NATURAL & MAN-MADE GEOMETRY

I dedicate this post to the first week of school starting back. 
HALLELUJAH! 

I REALIZE I must have a fascination with geometric shapes. The very first week I started this blog, one of my posts (here) was on Geometry. And only a few months after that, I did another post on it here. This was 2 years ago, and and with one post more in 2010, I apparently have some kind of passion with Geometric shapes.

SO......

While on vacation this summer, I was sitting alone with my camera in the mountains, waiting for my children to come down the mountain on a slide. They of course wanted to do it many, many times, so I found myself trying not to be bored (my phone was out of batteries. What did we do before we could check e-mail and text messages?) 

I had to use my *(sigh) brain. I looked around me, and I started noticing shapes. Many different shapes. Most of them were geometrical shapes, imposed by man, but living amongst nature.  It reminded me of my College days and my Art/Photography classes way back when. When you start looking at things around you with a totally different perspective (through the lens, changes your whole way of viewing everything) you notice things that you never would of before.

So that's what I did. I snapped images, slowly at first, then I couldn't stop. On the way to the car, in the parking lot, stopping at a fruit stand, in the ladies restroom, I couldn't stop seeing man's impact on nature, and also nature's own geometry.

Here are the results. 

See if you can guess WHAT THEY ARE.

BEFORE I GIVE YOU THE ANSWERS, 

...I want to show you where this whole thing started.

I was sitting next to a 'shed', at the base of the mountain where the kids were taking the lift up to slide down. Summertime in the Rockies is just BEAUTIFUL. This was my view right in front of me. I didn't even get up from my seat to take this. Just gorgeous.

And ahead of me was a large lodge;  I started noticing the sharp angles of the roof, eaves, and balconies. This large monumental building standing strong and quiet itself in the mountains.... amongst all the Summer's wild flowers and Winter's remaining snow.

I was admiring the sharp angles of the pitch of the roof against the sky; the acute angle to the right, the obtuse angle to the left. I am pretty verbose in the geometric definitions, especially angles, because I had helped my son with his Elementary Geometry Report, which I posted about this year here. It's pretty fun to go back to learning this! If I hadn't of recently helped my son with this, I don't even think I would of noticed the different types of angles on this building.

Then I turned to my left, and this was a door on the shed. Just a lovely image I think. Initially when I started taking all these photographs, I didn't even get up from the step I was sitting on.  I started looking around where I was sitting and began to notice all the different shapes and textures. That is when I started snapping away. 

THE ANSWERS:

This is the metal stairs next to me, and I am sure the 'teeth' texture on the steps are there to grip the snow boots that use these steps every Winter.

This rubber square full of holes is right next to those stairs. I am guessing it is one of those rubber tiles you see in bathrooms at pools, to lay on the floor and let water drain. It has been weathered by the sun, and was just laying next to me, with no purpose. I love the colour version of this image, the blues with the terra-cotta hued wood in the background. It almost looks Moorish to me. 

Now I KNOW most of you ladies (and a few of you fashionable men *wink) got this one. My handbag sitting next to me, and the strap below is actually a shadow on the splintered wood. But hidden in one of those squares is the recognizable LV. When the image is taken to black & white, you REALLY notice all the texture in the vinyl of the purse. I don't think I ever noticed before how many tiny shapes and the grid of them that exist in EACH square.

Looking to my right, was some long metal 'runway' kind of thing. I am thinking it is a place to store ski equipment or something, as it is near the base of the chair lift. My husband and father waiting patiently for the children too, at the end of this 'runway' thing.

These metal steps changed a little bit, like an Escher illustration,  when the sun cast different shadows in the sky. They almost look like those old plastic shades you put on your windows, don't they? What were those called, Levolor?

It is hard to see the bulb in the black & white image, but this was a gorgeous, old rustic and somewhat Arts & Crafts -inspired outdoor lantern attached to the shed. I just had to turn my back around to take this photo. That glass is so pretty, you have to pay so much extra now to get this kind of glass for interior design projects! And this fixture almost looks nautical to me.

This one isn't hard to guess. A man-hole cover. But it was in the middle of nowhere on the mountain. Almost undiscoverable. 

Another easy guess, but I still liked the variety of circles, not excluding the tire itself! It's like one of those games. How many circles are in this picture? I'm going to try and count, using the original on the right. I see 40? 

Those gnarly grated steel stairs next to me, upon further looking, made the neatest shadows below it. 

Above the steps, and in similar fashion to the light fixture behind me, is this railing system, that when view close up, almost looks like a jail. A Ski Jail. Ha.

So we took a Gondola back down the mountain. My mind was still on shapes. I saw my son's foot in front of me. I had never noticed his shoe's soles were so crazy and had these large circles on the heel.

 

And the gondola's windows, also full of circles!!

And my husband's tennis shoes, again with the circles. But of course, when he saw me focusing my camera on his feet, he looked at me like I had 3 heads and asked WHY IN THE WORLD was I taking photos of his shoes.

At a quick stop in the restroom, my mind is still going with this. I was glad no one else was in there with me, because I even embarrassed myself taking photos of the sink's drain.

We got to the parking lot, to go back home. My shutter didn't stop stop then. I'm annoying everyone by now.

One last shot, stepping out of the car door, looking up at the air conditioning vent.

And walking to the door, once at home, I spotted a few more interesting things I had to shoot before going inside. These aspen trees are just beautiful, but something about the black plastic netting wrapping the bases of so many looked stunning to me. It's akin to seeing a pair of beautiful legs in fishnet stockings. 

And when those trees have to be cut down, the pattern they leave are amazing too.

And the last one might be kind of hard to guess.....

A mushroom that just happened to be sitting on a rock. I am guessing one of my sons had picked it earlier, and laid it here to rest? 

So, I enjoyed my day shooting images. I am glad my cell phone's batteries were dead, and that I did this instead. And it was a good thing I was sitting away from the lift on the mountain where my kids were sliding. Because as I got up to leave, only 2 feet from where I was sitting, I passed by this sign:

I KID YOU NOT. Funny Funny.

I CHALLENGE YOU TO GO OUT TODAY AND LOOK AT YOUR SURROUNDINGS WITH A NEW VIEW-POINT.

 CARRY AROUND YOUR CAMERA AND LOOK THROUGH IT, AT ALL THE OBJECTS AROUND YOU, FOR 2 HOURS. It changes your perspective on everything, I am not kidding! You notice little things that you normally wouldn't, you notice colour and textures, you notice relationships, you notice composition (when you look in a view finder, all of a sudden YOU have to arrange where objects go, it's not decided for you like it is with your eyes), and you notice dimensions. 

Good Luck!