Long Exposure

While on our trek through Ledges this week, Bug and I took the opportunity to play with my camera. My goal was to find a subject for this week's Random Photo Challenge theme of long exposure. I haven't figured out all the mysterious settings on my cheapy camera yet and wasn't quite sure how to control and slow down the shutter speed. So instead, I decided to take a different route and find something that had experienced a long exposure to the elements.

My submission was this weathered trail marker along the Lost Lake trail.

This close-up was considered as a close second.

At one point during our hike Bug decided he needed a break from walking the dog and asked to switch duties. He was eager to show me the things that caught his eye. So I agreed. I turned the setting to Auto and let him click away. When we got home I loaded our pictures to my computer and we had an enjoyable time reliving our long hike. When I came across Bug's photos I experienced some mild shock and definite pleasure at his artistic and photographic eye. He only had one or two unusable shots in the whole batch. Much better than when I shoot things at random.

When we came across the photo below I commented that it fit perfectly into this week's theme. He asked me if I could use it as my submission for this week. I explained to him that I didn't feel that would be appropriate as this was his work, not mine. But that I would be happy to submit it for him as his own work under his own name.

Bug has earned the distinction of the youngest contributor to date at Photography139's Weekly Random Photo Project.

Bug's closer examination of the effects of long exposure to the elements.

You may recall that the cabin where he took these photos at was mostly underwater during our previous hike at Ledges.

As I started the poem for this week's challenge I realized that the first several lines were calling for it to be written in the form of a Sestina. Sestinas are not my favorite structure form to write but I do feel that the challenge of composing one is good every once in a while, so I followed that whim.

For those who are asking what a Sestina is, it's a very structured poem consisting of 6 sextets followed by a tercet making a total of 39 lines of prose. The end words of the first sextet are used in the following verses in a particular order as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 - End words of lines in first sextet.
6 1 5 2 4 3 - End words of lines in second sextet.
3 6 4 1 2 5 - End words of lines in third sextet.
5 3 2 6 1 4 - End words of lines in fourth sextet.
4 5 1 3 6 2 - End words of lines in fifth sextet.
2 4 6 5 3 1 - End words of lines in sixth sextet.
(6 2) (1 4) (5 3) - Middle and end words of lines in tercet

It's exhausting work to use the same words repeatedly while keeping to the underlying theme. It is well worth the feeling of accomplishment when completed though. You can read this week's contribution at Impassioned Versifier.