The light playing on the water & the gold color of the catfish create a picture not unlike a classic Japanese painting. ”Japanese Scroll” – Fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea, cat# E20-1511-06-5909

This last Friday we went on our monthly photo-trip.
(…”our” being the group of photographer-friends that I’ve been with for the past 10 years; if you’re following my blog, you’re already familiar with them/us.)

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I was completely ready for the day to just pass, with nothing exceptional or noteworthy.
What eventually transpired was a lovely day, of which I enjoyed every moment. I let myself get lost in the beauty of all I saw, played around a lot, had fun with no intention of creating anything momentous (see, for instance, “Self Portrait Without a Fish”, below), and there are even a few good photos to show for it…

There was a big fish near my reflection in the water, only he decided to move away just as I released the shutter! – ‘Self Portrait Without a Fish’ by Smadar Barnea, cat# E20-1511-06-5924

Our outing began relatively late, at beautiful Ein Afek, a park riddled with pools of water, alive with fish and vegetation all year long, still green after our long, dry summer!
I was surprised by the size of the pools, so vast after the long summer.
I was captivated by the catfish, playing hide-and-go-seek in the shade of the wooden bridges and walkways. (One photo here – the Japanese Scroll.)
Completely immersing myself in the calm, I felt I could stay there for hours!

But of course, I couldn’t. The group was moving on…

Aesthetics & Geometry at the Bahai Garden – fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea, cat# E20-1511-06-5960

Next stop was at a little-known Bahai Garden not far from Acko (Acre), which is normally closed to visitors. We enjoyed a leisurely tour, refreshments and interesting explanations given by one of the Bahai community’s executives, Shervin. The overcast day wasn’t so grey that it could detract anything from our pleasure, and even the intermittent drizzle didn’t lessen the quiet calm of the gardens.

After a genial (and lengthy!) lunch, we concluded the day in Goren Park, finding the “Lost City” and the season’s first daffodils.

These are only 4 pictures for your enjoyment. There are more, of course. If you want to see them, feel free to contact me!

And until we meet again (which will be soon, I hope!)  –

                      Best wishes, and
                      Keep looking for the beauty and light that are everywhere!

Ein Afek panorama was created by merging 6 photographs.
Photo by Smadar Barnea cat E20-1511-06-5932-37#

הקשר בין העברית לאנגלית – התנתק!

כדי לקרוא את הפוסט האחרון, “תראו מה שצבע יכול לעשות!” בעברית – לחצו על הלינק.

A while ago, an Israeli paint company called Tambour  [I'm a private person, so there's no problem my using corporate names…] , came out with what I felt was a really great campaign (by Adler-Chomsky). On giant billboards along Israel’s highways, they used colors instead of letters. (I’ve got a full belly about the billboards issue, but I’ll attack that some other time.) Somehow, the “code” was very easy to decipher, for reasons I hope you’ll understand by yourselves in a moment.

Here’s one (or rather two, which complement each other) to start with:

Now, that was obvious, right?

So here’s another:

Feel like trying it out for yourself?
OK…
How would you color-code :
- the word “GRASS” in “The grass is greener on the other side of the hill” ?
- the word “EGGS” in   “To make an omelet you have to break a few eggs“ ?

Try getting to it on your own before you scroll down.

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You’re here… Great!
So these are my answers.
Tell me if you think they’re correct, & would be easy to understand (in context, of course).
[ BTW, you can't comment here, only on my contact me page. Sorry...  ]

And now to a slightly “educational” discussion: (it you’re not interested, just roll down to “On a personal note“. I won’t be offended…  )

Color plays a central role in visual messages.

Some colors have become fixed as a company’s logo –
IKEA’s blue-yellow, VISA’s blue-white-gold, KFC’s red-white-red.
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all use shades of true blue on a white background. Can you guess why?
Both Google (Chrome etc.) and Microsoft (Windows, MSN etc.) use the same Red-Green-Yellow-Blue color code… I wonder why… Your guess is as good as mine, here. Could they be trying to make it difficult for us to differentiate between them, and create loyalty to one brand over the other, for some reason?

Colors can convey a multitude of feelings – love & hate, passion, calm, anger; almost anything. Pink and red would naturally be our choice for signifying love (research shows that red is classically associated with passion); yellow is the color of the sun, implying light, warmth and joy; light-blue has a cool, calming effect, like water. Would you buy a cleaning-agent, such as soap, shampoo etc., if it were marketed in a grey-brown container? And white, of course, is the color of purity and innocence. Or is it? White can sometimes be identified with cold, harsh environments, like hospitals, and in some eastern traditions it’s the color of mourning.
Yup, that’s another side to understanding color: its implications are often traditional, connected to local geography and history. Events, culture, society – may create connections between colors and political-, social-, ideological or sports- affiliations; and that, in turn, may awaken an emotional response to these colors, even if we’re not conscious of these connections.
Remember “Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree”?
How about the red ribbons for the fight against AIDES
or the gay community’s multi-colored flag?
Think of the ferocious feelings colors ignite when it comes to sports. Tempers run high, even leading to brutality, when fans encounter a group displaying the rival-team’s colors.
Or take flags, for instance. What emotions do the colors of YOUR flag elicit in you?
This is as good a place as any to note that different countries assign different significance to the colors, even when they’re the same ones!
The classic red-white-&-blue is a favorite, but the colors’ origins vary. For instance, in the US flag the white symbolizes purity, the red – valor, and the blue – perseverance and justice. While in the French flag, the same colors represent the three classes which made up the burgeoning state – white for the clergy, red for the nobility and blue for the bourgeois.
Our (Israeli) flag’s blue & white came from our Tallit (the Jewish prayer-shawl), while the Argentine flag took its light-blue & white from the sky and clouds…
Ergo, in some contexts, it’s not the one color (although it may play a part), but the color combination that says it all.

