Wednesday, March 26, 2014

XplorMor Communty Gets Colorful with Project Color

Project Color had the XplorMor Community chasing colors around the globe on the Equinox!

Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc

The Project took place on the March Equinox, March 20, 2014, with participants capturing the colors of our world on a single day. On this day the length of the sun's appearance is the same at all points on the Earth. The sun gives us light. Light gives us color. Hence, a great day for color photography.

The goal was to capture colors seen through each person’s perspective and creativity, and to promote getting out there and sharing the experience through photography.

The reason to participate was to have fun, and to come together as a community through a shared experience: to share our photographic vision, innovation and a moment of our day. The photos also allowed us to see and appreciate other parts of the world, other cultures and other peoples.

Project Color showed us how unique we are as individuals but how similar we are as a people. It melted differences and formed new bonds of understanding and friendship and joy. Thank you.

Continue to Explore. Photograph. Get Out There. Share... and look for the next Project on the June Solstice!
Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc Project Color by the XplorMor Community XplorMor Inc
View the galleries for Project Color: Colorful Works of ArtRainbow World and Vertical Images, and Project Color album on Facebook.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Project Color, the next XplorMor Community Event

Join the Event on Facebook.

Project Color will take place on the Equinox, March 20, 2014, when the XplorMor Community will chase colors of our world around the globe. Everyone is welcome.
Colorful Sprint XplorMor Inc
Colorful Sprint for Project Color by XplorMor
Project Color aims for participants to post photos of color on the March Equinox when the days grow longer in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter in the Southern Hemisphere. On the Equinox, the “Earth is not tilted toward or away from the Sun and the length of the day is the same at all points on the Earth's surface.”  The sun gives us light. Light gives us color. Hence, a great day for color photography.

The goal is to capture colors around the planet on a single day as seen through each person’s perspective, and to promote getting out there and sharing the experience through photography. A color photo could show the rosy blossoming Spring or the orange glowing Autumn, the colors of your country, your city or town, your home or even yourself. From sunrise to sunset, from a far off coral castle to a nearby white walled temple, from blue city buildings to green country fields, or even just your red skirt, scarf or cardigan… possibilities are endless… get as creative as you wish!

The reason for participating is to have fun.  It’s about coming together as a community and sharing our vision, creativity and a moment of our day.  The photos may also allow us to see other parts of the world.  And, if the weather is bad add some innovation from inside your home or wherever you may be that day.

If you would like to be in the image, that's your choice!

Your photo and its information (as listed below) should be posted on the Project Color event page. If an issue arises post on the XplorMor Facebook page or email the image and its information to info@xplormor.com.  Please note: When the project day is over, photos will be moved into an album on the XplorMor Facebook page, and uploaded to Projects at www.xplormor.com.

Information to include with your photo post:
1. Your name as you would like it to appear with the photo
2. Description For example, me standing in a green rice paddy, or a red building in the city, or cherry blossoms, or yellow leaves of Autumn, etc
3. Location photo taken, including city and country
4. Title of image (if applicable)
5. Any other information you would like to share

For additional information, FAQs and rules, continuing reading about Project Color
#projectcolor #xplormor


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Joshua Tree: A Land of Subtle, Stark Wonder

I’d never been to Joshua Tree National Park before. I’d heard about it from friends, and often said to myself I should go there, but I never got around to it. Like a lot of things in California, it was so close that it was easy to forget it was there. California is like that, so full of things to see and experience your choices become as congested and difficult to maneuver as the freeways of Los Angeles.  A friend of mine, back from teaching kids in Korea for the winter, asked me to join him on a day long excursion to this special place, and not having seen him in almost two years I could not refuse. Besides, it would be good to get away after a truly awful divorce from someone I thought I could trust. This is also a common thing in California.
Joshua Tree National Park, California by XplorMor XplorMor Inc
Joshua Tree National Park, California
Like most people, in my youth I thought of a desert as a barren, boiling wasteland choked with sand. I thought of Lawrence of Arabia leading a charging army of fierce desert nomads. Deserts were places for the lost and the damned, filled with shallow graves just off the road and swarmed by nefarious hitchhikers and shady characters. Giant worms ridden by noble Fremen charged across endless dunes. It was easy to believe the Hollywood vision. And nothing could be further from the truth (except when it is). Deserts (yes there are different kinds), as varied as any other environment you’ll pass through, team with survivors, creatures so well adapted they thrive in places that can suck the life out of a person in a few hours.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Bali to Bangkok, Part 5

The final chapter of Bali to Bangkok (Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4)...
Soon I found myself showered and with a full stomach slipping into this big soft bed covered and comfy, relaxed and drifting off into a deep undisturbed sleep. It was early around 7:30 or 8:00 P.M. and I was ready to drift away till morning. Alas, Heaven turned to Hell at about 9:30 P.M. when a band fired up in the bar below me and at screaming Mack 5 decibels. The Thai’s have only one setting on their amps, all the way up. This went on until 3:00 A.M. With ear plugs and my head buried inside double pillows there was no relief. I began to feel like I was a prisoner at Guantanamo being tortured into signing a confession for having committed some heinous terrorist act.
In the morning I lay there in bed trying to recover a little bit from the torture I had just endured. I sat up and without my glasses I saw what looked to be on the snow white sheet a small black bug, looking like an ant I squished it with my thumb blood the size of a dime dominated the spot where this little creature had once been, bright red blood, my blood. Then I spotted another squished to as well and again bright red blood. Bed bugs! In all my travels I have not before encountered these vile creatures.
Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney XplorMor Inc
Bali to Bangkok by Robert Varney
That was it, with bloodshot eyes I staggered down the stairs to the front desk and explained to the desk manager that there was no way that I could possibly endure such another night.  And, that regrettably as lovely as the room was, it was never going to give me a restful night, something I now desperately need. I began to feel like a refugee fleeing from a war zone as I staggered across the street to yet a third guest house to inquire as to the availability of a room far from the little bar, bed bugs and loud music. I was shown on the third floor in the back a small but seemingly adequate room and the price was within reason so I now have moved for the third time in as many nights. Home at last?