The sun had risen; the night was gone.  As per my usual morning routine I picked up the bird feeder by the back door and brought it out to its hanger.  Contrary to what the deer think, my feeder is solely for the birds!  I could hear the sounds of life (my regular crowd of Nuthatches, Tufted Titmouse, Chickadees and assorted woodpeckers) chirping away in the trees as if to say, “What took you so long?” and enjoyed the thought of my contribution to their day to day existence.  We humans do have a rather high opinion of our ability to control life and death, don’t we?  As if to put my pride in perspective, at that very moment, a grand flash of movement swept through my neighbor’s driveway.  It was a Red Tailed Hawk with a rather gory package in his talons.  The black squirrel was immediately and recognizably dead and its killer carried his catch to the top of my neighbor’s shed.  I literally stopped dead in my tracks.  The power of the scene both repulsed and amazed me.  Frozen in awe I gazed at the magnificent bird and the helpless meal.  How many seconds passed before the thought occurred to me that I should really get my camera I do not know, but at some point I realized capturing the captured could be a possibility.  “No way!” my rationale chided, “He’ll fly off the second you move!”  But, if opportunity was knocking…  To my surprise the hawk was still majestically perched on the shed when I stepped back outside and although it was hard to look past the gruesome condition of his prize, the photographer in me took over and let the camera do its job.  He stared at me; I took pictures of him.  Three shots and he was gone. 
            Life and death are inevitable in this world.  We rejoice in the former and do our best to avoid or put off the latter.  When a child is born we celebrate; when death comes we mourn.  While we wish we could control the number of our days here on earth, the truth is we can’t.  But with camera in hand, how we see those points of beginning and end changes.  They are but moments in all their glory, especially in the realm of nature.  In that moment when the shutter first clicked and recorded the hawk and its trophy, the camera saw both the perpetuation of one life, and the demise of another; the two irrevocably connected forever in that one picture.  Such a powerful tool in such inept hands!  As I’ve replayed those moments in my mind I have come to the realization that I will never really control life or death in the physical realm.  Just because I put a bird feeder out each day it does not mean that the birds could never exist without it.  But while I cannot control nature, I can control my camera and in the artistic realm, I do, in an ideological way, have some sense of power over life and death, but only through the snap of a shutter.  Recognizing this has given me a greater sense of respect for both life and death.  And while capturing that cycle shared between the captor and his prey the other morning may not have been pleasant, it was a privilege to witness and record it.  
 
Ann H. LeFevre
February 16, 2018

            My husband Jeff and I see things differently most of the time.  While I am constantly looking at the nuances in any given situation or person, he sees them in black and white.  That description has often made me chuckle because it’s very obvious that most human beings don’t see that way.  Even folks who struggle with color-blindness still see colors; they just have problems distinguishing them.  When we say a person only sees in black and white it is not usually a compliment.  But in reality it is not really a character flaw either.  Sometimes you need a person who sees life in a clear and concise way in order to help put things in perspective. 
            Photographers aspire to see things in black and white for an entirely different reason.  Most love the joy and excitement of color, but for aesthetic reasons a photographer may choose to turn off the color and jump into a world where contrast reigns supreme and light reveals that contrast through a variety of compositional elements.  Although a photographer may wish to capture the shot in black and white, he/she faces one very obvious obstacle.  We don’t see in black and white; we see in color.  Our eyes must be trained to see when color conditions are suitable for black and white.  This can be accomplished with handy devices like a monochrome viewing filter or the monochrome live-view in your camera, but it’s really not that hard to see this with your “naked eye”.  Like all skills it just takes practice.
            The interesting thing about color is that it can be distracting.  Sometimes looking at a color shot becomes more about looking at the color than looking at the picture.  Black and white strips that distraction away and compels you to take in the entire scene.  A leaf becomes a road map; the soft pile of a blanket invites you to touch it; a street candid captures the sorrow in the longing glance of a lonely teen; all these details could have been lost in the green leaf, the pink wool or the bright orange t-shirt of their color versions.  We fall into the trap of our natural tendency to see in color and forget to see the possibilities of the alternative.  It is an ironic twist that our seeing in color can become so black and white.
            It takes determination to see in black and white in our world of color, but it can be done in the same way it takes us to understand another’s point of view.  We can’t rely on gadgets or LED screens for those issues.  Like all skills it takes practice.  In the end, the more we try it, the better we get.  If we go out looking for colorful conditions that are conducive to black and white, we will find them and our black and white photos will improve.  If we listen to others and truly try to grasp how they feel and why they think the way they do, we will “get it” and we will become more compassionate people.  Seeing is an art and in this world of color, seeing in black and white even more so.

