Lock and Chain

Keeping something in or keeping something out...strong but soft this tiny piece of scenery stirs up the activist in me.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I can't really think of any better way to say it...thank you Emerson

Farm Door

So I guess it pretty much goes without saying that I love old doors. With it's primative design, perfectly weathered wood and a screen in the window that could probably take you back to your childhood if you looked through it at just the right angle...this one has a special little corner in my heart.

The Machine

A tribute to the past I found this soda machine in a small town where my Grandma lives. A relic of sorts it does have a certain charm about it.

Turned On

Grab your sweetie tomorrow and get inspired by this simple little switch.

Electric

Little works of art are all around us.

Queen Anne

And who are we to decide which ones are the weeds and which ones are the flowers?

Limbo

It was actually something like an old school building that I most certainly wasn't supposed to be in, but of course upon finding it in an unfamiliar neighborhood I had to go in. This room, toward the back of the structure was the most intriguing to me...
At this particular moment in time the room seemed to present itself as something different than what it had once been.
If ever there were a waiting room that conjured up more questions than this one...
I surely didn't want to know about it.

Poised Posy

Perfectly balanced,
graceful,
at peace...
all things that I aspire to be.

Please Write

I found it hanging on the weathered boards of an old barn that had at one point been converted into a home. My mom and I had pulled off the road to explore the abandoned structure. There were so many stories just waiting to be found around every corner I could barley contain myself. Remnants of a past that had once inhabited this place, the simple metal mail box said a lot to me that day. It's lid had been lost through the years, leaving it always ready, always waiting, for someone to write.

You say Tomaato

Just another object through the viewfinder.

Ode to 4x5

I was supposed to be at my nephew's first Birthday party...but weather did not permit, as we got caught in a white out on the highway. Although upset about missing the party, when we finally got home I decided to fool around with shooting through the lens of my 4x5 camera. I think I like it. I think I like it a lot. I'll probably invest in a ground glass with no lines so I have the option though. I suspect that I'll be shooting a lot with these two cameras. I have a lot of experimenting to do!

Retirement

My Aunt Edna is harboring this lovely old truck in the woods behind her house. We're not sure how he got there, but apparently it's the place to be for worn down retired vehicles, as this old Ford has about 3 other friends with him in those woods.

Crimson Ivy

It grows where ever it grabs a hold with it's strong and deep bright leaves
It twists and turns and tangles and winds
as it goes where ever it pleases.

Trees

Trees are some

of my most favorite
souls of all. It seems
as if they have so
much to tell us....
if only we would
just tune in and listen.

True Colors

Immediately drawn to this white picket fence, I thought to myself "what a lovely little lesson this is" even with it's traditional stereotypes, this little fence lets it's layers show through.

Simplicity

As a society we have become very good at looking past and through all of the simple beauty that surrounds us. We might just be surprised if, at the very least, every once in a while, we would just look up.

Rain Drain

Something about a spider...

Wonerland

She held her breath and hoped that what was on the other side would be as beautiful as she had always imagined it.

Therapy

...so we went to where the wild flowers grow and we sat there and just breathed it all in. Into the depths of our souls they did reach and into our hearts they brought light.

On a Snowy Winter Morning

Wonder cease not...

Perspective

And so we have another view from the outside looking in......

Choice

The choice is ours.....
Will we allow ourselves to be happy?
Or will we use the rest of our days
complaining about why we're not?

Another Door

There are moments in a persons life when it seems that everything around them is just not the way that they thought it would be. Maybe they thought they would be further along in their career, maybe making more money, or making more a of difference, or maybe they thought life would just be a little easier than it really is. It is in these moments that we need to be very aware of our surroundings because if we pay attention there is usually always another door.

Wander

Wandering thoughts prove to be my most treasured assets as the days and weeks and years go by. It is in them that bold ideas are rooted and will branch out and grab hold of other minds.

A Challenge

i would like to challenge the world to
look at simple things and find beauty. to find beauty in a rusty nail, a crumbling building, or an old window. if not beauty, may they find some meaning - a sense of time or a foreshadowing of what is to become of the world or even become of themselves. maybe even find a respect for the passing of time, which is something that most people fear. my goal is to create a mood - whether it may be somber, depressing, cheerful, the list can go on and on. the bottom line is that while i may feel one thing when i create the image, the real truth of it is completely up to the viewer.
-mjleonard

My Philosophy

Please visit my etsy site to view and purchase my original photography.

www.mjleonard.etsy.com