Creative November Challenge Day #6: Under construction

Now that the time has changed, it's dark by the time I leave the office and, to make matters worse, there's construction everywhere so it's almost impossible to get a photo downtown without a crane or scaffolding in it.

After work, I headed for the sea bridge, which was built this summer to connect the two ends of the waterfront while Queen's Marque is under construction. I'd hoped to shoot the construction site from the water side but discovered the bridge was closed so only managed to grab a few shots before catching the ferry home.

Technically, the images are poor, but I hope they capture a little of the mood at least.

Our elected politicians and developers assure us we should be thrilled by all the construction but I can't help feeling the price is too high - that too much of our built heritage is being lost. Halifax is one of North America's oldest cities but, walking through downtown, you wouldn't know it. Many of the graceful old buildings that once lined the main streets have been replaced with glass skyscrapers of dubious architectural value. Here's hoping the people buying the hundreds of new condos actually live in them.

Of course, it may be I'm just grumpy because I liked the old version of Halifax - a city to which I could imagine returning one day, if the charms of country living ever begin to wane. The  brighter and shinier version doesn't hold the same appeal. It's far too cold and antiseptic - not to mention expensive.

Ah well...here's hoping the soul of our shabby little city somehow survives all this.

Creative November Challenge Day #5: Happy mistakes

I took this photo from our bedroom window yesterday morning. I was tidying up after my run when I noticed the sun illuminating the last of the red and gold leaves clinging to the branches of a large maple tree on the northwest edge of our property. I grabbed my camera hoping to capture their warm glow through the wavy old window glass, but - for the life of me - couldn't get the camera to focus in either manual or automatic mode.

It was only later that I figured out why the autofocus wouldn't work. I was using a long zoom lens, which isn't able to focus on objects that are too close. The leaves I wanted to capture were thirty to forty feet away, but the lens was mere inches from the window, so the close proximity of the glass prevented the lens from operating as I wanted it to. I still haven't figured out why I couldn't focus manually.

In any case, when I downloaded my photos last night, I was surprised to find that I actually liked the image I'd captured by mistake - especially, when I tweaked it to add more contrast.

Another happy outtake from my frustrated efforts was this photo, which I took while trying to figure out if the lens was working properly.

I love how the blue sea glass pops against the warm colours in the yard outside. 

There's a lovely life lesson in there - something about how mistakes can turn out to be happy things. When we're lucky, they enable us to see situations from new perspectives, challenge us to be creative, and offer opportunities we wouldn't have had otherwise. They also help us recognize our real friends - the ones who stand by us no matter how badly we've messed up.

But, of course, that can be hard to remember in the moment, when our first instinct is to be angry and defensive, and try to undo the error - which is why it's a good idea to notice happy mistakes when they occur - so that, however badly we screw up in future, we can remind ourselves that the very worst things sometimes lead to the very best. 

Creative November Challenge Day #4: Puppy love

You didn't really expect me to go more than a few days without mentioning Jackie Blue, did you? This wee bundle of puppy love occupies considerable real estate in my heart and mind - not least because she's so darn cute. But, truthfully, it's more than that. I also love her for her energy, curiosity, and sense of fun.

Not to mention the fact that there are few things nicer than puppy snuggles in the morning.

My affection for Jackie (aka Sausage) and our other four-legged companion, Nemmie the cat (aka Her Highness), has me thinking about relationships between humans and their critters.

In my view, we owe our pets a lot and should value their companionship more than we sometimes do. It's no exaggeration to say our elder cat, Ranee, saved my life more than once, and Jackie's arrival earlier this year helped ease the heaviness in Husband's heart brought on by the loss of his Mum, Dad and big sister a few years ago.

My favourite thing about our critter companions is that they encourage us to spend time hanging out with them - not accomplishing much, just communing. They also seem to understand basic truths that many of us have forgotten - that we can only ever live in the present and that it is our relationships with one another that make life worth living - and are able to forgive better than most. Best of all, they inspire us to be the people they think we are - loyal, caring and brave.

So here's to puppy love. And here's hoping Her Highness and Sausage are with us for many years to come.

Creative November Challenge Day #3: Beauty in unexpected places

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that's certainly true of photographers. Many are inspired to capture images of objects we wouldn't normally consider beautiful - like the old painted pipes above.

And we're delighted when we stumble on natural beauty persevering in harsh circumstances - like the impatience I found blooming near a massive construction site on an early November day.

Or the bush tenaciously growing from the third story window frame of a derelict building.

Beauty of a different kind often appears in our darkest hours - when human connection and compassion glows most brightly.

Tonight, I am remembering my gentle father-in-law, in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease, sitting by my mother-in-law's bedside, clasping her hand as she lay dying of cancer. Though severely incapacitated by his disease and barely able to speak, the beauty of his love and caring was transcendent.

That humans are capable of appreciating and creating such beauty in unexpected places is perhaps some reason for optimism.

Creative November Challenge Day #2: The magic of light

Light is magical. It can make even the most commonplace beautiful and interesting.  It's why photographers get up early, when the light is at its most warm and generous - though the time just before sunset is good too.

Figuratively speaking, shining a light on people and situations can have a similar effect - though too often it exposes things we'd rather not see - greed, selfishness, cruelty. It's why we have auditors-general, and freedom of information acts, and sunshine lists - because subjecting decisions and decision-makers to the harsh light of day lets us see them for what and who they truly are.

I have to admit there are times when I prefer to stay in that quiet, comforting space between darkness and daylight, where the light is most magical and forgiving.