Now available on Amazon Kindle- Seeing in Black and White: An Amateur Photographer's Thoughts on the Art of Monochrome by Ann H. LeFevre
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0798X7Y98

I saw a feed on Facebook recently, posted by a friend, which asked her followers where they were or what they were doing when they received the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated.  The question obviously dated her and those who responded, but it got me thinking about those significant events in each generation that pinpoints a certain day, a certain month, a moment when life irrevocably changed for better or worse.  This not only happens in epochs and eras, it happens in personal ways too.   Some of them are captured in a picture- your first car, blowing out birthday candles at a party, your date for the Prom, time spent with at a favorite place or with a best friend; each of these moments take hold in your life story and define who you are in a deep and enduring way.  They are benchmarks on the timeline of your life and each moment is captured forever in your memory thanks to the picture in your hand.
 
Photographers are moment stealers.  Whether on film or in a digital file with the press of a button they freeze a moment and make it theirs in a picture.  The thoughtful photographer will do this with uttermost care.  They recognize the moment they are capturing is precious even if it is something as simple as feeding a flock of greedy seagulls on a blustery winter’s day.  The “Happy Snapper” shoots haphazardly, wondering if they’ll get “anything good”.  But for those who treasure the ability to preserve for posterity a moment that was significant to someone, capturing the moment becomes a visual trophy of success.  It is something that is gained by “being at the right place, at the right time”, studying and calculating the light to get the perfect shot, or by waiting patiently to see the moment unfold.
 
 Life has a way of causing us to forget how precious moments are until someone asks the question, “Where were you when…”, or we are riffling through a pile of papers and we stumble on a long forgotten photo which causes us to pause and think about “the moment”.  Should “capturing the moment” only pertain to putting it on film or in a digital file?  I’m starting to think that every moment is special, even if I don’t have a camera in my hands.  But for the times when I do capture “that moment”, moments have become even more treasured because they are now preserved forever thanks to the connection of my finger to the shutter.

            A photographer cannot help but be attracted to color.  Even if you are seeing it as a stepping stone into black and white, color is central to your shot.  But lately color has lost its original identity in our culture and I am saddened by what it has been forced to become.  It was never meant to be a measuring stick or a dividing tool, a political platform or ethnic distinction.  Scientifically color is defined by light, either reflected or emitted, and the way it interacts with an object.  But for most of us it is simply the hue or the general complexion of something.  
            I would prefer that each color be given equal status, but it is true of human nature that in the realm of art we can be drawn to one color over another.  My mother had an aversion to purple.  I’m not sure why, but I never wore it as a child, except for one lavender sweater that I picked out when someone other than my mother took me clothes shopping once.  But technically, it wasn’t until well into adulthood that I actually bought something purple to wear and in the beginning it felt very strange to put it on!
            I think we were meant to enjoy all the colors of the rainbow.  We were meant to feel the passionate fire of red, the warm glow of orange, the cheery smile of yellow, the hope of possibility in green, the flowing ocean of feelings in blue, the melancholy sorrow of indigo and the quiet strength of purple.  A rainbow lacking in any one of these colors is not complete in our eyes and we know our eyes have failed us when colors become dim.  It is a sad condition that thanks to the polarizing effect of politics and the people who perpetuate the extremes, that we can no longer enjoy color as color.  Color is not a hue or shade now; it is an “issue”.
            I decided to get my nails done the other day.  I admit it is a bit frivolous, but it is a small way to pamper myself without breaking the bank.  When you walk in the door of the salon you are met by a wall of color and the receptionist says, “What color do you want?”  There are literally hundreds to choose from.  As I sat with the manicurist I couldn’t help but be amused by the wide variety of patrons: a grandma with her daughter and granddaughter, a talkative lady who was an expert on everything from the theater to essential oils, a woman who called herself “Bridezilla” and her flamboyant bridesmaid, a business woman, a pregnant lady, and a couple who seemed to be just as amused by the friendly “know-it-all” as I was.  Lots of people- lots of color in every sense of the word- and I was loving it!
            Why do we separate colors so severely?  What condition compels us to no longer view them as a unified spectrum?  The destruction of color has taken the joy of color from our experience and replaced it with the ugly display of selfishness we see forced on us every day by those who demand that it is an issue.  Color is not a lethal weapon in a war of words and ideologies.  Color is the art of life and beauty.   If we could learn to view people this way, I think we’d enjoy one another a lot more.  So, I say it is time to reclaim color as it should be- the delightful range of sunlight as it falls upon and is absorbed by the world in which we live.  It is time to return color to the feast for the eyes that it was meant to be.
Ann H. LeFevre

