Bonnie Rannald's Photo-Explorations in focus with nature. : art and music

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Jaming in the New Year

Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association
New Year's Jam

On January 1, 2011, the Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association welcomed the New Year to Reno, Nevada with a unique event, the New Year's Jam and Potluck. What better way to celebrate the New Year than enjoying good home made food while listening to acoustic musicians play the grass roots music of country, blues and gospel that has become known as Bluegrass. The Bluegrass music legacy goes back to the first immigrants who settled in America, bringing the folk music and ballads from their homelands of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. As the early settlers drifted south and settled in Kentucky, Tennessee, the Virginias and Carolinas, new songs were incorporated to become a standard of the folk music of their region. The music was a reflection of the areas where people lived, the countryside, mountains and daily life experiences. With the slave trade, new music was introduced along with the design for a musical instrument that was to become an integral part of Bluegrass music, the banjo.

The Bluegrass Jams that are so popular today have their roots back to the 1600's or earlier when people would gather in a circle around a campfire and someone would start picking out a tune. Others would join in and soon the whole group would be playing together. At the modern day jams, a circle is formed by the musicians where one person calls out a song and starts playing. Each musician takes a turn playing the melody and improvises around it, while the other musicians perform accompaniment. What is so interesting with a Bluegrass Jam is how a bunch of musicians can join in, who might not know each other and play unrehearsed so beautifully together.

For more information about Bluegrass and Jams, please visit Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association's website: http://www.nnba.org/

The Northern Nevada Bluegrass Association is a non-profit, volunteer organization promoting the enjoyment of bluegrass music in the Northern Nevada area.

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Spirals

Interesting Shapes in Art and Nature

With the coming of spring, the photography world is in transition from the harshness of the cold, bleak winter landscape to a kaleidoscope of colors, sights and shapes. As in autumn, the natural light of spring is more subtle and pleasing to the camera because of the earth’s proximity to the sun. There is an abundance of activity among the wildlife, as preparations are being made for a rebirth of the species. As a nature photographer, I find the shapes in the landscape as interesting as the colors.

One shape that is found to reoccur in many natural objects is the spiral. Look closely at the new growth of many flowers and you will discover a spiral in the tightly woven petals.

The spiral can also be found in the design of a pinecone and in the arrangement of sunflower seeds.

The spiral shape is nature’s way of providing the most efficient design for growing objects. It allows flower petals and leaves to receive the most exposure to sunlight and is the easiest path for rain to travel to reach the plant’s root system. The spiral shape in sunflower seeds allows for more space within the seeds without over-crowding.

The shape of the spiral is so significant in the natural world that it can be found almost everywhere. Good examples are ram’s horns, flowers, the Milky Way galaxy, fingerprints, DNA, and various sea shells, including the nautilus. The mathematical genius, Pythagoras, discovered the mystical shape of the spiral in the fifth century. Through this discovery, the Golden Ratio evolved and has been used in architecture, art and music since the Aztec and Greek civilizations.

The golden ratio is 1/1.618 or “phi”. A golden rectangle has the golden ratio and when squared, leaves a smaller rectangle behind which has the same golden ratio as the previous rectangle. This squaring can go on ad infinitum. A golden spiral is formed when a curve is connected through the corners of the concentric rectangles.

Basic composition of the “rule of thirds” in art design is derived from the golden rectangle. The 35mm format in photography comes closest to this ratio.

Another form of composition is the golden triangle, which is an isosceles triangle with two short sides and one long side, where the ratio of long to short equals the golden ratio. In my opinion, in photographic composition, the rule of thirds works best with horizontal scenes and the golden triangle with the vertical.

As photographer, I have been drawn to scenes that I felt compelled to re-create on film. One reporter wrote that I had an intuitive awareness of scenes that would photograph well. As I look back on my early days of photography, I recognize that I was attracted to these scenes because the golden ratio or golden triangles were included within the image.

If you watch closely throughout the growing months, you will come to recognize the natural occurrence of these mystical shapes throughout the landscape.