Dancers by Bodhi Smith

Sep 20, 2019

"dancers" a new impression from bodhi smith...
 
“dance with the dancers. sing with the singers. paint with the painters. dream with the dreamers. believe with the believers. create with the creator. marvel in the marvelous, wonder with the wonderful...and you will surely be the happy in happiness and become the magic in the magical”― bodhinku, the dancers

i hope this lovely group of trees and their reflections in the misty oklahoma morning brings sunshine and smiles to your morning whereever you find yourself today...
 
if you would like to listen to a tune to add some extra mood and meaning as your read my blog here, i selected a tune that reminds me of my summer visits to oklahoma as a youth, so here is a really cool old song from the mid 1970s, ―  the steve miller band, dance, dance, dance

"my grandpa, he's ninety five, and he keeps on dancin'...he's still alive....my grandma, she's ninety two, she loves to dance, and sing some, too....i don't know, but i've been told, if you keep on dancing, you'll never grow old....come on darling, don't look that way. don't you know when you smile, i've got to say, you're my honey pumpkin lover. you're my heart's delight...don't you want to go out tonight? you're such a pretty lady, you're such a sweet girl, when you dance, it brightens up my world...come on darling put a pretty dress on...we're gonna go out tonight and dance, dance, dance...dance, dance, dance...dance, dance, dance, all night long" ―  the steve miller band, dance, dance, dance
 
“we dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams” ― albert einstein
 
"as sure as these trees can dance across water, we can float in our bubbles of love" ― bodhinku, the bubbles
   
“‎dancing is not just getting up painlessly, like a leaf blown on the wind; dancing is when you tear your heart out and rise out of your body to hang suspended between the worlds.” ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi 
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MEANING
this impression is dedicated to the memory of my loving grandma who was born very close to where these young bald cypress trees find their home in the backwaters of southeast oklahoma...i took this image only in an early misty morning sunrise in oklahoma while on a month-long 11,000 mile road trip with my doggie, besos this past july 2019...this was the first beautiful and unique location of the trip, and a remote and unknown location not captured by many other cameras before, and of many surprisingly more similar in-like uniqueness which were to come, as i would find on the trip...one of my most successful and magical trips ever...
 
imagine if you could dance with a tree, floating over the water on a mystical dance floor shared with other magical dancing trees, all amidst a warm morning mist wrapping itself around your legs, as your mirrored reflection surrounds you, and your dancing tree...how cool would that be? cool and fun...that mental vision is the inspiration for this beautiful and unique impression which i captured, and the same vision which i hope you now see before your own eyes...
 
as for the image title, a name came quickly to me, brainlessly, as these trees all look like dancers on the water, a family of dancers, with each of their reflections emblazoned into the water..."dancers"
 
this is another one of those spots i could visit over and over and over, full of reflection, magic, and calming peace...and i will be going back again next summer to spend more time visiting my family there, and spending time at locations in the state of ok like this...
 
"in this flowering dance of love, we are merely budding dancers, still learning and practicing, so fascinated, dedicated, and obsessed with every single step" ― bodhinku, budding dancers
 
"as landscape photographers, we are dancers in nature, translating colors like music, into a form people can experience as art in their own personal space" ― bodhinku, translators
 
“although ecstasy is the ability to stand outside yourself, dance is a way of rising up into space, of discovering new dimensions while still remaining in touch with your body. when you dance, the spiritual world and the real world manage to coexist quite happily...i think dancers dance on pointe because they're simultaneously touching the earth and reaching up to the skies” ― paulo coelho, the witch of portobello  
 
"the trees are standing...how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. they know it is time to be still.” ― cynthia rylant, in november 
 
“if we could be pure dancers in spirit, we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom" ― ben okri, birds of heaven
 
“behind all dancers, there’s someone that broke them, a love that held them, a song that moved them, a moment that inspired them, and a dance floor that healed them.” ― hope alcocer, where hope lies
 
 “dance is that delicacy of life radiating every particle of our existence with happiness” ― shah asad rizvi 
 
“on this morning, you feel her touch deeply into your soul as the misty fog lightly brushes in whispering silence across the surface of your being, amidst the soothing fragrance of wet pine needles floating all around...she creeps playfully though in wavy reflections, warming your waters with her magic, her dance, the hope for a new awakening” ― bodhinku, the dancer
 
"seduce me at sunrise, dance with me barefoot in the dew on the grass, make me wet and warm, and loved" ― bodhinku, sunrise dance  
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HISTORY
the bald cypress is a very majestic tree, and can live to be thousands of years old (a grove in the black river swamp of north carolina are as old as 2700 yrs)...this tree i have pictured, as well as the several others in the backdrop are all quite young for a bald cypress tree, under those terms...
 
these are deciduous conifers (shed their needles yearly and grow new ones) and are native to the southeastern united states...from southeast oklahoma and east texas, across louisiana (state tree), mississippi and alabama, down to florida and then all the way up to lower delaware...hardy and tough, these cypress trees adapt to a wide range of soil types, whether wet, dry, or swamp...they are noted for the russet-red fall color of their lacy needles.
 
the bald cypress is often cultivated to be harvested, as the lumber is valuable for building construction, fence posts, planking in boats, river pilings, doors, blinds, flooring, shingles, garden boxes, caskets, interior trim and cabinetry. the odorless wood has long been valued for its resistance to water....
 
but i desperately hope they never cultivate this beautiful little grove of bald cypress trees i found in hills and backwaters of extreme southeast oklahoma...
 