            I have come to believe that time is both generous and selfish.  It will give you the impression that there is plenty of it to go around and then without warning slip from your grasp.  This is never more apparent than in pictures where generations of loved ones can parade in front of your eyes in a moment’s time.  Children with smiles and ice cream in the span of one glance pass through the teen years and become adults.  Beloved parents and grandparents embrace us with a hug and are then remembered by their graves. 
            How does time manage to do this?  The answer has eluded me.  Perhaps I am thinking about it more due to my own revelation that my time on this earth will not last forever or because I now have more than one generation following my own.  The reason could be that as soon as I’m used to the fact that it’s Monday, Friday rolls around.  How do the days go by so quickly?  And it’s not just the weeks or months!  I wake to the sun coming in the window, blink and I’m turning down the bed wondering just where the day went.  What happened to those days of childhood which seemed to drag on endlessly when I was waiting for my birthday or Christmas?
            All this musing about time has made me realize that it is truly something precious.  If I’d known I’d only have a few hours to prepare for this or that, would I have spent some of it washing dishes instead of putting my best into whatever I’d be on call for?  If I’d realized that my children would grow up much faster than the time of childhood indicated would I have played with them more, held them more, sacrificed myself a little more than I did?  Had I known the time I’d spent with my father during the last week of his life, was actually that, the last week of his life, would I have treated it differently?  Or that when I saw my mother that weekend in July that it would be the last time I saw her, would I have remembered to thank her for shaping me into the person I am today, hugged her a little longer, or even prolonged the visit?  I’m not sure I understood in those moments that those times were as special as they were.  I do now.
            And yet, I know that I have treasured time as well.  There are thousands of pictures that attest to this!  In moments when I miss my father or mother, I turn to a picture and cherish the memories that are attached to it.  I catch a look or see some sort of action by my grandson and place it next to a picture of my son doing the exact same thing and can’t help but smile over the mystery of genetics.   I remember the places I’ve visited and the wonderful experiences that took place there and can feel them all over again by looking at a picture taken when I was there.   While time can (and will) steal that physical moment it generously gives it back in my memory.
            While time is allowed to speed by in our culture, and in fact, it is virtually pushed to its limit by our non-stop pace, it can easily come crashing to a halt when a catastrophe strikes.  Storms, illness, or personal issues can all too quickly put time into a position where we clearly see its value and fleeting nature.  So it is all the more reason to look closely at how we are spending it and with whom.  For we never know when time will be gracious, or when it will slip away without warning.
Ann H. LeFevre                                                                                                                                    3/8/2017

  Mun-dane:  Relating to, characteristic of, concerned with commonplace, ordinary.  You might say, "Boring".  If you are a photographer it is something that you are going to avoid photographing.  Mundane subjects are, well, something we'd rather pass by because we do not see them as something "extraordinary".  Mundane things are something we've seen a million times and it has never grabbed us.  As photographers we aspire to create ART, or record a significant MOMENT either in our personal history or that of the entire human race.  Why photograph such common things as a paper clip, drinking glass or hammer?  These things will never rise above their common place because they are decidedly common.  Yet, if we truly aspire to be a great photographer as an artist or a photojournalist, we should be compelled to at least attempt to make the mundane rise above its lowly state, shouldn't we?

The way we see life is like that as well.  There is nothing spectacular about paying the bills, doing the laundry or washing the dishes.  Some things like electric can openers, microwaves and remote controls do make life easier, but we wouldn't consider them art gallery worthy subjects.  We've been conditioned to think that "the ordinary" has nothing to offer us both as a photographer or in our general attitude in life.  But I contend that we are wrong.

When I first started taking photos as a record of my day to day activities, I was always on the look-out for something different or eye-catching.  But I quickly realized that those things are rare.  It forced me to look more closely at what was at hand.  And the more I looked, the more I saw the magic of the mundane.  I saw the way the light changed in each room of my house throughout the day.  I saw shape and form in fruits and vegetables in my kitchen.  I saw the lines and curves of forks, window shades and hammers and the colors of fabric, cut glass and ceramics.  Suddenly, what once was "boring" became another thing which my camera could transform into art.  My attitude in life changed too because I became thankful for those ordinary things when they opened my eyes to see the beauty that was lying beneath them.

There is art in every corner of our day, if we are willing to look for it.  Now when my first thought about something stirs up the phrase "ho-hum" in my brain, I automatically take another look.  For I've learned there's magic in the mundane hidden just beneath the surface.  And I never know what will reveal it next.

