5 in 5 - MELANIE July 2013



Melanie lives in Australia.  She is a long time friend and I was really excited recently when she came to UK for 10 weeks and we had time to catch up in between her travels.  Melanie loves photography and was interested in my 5 in 5 post that I was starting up.  She wanted to take part but there was one problem: she didn't know how to upload her photos as she doesn't have a blog! 

I decided the only way round this was to post on her behalf. I love the colours and contrast in textures.  Thank you for taking part, Melanie.

I asked Melanie if she'd like to add a few words to go with her photos and I think you would agree, she really does need to set up a blog so we can enjoy more!! 
Over to Melanie:

IN MY GARDEN - JULY

 

Top left the chicken.  This chicken is laying me an egg which these days are few and far between.  If you ask our daughters about my chickens (I have two at the moment) they will tell you they are replacement daughters.  They certainly filled the space left when both our daughters moved out of the family home.  I am getting through chickens very quickly though as they seem to have a short life span.  This is chicken number five. 

 

Middle the marigolds and rusty chicken.  I love marigolds they always cheer me up to look at their beautiful bright colours and I never have to plant them as they continually self-seed in fact I pull up rather than plant as left to their own devises they would completely cover the garden although they might come against competition with the nasturtiums who also self-seed. There are actually a pair of rusty chickens hidden in this marigold patch but you can only see one clearly.  They were given to me for Christmas one year by friends who always manage to find something on a chicken theme for me.

 

Top right hibiscus.  The bush that this flower is on was in the garden when we moved here, one of the few.  I leave it to look after itself and it rewards me with an abundance of flowers.

 

Bottom left the clock and spider on the shed.  This garden clock is a reminder for me of how time flies when I am working in the garden and also marks time as it was a present given to me by my brother on my 60^th birthday.  The spider who keeps it company I found when my daughter took me to the Chelsea show one year which was a highlight of a visit to the UK.  Dangling over the clock are branches from the native willow which sits next to the shed.  That tree really does need a haircut.

 

Bottom right the orchid flowers.  I have an orchid in a pot by the back door and most of the year it just sits there with a bunch of green leaves sticking out the pot.  What a delight it was to arrive home from our overseas trip to find it in full flower.
 

If you want to know more about 5 in 5, please go here.

 And here is a photo of Melanie taken when the four of us went out for a meal.  As Melanie is a card maker it was lovely to take her craft shopping.  She was restrained as she was conscious of the amount they already had to take home and cost of excess luggage. However, she found it hard to resist one 12" paper pad and her husband smiled sweetly when she showed him on our return. He could do little else since I bought it for her!  I wish Melanie didn't live across the other side of the world, but she is great at keeping in touch and one day I hope she will set up a blog!

 

5 in 5 - July 2013

 

Welcome to my first post which will be a regular feature from hereon. 

 

 
 

On the 5th of each month I shall be posting

5 photos that I have taken in 5 minutes. 

 

I love setting myself small challenges,

I find it focuses me, gives me motivation, and more than anything I have fun!

 

Being playful and experimental is a great way to learn,

and my previous post tells about how '5 in 5' evolved.

It also includes 2 example videos.  So if you have time, you

might want to make a cup of tea and make yourself comfy.

 
 

And here is your personal invitation

to join me! 

 

Because there is nothing I like more than online community

of friends who share and learn together. 

   

 Here is the plan:
1. Choose a location.
2. Have your camera ready.
3. Set a mobile timer for 5 minutes.
4. Take as many photos you can until the time is up.
5. Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the linkytool. 

That's it!!

And a couple more things. I know from experience if I have too many deadlines I can not meet them all, so I would rather you take part than be under pressure or unable to. So,

Do the photos have to be taken or posted on the 5th?   The answer is no. 

Take your photos whenever inspiration or opportunity takes you.

And you can post your photos for that month anytime up to the 25th.


And on 5th of each month I will post an invitation for you to join me again. 

As well as posting my photos I will include things that may inspire, prompt, or add fun. I do hope this idea sparks you as much as it does me! I love photo challenges and so I hope you will join in when you can. And if you want to post more than once during a month, that's great. Just do a separate linky so we can come see!

 

So let's get started! 

 

Recently I went to London and to avoid commuters I always leave early.  This means I arrive early for my meeting and I am not someone who gravitates to a coffee shop.  No, I grab my camera and find somewhere that will spark me.  On this occasion I decided to
take photos in the locality so I took some photos around Oxford
Circus. This set me on a roll so I set my timer again and took
photos of shop window displays. It is amazing how you see things  when you look from a different perspective... reflections in the glass, colours and angles of displays.

 

The two experiences were entirely different, and they demanded different approaches. Already I was being challenged in a positive way.

 

And then, still with time a-plenty, I went to John Lewis. Now I love their displays and they did not disappoint. I reset my timer and did two photo shoots before going to a green space. And I started over again! Now, I am not obsessive about setting time for taking photos!But on this occasion I wanted to experiment. To check that 5 minutes was realistic and achievable to set as a monthly challenge.  I had considered 10 in 10 minutes but choosing and downloading 10 photos takes time in itself and could be overwhelming.  So I decided to keep it simple and that day I came home with lots of photos I was really pleased with. So here are just some: 

 

5 photos taken in 5 minutes:

 

 

 

 

The bench was a bonus as it also counts as part of Rinda's 2013 Summer Scavenger Hunt. This is another photo challenge that I love to take part in!  I've you've not heard about this you might want to join in. Go here to find out more and hopefully we can enjoy each others photos there too!

 

I have spoken about how and why I took these photos, but that is not expected.  Just post your photos, and if you have time or want to tell us about them that is a bonus.  If I have missed anything or you need clarification please let me know. This is all about learning through doing!!

 

So that's me. Now it's over to you. If you'd like to join in please click on the linky below.  As a thank you I'll be offering a small giveaway to the first person who does this, and as 5 is an important number here, the 5th person to link will also receive a thank you.  

As with all sociable gatherings it is good to mingle, so please pop over to say hi to at least two or three others who are here. Thank you for visiting and if you stay to join in, an even bigger thank you !!

PLEASE NOTE:
I experimented with a trial Link tool and did not realise that the list would be removed when it expired.  So I am trying to add other 5 in 5 posts here. It will take time to find them so apologises if it takes time.

Ruth