there this year to visit family and friends. New Zealand may be beautiful but it sure is a long way away from everywhere...

Enjoy the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki [?] Big On Black :-)

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble

Stepping Into The Past

Stepping Into The Past, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

I'm stepping into the past today. Photography allows you to do that; to capture a moment of time to cherish forever... or at least for as long as the media its stored upon lasts.
This shot was taken in early 1993 - 17 years ago - on an old film point and shoot. The Advanced Photo System (APS) film was sent off to Kodak who duly sent me a PhotoCD disc, which I just came across while going through a box of old CDs. So I uploaded the image onto an old Power Mac 7300, resurrected just for the purpose, and imported the PCD file and added the frame in Photoshop 5.5. Iv'e had a retro kind of day :-)

This sunset was taken from the back garden of my house at the time, on the edge of Findhorn Bay in the North of Scotland.

Now this light captured 17 years ago will live again, released from its digital resting place...

Enjoy! - Step Black Into The Past - Sunset Over Findhorn Bay, Scotland [?]

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble

The Heaviness of Rain - Grasses In The Wind II

The Heaviness of Rain - Grasses In The Wind II, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

...a loosening and sweetening heaviness,
not sleep, but nearly sleep, not dreaming really
but as ready to believe and still
unfevered, calm and unsurprised

From The Journey by Eavan Boland (1944 - )

Second in a series on the simple pleasures of watching grasses blowing in the wind. ... Grasses In The Wind Series - #2 ... First in series is here

Best Viewed Large On Black - Rainy Day in Otaki Beach [?]

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble

Enjoy!... Bee Happy!

The Lightness of Being - Grasses In The Wind I

The Lightness of Being - Grasses In The Wind I, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

...nothing while so much is being
felt, his hot lightness of spirit
in being free to walk around
while other are nailed above the earth.
From Bible Study: 71 B.C.E. by Sharon Olds (1942 - )

I have let the grasses in my garden grow again this Spring. My lawns are now a magical meadow of grasses, flowers, bees and birds. Its amazing what joys of nature we miss by mowing our lawns… ツ

So I thought i would post a series on the simple pleasures of watching grasses blowing in the wind. ... Grasses In The Wind Series - #1 ... Second in series is here

Best Viewed Large On Black - The wild meadow of my back garden [?]

All shots are manual focus, high shutter speed shot in RAW with some minor post processing made in Photoshop and/or Picassa. Framing added last, in Photoshop CS3.

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble

Enjoy!... Bee Happy!

Bee’s Flight to Delight

Bee’s Flight to Delight, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

Come, O come, my life’s delight,
Let me not in languor pine!
Love loves no delay; thy sight,
The more enjoyed, the more divine:
O come, and take from me
The pain of being deprived of thee!

Thou all sweetness dost enclose,
Like a little world of bliss.
Beauty guards thy looks: the rose
In them pure and eternal is.
Come, then, and make thy flight
As swift to me, as heavenly light.

My Life’s Delight by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)

Best Viewed Large On Black - The universal power of love & attraction :-) [?]

• Available high res and unframed at tomraven.com
• Prints, Cards and Posters available at RavenRedBubble