     I was given a wonderful gift this Christmas.  I hadn't asked for it and wasn't expecting it, so it made the gift all that more special.  It was a macro lens and the first thing I did was go home and attach it to my camera.  I knew that this lens was designed to photograph small things at a very close range, so my initial subjects were all little.  Being that I am a person who loves little knick-knacks and doo-dads, I didn't have any difficulty finding subjects!  It was fun to see how big the lens made these little things look.  
     Eventually the "small made big" format started to become redundant and it finally occurred to me that this was not the only thing the macro lens could do.  I became adventurous taking pictures of pieces of things and tiny portions of even larger subject matter.  The results amazed me.  Pages of a book became silvery thin icicles, the veins of a leaf a roadmap, lace an intricate web of loops and circles.  One day, when the weather was still favorable, I ventured outside to see what the woodpile might offer.  Perhaps there was some piece of wood with textured bark, or the weights we used to keep it covered might have some rust.  As I walked along inspecting the pile my eye landed on some fungi we call "Turkey Tails".  Summer long past, the plant was dead but still attached firmly to its formerly living host.  Since it could no longer find sustenance from the tree, the Turkey Tail had shriveled up.  "Interesting," I thought, "It'll make a great black and white."  So I took some pictures from several different viewpoints but didn't think much about what the final result would really look like.
   Later that evening, after the dishes were washed and the laundry folded I loaded the pictures into the computer.  I was delighted by what I discovered.   Suddenly a world I had barely acknowledged existed was there in all its glorious detail right before my eyes.  The Turkey Tails which had looked shriveled and dead to my naked eye was now a ruffled piece of art.  And just as I'd expected, it made a great black and white.
     We tend to go through life in a familiar routine or pattern.  We get used to seeing things in a similar way.  Because these aspects of our lives are "pre-set", we're surprised when they change.  A friend gets a new haircut, a store moves its inventory around, or something is left out of place and we stumble upon it in the dark and it jolts us out of the "usual".  We become accustomed to following this route because it helps our sometimes chaotic lives appear more steady.  It's not necessarily a bad thing if our lives go this way, but it does keep us from recognizing that there is so much more to see and sometimes those things are not visible to the naked eye.
     Seeing in the macro world involves pointing the lens of our eyes toward the minute details.  It involves expecting to see the unexpected although we may need a little assistance to do so.  But there are great rewards for looking at the world through a macro lens and I've only just begun to do so.
   

     Simplicity is the absence of luxury or showiness and plainness according to the American Heritage College Dictionary.  Yet every time I take a photo to demonstrate the simplicity of something, I am surprised by the complexity of my subject.  Such was the case with this "simple" blade of wild grass which I photographed near my mailbox.  The setting sun illuminated the golden stalk as it made its way boldly through a crack in the pavement.  After loading the picture into my computer I was struck by the detail of the individual strands anchored into the stalk which stood out so clearly against the dark roadway I was tempted to count them!
     We often hear the home-show gurus tell us to simplify our lives; to rid ourselves of clutter and unnecessary belongings which overtake the space we live in.  But the process of simplifying is as complex as the strands on a blade of grass.  My biggest fear when cleansing my world of clutter is that I will throw something out because it has no meaning at present but might become significant when I no longer have it!  Simplifying my life should not be so stressful!
    However as I gaze at the beauty in this single blade of grass I am reminded that simplicity is not so much a process as it is a state of being.  A simplified life is confidence in knowing that one's basic needs have been met and that a roof over one's head, a bowl of soup on the table and a loving family is really all you need in life.  You do not have to pursue what someone else determines as success.  You do not have to possess what someone else determines is fashionable or desirable.  Nature displays that the frenzied striving for material things such as these is counter-productive.  If the flowers bloom in the garden and the birds are able to forage for food, then I can live in a simplified manner such as they do if I set my mind to it.  This will truly release me to enjoy what some call "the simple pleasures" in life.
  While simplicity may remove what is in excess in my life, it does not remove the essence of it.  It is like the blade of grass which appears to be simply a stalk, a few feathery strands and some seeds but becomes far more than that when the sunlight shines through it and my camera snaps a shot.  In the end I must develop the eyes to see it and then to continue to live it and that is hardly simple at all!

     I finally made it to the Farmer's Market this September.  I knew it existed and always promised myself I'd get up early on Saturday morning and head down to take advantage of the bounty of our local farms.  Yes, I told myself I'd do that, but come Saturday morning, I'd lounge around and dawdle until it was too late to go.  It's not that I had such a busy week that I was exhausted or had things that needed to be done around the house.  It's that I can be so lazy!  But a commitment made through our photography club forced me to get up and go that September morning and it was all I needed to realize I was missing out on something good!  One walk around the market and I was anticipating all the wonderful things I would be making with the fresh vegetables and fruits I'd purchased.  It was also a photographer's delight with the shapes, textures and colors of all those farm-grown goodies. 

