I love finding subject matter for photos as much as I love early morning walks and sunrises over a lake.
Isn’t this an interesting one? “still life” of canoes upside down, misty water reflections of trees in the distance.
I really would have loved to have been a photographer had I done anything else with my life. I love to capture moments that make people stop and search the photo for more than what is obvious to the eye.
More mirror images – trees, dock, and reeds.
I have always loved the illusion of water reflection – it adds a symmetry to an otherwise ordinary scene.
Depth is another thing I look at creating. Something in front, something in the mid range of focus, and something else as backdrop. Angles also play a part.
Silhouettes can also be very effective -
Do you see that the boats add just a little pop of color to this scene?
The color is “almost” not there, the main focus being the misty grey reflection in the distance. The angles of how the canoes are resting contradict the straight lines in the picnic table. These are the kinds of things I look for when taking a memorable photo.
And yesterday there were MANY memorable photos. We headed out to the nearby Flight 93 National Memorial. In all of the years I’ve been coming to teach for Mary’s Quilt Shop, it had never occurred to me that this landmark was so near by.
We drove through beautiful Pennsylvania countryside on our way to Shanksville, where we would be meeting up with Doris, who not only works at Mary’s Quilt Shop, but also volunteers her time as a Flight 93 ambassador at the memorial. Passing farms and fields and barns with gorgeous Allegheny mountains in the distance Click to play:
Timeline on the walkway.
The walkway is the flight path of the plane in it’s last few seconds.
Overlooking the crash site.
The quiet is overwhelming.
Only the sound of crickets.
The center gets up to 5,000 visitors a day, all paying homage to those who gave so freely of their lives to protect others who may have been in the flight path should the hijackers have completed their mission.
My heart was truly breaking by the time I got to the photos of those who lost their lives.
This was so very well done – I can’t state it enough. There is a wall of phones where you can pick up a handset, and listen to the recorded messages of those who phoned home during the last minutes of the flight to leave messages for family and loved ones – Messages being left on answering machines while loved ones still slept on the west coast as the time was just past 6am west coast time.
I can’t imagine waking up to that message – the one that was recorded as I slept – turning on the TV when I woke to then see the news. My heart still can’t make sense of this senseless act even as we draw near to the 17th anniversary, just a couple of weeks away.
The soon to be completed Tower of Voices is a monumental, ninety-three feet tall musical instrument holding forty wind chimes, representing the forty passengers and crew members.
The intent is to create a set of forty tones (voices) that will evoke the serenity and nobility of the site while also through dissonance recall the event that consecrated this ground.
The hope is to have it done by September 9th – Doris told us that there will be 5,000 chairs set up for the event –
Let’s cross fingers and hope that things go well for completion.
Weather has it raining off and on over the next 4 days into September as the 17th anniversary of this dreadful day draws closer.
Long range views from Lookout Point on Highway 30 -
On our way back to Mary’s.
We ended our day with a walk along the lake – taking Mary’s 13 month old Yellow Lab Buddie for a run and a swim at sunset.
It was the perfect end to a heart-wrenching, soul-searching remembrance day. Click to play:
So TODAY. We do it all again.
Two more workshops ahead – Pinwheel Fancy and Wanderlust from the Addicted to Scraps book will fill up the last two days of our Summer Series, and I’ll start my journey home on Saturday morning.
Before I forget – as Labor Day weekend draws near - I want to remind you that ALL digital patterns in the Quiltville Store are STILL 50% off through Labor Day using code AUG2018 at purchase.
Code must be used at time of purchase, no refunds if you forget, okay?
Quiltville Quote of the Day.
Garden party quilt shared during our Pennsylvania workshops this past week.
Pattern from my book Addicted to Scraps.
Don't let the outside voices in the world around you drown out your own inner voice!
Have a wonderful Thursday-that-feels-like-a-Monday, everyone!
