Sidewalk Series: Some time in North Berkeley

I spent a couple hours in Berkeley last Friday, so chose to use the opportunity to expand my sidewalk series to a new neighborhood. Right where I parked my car, was this charming fence with peeling paint and a fully-in-bloom wisteria crawling over it.

Want to play with Sidewalk Series? The rules are simple:

1.Take a photo in some neighborhood. It must be something visible from the street/sidewalk. Ideally the photo gives us a hint about the people living in the house.

2.The photo must be taken from the sidewalk. No, you may not step up on the driveway or the lawn. Public space only. No trespassing.

It's fun; it makes you look at your walks in a whole new way; it's creative.

Go for it!



I also blog at: A Stitch In Time throughout the week and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

ReVisiting a Photo Theme.. and an Invitation

Buddha in the Bushes, part of the Sidewalk Series.

The last couple years I've taken my camera along when walking the dogs through neighborhoods. I devised a simple set of rules for taking a photograph and called the results my Sidewalk Series.

The Rules:

1. Take anything that is visible from the sidewalk. The photo should still have artist value or make me stop and think about something. Especially, try to imagine that the photo tells me (and other viewers) just a little about the people who reside in the house.

2. Do not step off the sidewalk to get a better composition. Get creative any way I choose, but I cannot leave the sidewalk. Now that I'm working through PhotoShop, I think I'll be spending lots of time erasing mis-placed electrical wires, irrigation drip lines and neighbor's junk cars.

I stopped this series because I walked the exact same streets all the time. I got visually burned out and failed to see the minute changes and the details in different light. I stopped LOOKING. This time, I have decided that when I'm heading to a new neighborhood, I will plan spend a few minutes walking around and looking at neighborhoods. Looking at new to refresh my eye.

My goal is to post a series of photos every weekend from here through to the fall. Make this my spring and summer of sidewalks.

Care to join me? Leave a comment. If anyone responds, we can set up a Flickr group to share these...

I also blog at: A Stitch In Time throughout the week and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.