In writing this post, I’ve come across so many issues connected to color! You’d never believe it, if you’ve never really thought about it (let alone – researched )! In time, I’ll probably write about it again, going into aspects of color choice in interior decoration, for instance.

On a personal note:
As you’ve probably noticed, this blog appears in Hebrew, as well as English. I myself live in Israel, and the idea for the post emerged from the Tambour campaign, which was in Hebrew, of course. But in translating I had to make quite a few changes in content, in order to allow non-Israelis into the ideas and the fun in this post. Almost all the examples had to be changed: A non-Israeli would not recognize the phrases and proverbs used in the Tambour campaign, nor the companies and their signature colors. I did my best, and can only hope it was enough… [ If you want  to respond, please do so on my contact me page. You still can't comment here. Sorry...  ] 

That’s all for now. Not too deep or anything; just some thoughts, aesthetics, and a bit of good fun – which is enough, don’t you think?

So till next time -

 Best wishes, and 
                      Keep looking for the beauty and light that are everywhere!

                                                  - Smadar

 P.S.
The weekend is here, so why not enjoy the sun, and invite some friends over for a

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Traces in the Sand – Seashells and Wind | fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
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Not many images evoke a feeling of vitality inlaid with happy tranquility.
Water, beaches and sand – do have that almost universal response. (Perhaps only babies have a similar effect…)

But most of us can’t spend a large portion of our life on a beach or a lake, along a river or on the sea.
[ More's the pity …  ]
The natural alternative is usually … a beautiful picture.
There is a reason why so many hotels, offices and lobbies have marine paintings and photos. They create an ambiance of serenity and well-being.

Traces in the Sand – Seashells and Wind
fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
E20-1504-17-4937

This week I was on a photography outing that brought us to some of Israel’s beautiful beaches. I returned with a veritable gallery of pictures, many of which are abstract patterns created by water, wind and light in the sand.

My only problem is what to name the gallery.
“Textures on the Beach” was one idea. In Hebrew it’s not bad, but I don’t like the sound of it in English.
In my mind, while uploading the photos and writing this post, I’ve been hearing Belinda Carlisle’s song – “Circle In the Sand”. I thought about that as a name for the gallery, but “circle” isn’t very accurate.
Maybe “Traces in the Sand” or “Tracks of Wind and Water”?
I’ll just have to choose one, and maybe change it later.

Anyway…
If you’re looking for a tranquil photo for your living room or den -
If you want a picture for your office, one that will fill both you and your clients with good will and positive vibes -
If you’re designing a boutique hotel -
I invite you to take a look in this new gallery.

In the meantime -

                      Best wishes, and
                      Keep looking for the beauty and light that are everywhere!

                                                  - Smadar

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Morning Dew – fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
cat # E20-1503-14-4250

I went to photograph insects yesterday. Any of you who’ve been following me know that that is NOT my cup of tea, but my photography-club was having this outing, & I decided to participate. I find that these deviations from my preferred subjects & style are beneficial to my work. So, I sallied out to Mitzpe Modiin early in the morning, to catch the creatures while still relatively inactive, at morning temperatures

Anyway…
I was surprised to find I was thoroughly  enjoying myself.

For those of you who enjoy (and maybe even understand about) these things, I’ll list some of the insects we found: Praying Mantises, wasps, butterflies (not very many), a Lady Bug or two, crickets, & various species of what I’ll randomly call “beetles”, for lack of more specific knowledge.

Of course, the first thing I saw (and photographed) was the beautiful early-morning light on the plants.

Pink Flower with Visitor – photograph by Smadar Barnea
cat # E20-1503-14-4363

After we had already packed up to go, I decided that the pink wild flowers were too pretty to pass by, so I stopped to give them a bit of attention too, before heading home.
Well, what do you know? The flower I was focusing on had a visitor – some kind of fly or other. So I was unintentionally continuing the session…

Here’s one of the pictures I took of a very agreeable Praying Mantis, who patiently posed for us

Mantis Praying to Blue Flower – photograph by Smadar Barnea. cat # E20-1503-14-4333

 And a portrait of him, in true, classical format

Portrait of Praying Mantis – photograph by Smadar Barnea. cat # E20-1503-14-4315

That’s all for now.
Till next time -

                      Best wishes, and -
                      Keep looking for the beauty and light that are everywhere!

                                                  - Smadar

New and fresh from the oven!

I took these pictures only about an hour ago, & here they are, for your enjoyment.

Swan Song of a Wilted Rose | Fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
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Swan Song of a Wilted Rose | Fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
Here the background comes into play, as well as the rose itself…
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Swan Song of a Wilted Rose | Fine art photograph by Smadar Barnea
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Till next time -

                      Best wishes, and -
                      Keep looking for the beauty and light that are everywhere!

                                                  - Smadar