21 comments:
Photography is something anyone can enjoy if they keep a sense of wonder. Thank you for sharing your photos. Last August, I went the 911 memorial museum in NYC. It is also well done. I could not take it all in the day I was there. Thank you for sharing the 911 photos.
Your sunrise photos are beautiful. I like how the red boats look salmon in the first one - trick of the early light. Thank you for sharing the Flight 93 memorial with us. I wasn't aware they'd built a visitor's center there, and it certainly looks powerful and moving.
Thank you for sharing your trip and pictures with us.
You are a photographer...I look forward to your photos every day... My daughter also has an eye for color and perspective in pictures... Thank you for sharing!
I'm old enough to remember a lot of tragedies but memorials like this can still bring me to tears. Thank you for your photos, and the serene images of the lake.
Bonnie,you are a photographer!that's part of why your quilts are so beautiful-your sense of color and depth. Thanks for all you share. Lois
But, you are a photographer.... and a very skilled one. Thank you for sharing your many talents and especially for taking the time to show Shanksville.
Never forget that day! We knew the family of one of the stewardess.
A sense of Wonder is the theme for our Women's choir Christmas concert. A retired kindergarten teacher says that is why she loves children!
Reading this brings many tears to my eyes. It is all still so fresh an imbedded in memory. I will never forget. Thanks so much for the pictures, and sharing these with all of us.
Our son used to have Labs and all they really wanted to do was swim or go hunting. Since both of his died he just hasn't had the heart to get another one. They're great dogs.
Bonnie, you are an ARTIST in every sense of the word. I am enjoying the progress of the quilts, every one is beautiful and I keep thinking "Oh, I DO have that pattern in your book!!" Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
Thank you Bonnie. Thank you.
We went to both Shawnee Park and Flight 93 memorial while we were there this week while I attended the Idaho Square Dance workshop. Beautiful park and heart breaking memorial.
Your pictures are stunning as always and you are definitely a photographer.
I love that you showed us the memorial and the tower will be so appropriate to those who lost their lives, even after all these years I can remember watching the live footage on tv before and after I went to collect my children from school. All the mums talking about it in disbelief at what was happening in the US on that day. God bless and care for all who lost their lives and prayers for the remaining families.
Love and quilty hugs
Anne xxx
My husband was watching the film of flight 93 the other day - I couldn't bear to watch. I can't watch anything to do with 9/11 as I find it way too upsetting (being English I can't begin to imagine your feelings across the pond) as I remember that day vividly. But what a wonderful remembrance site. Thank you for sharing. Love the photos too.
Beautiful photos. The colors from these would surely make another great mystery quilt!
Thanks for sharing. Beautiful photography.
When 9/11 occurred I was with quilting friends. We were packing up to come home when our world stopped. One of our friends was from the area the Flight 93 came down and she was devastated, as we all were. The teacher who had led our retreat was Nancy Eha and she immediately became stranded with strangers. She had no way to get home. She called her husband and he was packing the car headed to Arkansas. We told him to drive till he got tired and we would head out with Nancy the next morning and meet him wherever he was. What a reunion that was and what a blessing to be part of helping someone. Quilters are the best for rallying around someone who needs their help. I love your photos and enjoy the stories your share. Someday maybe you can make it to Arkansas.
Bonnie: the 2018 Row by Row at The Sewing Box Quilt Shop in Somerset, PA. is The Tower of Voices honoring Flight 93.
My youngest son was @ Point Park College, away from home for freshman year, when the flight came out of Pittsburgh and flew across the city.... the college & dorms are high rises! The fbi made the school get all the kiddos down to the lower level, but didn’t tell them what was going on. He called me from a bathroom stall so scared because they were hearing bits & pieces and we’re afraid a plane might hit the kind of building they were in/ in the middle of the cit: the airport is no threat very far. It broke my heart that I couldn’t comfort him, I was helpless and the whole thing was horrific. To top it all off that day was my 25th wedding anniversary... Thank you for showing me your visit to the site where those heroes got the plane down and saved countless lives. They were so brave! I must go there someday...
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