     Our market also moves indoors in November as some of the farms produce products such as bread, milk, free-range meat and goods like home-made soaps and wool.  This past Saturday, armed with a list of ingredients needed for the upcoming week's meals, I ventured into the indoor market like a child bringing a list of toys desired for Christmas to Santa.  I wasn't disappointed and happily checked off most of the items on my list.  The bonus of visiting the market on a dreary and gray Saturday morning in Autumn is the wonderful colors of the all the late Fall produce still available to shoppers like myself.  I was particularly struck by the color of the lettuce and herbs.  The colorful leaves of Fall may be gone , but the farmers are still bringing the gift of green to the market table.

I often hear people talk about "living green".  They simplify and upgrade their lives so their carbon footprint shrinks or the energy their homes consume pull less resources out of the environment.  They buy organic foods, use homeopathic remedies and stay away from anything that's processed or made with synthetic ingredients.  There's no question that the food at the Farmer's Market tastes better.  One bite of a salad made with fresh lettuce harvested the day before and it's hard to eat the same kind off of the supermarket shelf again.  But while most of the people I know who live this way are doing it for the health benefits or because they believe the sermons of pseudo-scientific studies which proclaim we've poisoned the world with our technology, I am of a different mindset.  It's not that I don't agree with the benefits of eating more natural foods; I do.  It's not that I think we should just consume, consume, consume with no regards to the consequences; I don't.  What I believe is that the closer we get to how it was "in the beginning", the better off we are.

Like the beauty of a green head of lettuce on a gray Fall day, green in itself is a gift.  When you look at it there is truly a sense of life at its most vibrant.  There is a sense of earth and growth in this color that no other color possesses.  It is not a lofty or esoteric color, rather it is familiar and inviting.  It brings us closer to where we came from and reminds us to enjoy the scenery on the way to where we are going.  How pleasant it is then to pick it up, put it in a bag and bring it home for dinner!  As we head into a season of Thanksgiving here in the United States, I am mindful of how thankful I am for the gift of green.  It connects me to the world I live in and reminds me to care for it in the same way I would care for a precious gem or a person I love.  The gift of green is a treasure in every sense of the word.  But we often forget how wonderful the world that brings it to us truly is.

I oftentimes look up into the night sky and become mesmerized by the moon.  It has always been that way.  I can remember as a young girl sitting by my window at night and staring at it until my mother would admonish me that it was bedtime, not "moon time"!  I made a short-lived attempt at finding a college where I could study astronomy.  Short-lived because once I learned how much mathematics were involved in this field, I quickly abandoned the idea.  Simply put math is NOT my strong suit.  Still, my attraction to that round ball in the sky, captured by the Earth's magnetic pull to eternally circuit our planet, never waned. 

When photography opened the way for me to peer at its beauty more closely, my fascination deepened.  But in the beginning my cameras were not capable of capturing a detailed view.  It made me want one all the more!  I would scrimp and save and get just close enough to purchase the necessary camera only to have some bill or household need take precedence over spending the hard-earned cash on a frivolity such as a camera!  I'd see the pictures of others or the amazing shots which come from those satellites or spaceships we blast into the universe and start the process all over again thinking,  "I'll get it this time!"  After four years of this see-saw like cycle, the dream finally became a reality.  One summery night I drove down to the boat launch of a nearby river and using the recycling bin as a tripod took my first official moon shot.  There was no looking back after that!

There is something within the human spirit that wants to know things that are bigger than itself.  There is something that believes in the glorious.  We look into the heavens and see the Moon suspended there, floating and drifting across the night sky and sometimes even take for granted that something keeps it from colliding with our Earthly home.  But if we take the time to really look at it; to see its bumps, bruises, craters and patterns, we can't help but be amazed by what we see.

One of these nights my neighbors will discover that when the Moon calls to be photographed, that I usually slip outside, pjs hidden underneath a coat, tripod in hand and camera tightened down to it, and walk about my yard until I find the perfect view.  They will probably shake their heads and chuckle to themselves, "There she goes again!" as I admit they've seen me just as determined to photograph plants and bugs in my garden.  But if they could see what I see through the view finder and later on my computer screen they would understand my fascination.  While they smile at my antics, I will smile at sight of that silvery orb and the memory of my mother's voice will sing to me, "I see the moon and the moon sees me..."

Ann H. LeFevre
October 29, 2015