"dancers are simply the collective meaning...the sum of all the steps needed to balance the harmony of all the movement with the music in its three dimensional form" ― bodhinku, dancers
 
“the dancer resides within us all. some find it when joy conquers sorrow, others express it through celebration of movements; and then there are those... whose existence is dance” ― shah asad rizvi
 
“faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for i would ride with you upon the wind, and run on the top of the dishevelled tide, and dance upon the mountains like a flame.” ― william butler yeats, the land of heart's desire
 
 “it moved like a dancer, which is not surprising, but it is perhaps most remarkable because it moves as if it always hears music.” ― mark helprin, winter's tale
 
“dancing is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment” ― erol ozan, talus
 
“you dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,
but sometimes i do, and that
sight becomes this art” ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi  
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING  
“consciousness expresses itself through creation. this world we live in is the dance of the creator. dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye but the dance lives on. on many an occasion when i am dancing, i have felt touched by something sacred. in those moments, i felt my spirit soar and become one with everything that exists. i become the stars and the moon. i become the lover and the beloved. i become the singer and the song. i become the knower and the known. i keep on dancing then it is the eternal dance of creation. the creator and creation merge into one wholeness of joy. i keep on dancing...and dancing...and dancing. until there is only...the dance.” ― michael jackson, dancing the dream
 
“oh body swayed to music, oh brightening glance, how can we know the dancer from the dance?” ― william butler yeats, the land of heart's desire
 
“and even this heart of mine has something artificial. the dancers have sewn it into a bag of pink satin, pink satin slightly faded, like their dancing shoes” ― edgar degas, by himself: paintings and writings
 
"we watch the dancers moving as one. they spin about like the earth on it's axis, enduring the dark, waiting for the sun" ― libba bray, the sweet far thing
 
“we are all different expressions of one reality, different songs of one singer, different dancers of one dance, different paintings – but the painter is one" ― osho, the buddha said...
 
“dance is an art in space and time. the object of the dancer is to obliterate that" ― merce cunningham
 
"dancing is a grand equation. one side is sound, the other movement. the dancer's job is to make them equal” ― julia quinn, the sum of all kisses
 
“sometimes in life, confusion tends to arise, and only the dialogue of dance seems to make sense” ― shah asad rizvi
 
“life is an affair of mystery; shared with companions of musicians, dancers and poets.” ― shah asad rizvi
 
“of two sisters 
one is always the watcher, 
one the dancer.” ― louise gluck, descending figure
 
“dance less in motion and more in spirit; awaken the dreamer within.” ― shah asad rizvi
 
“a recent scientific study found that the hearts of lovers really do beat in sync - that after only a few moments of close proximity they will begin to follow each other’s lead until they beat as one. as though our very hearts leap out of our chests, and ask one another to dance”  
 
"from the beginning of the world i knew you...since time first stirred and the seasons were born, the memory of your mystery called in my veins awakening within me the truest memories of my soul, asking me, will you dance with me?" ― c. ara campbell
 
“i speak to her in a language she has never heard, i speak to her in spanish...i speak with eloquence and seduction; my words, more than from me, issue from the warm nights, from the many solitary nights on the river, and when my tiny dancer puts her arm around my neck, i understand that she understands!"― pablo neruda, passions and impression
 
"if but a moment
i have with you, one that's spent
dancing, i'm content" ― bodhinku, haiku: dancing together
 
"unload the weight of noise, become light enough in spirit and mind to play, and radiate, and reflect, and sing, and dance down this path to enlightenment"  ― bodhinku, dancing path
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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
this photographic impression is comprised of 6 separate images taken in portrait view and then stitched together into a single 3:1 panoramic composition using adobe photoshop cc...and with each of the six exposures being of a semi-long shutter speed, a stable and sturdy tripod was an absolute necessity in order to keep each image aligned to one another on a plain as well as sharp in focus in the places i wanted sharpness (i use selective focus on most of my images, similar to the way our eyes see things)...for this i used a dolica 70" carbon fiber tripod, because it is sturdy, tall, and perfectly compact for travel....for me, this shot would never have been possible without my friends daniel and april at dolica tripods.

in my photography i always use neutral density filters to create longer exposure effects and to balance the light in my composition in camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter...in the case with this image, i used 3 filters in order to get the effects and balance i was looking for...
 
as always, i used both neutral density (nd) filters, and graduated neutral density (gnd) filters for each image of this composition...a nd filter was needed to soften the water and slow down time, and to also help oversaturate the colors and enhance the yellow, green-blues in the image...plus, two two gnd filters were needed to help balance the composition in-camera overall for the image the way i envisioned it, as well as create a natural vignette...
 
and, to hold the filters and mount them onto my lens, i selected the the newest progrey three slot g-120z magnetic filter holder, made for the 10-stop progrey antarctic 3.0nd filter (magnetic) along with three other 120mm filters of your choosing...on each of the six images in the final composition, i used the 3.0nd progrey antarctic filter combined with two gnd filters: one on top 0.9gnd progrey genesis filter and one on bottom 0.6gnd progrey genesis filter ......thank you to progrey for being one of my most valuable sponsors, none of my images would be possible without their support and their filters which are the best on the market, the only filters i trust to use on every single impression that i capture ... 
 
i wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use...
 
"she danced with 
her own reflection, 
absorbed in a trance 
of morning light, 
a glowing impression, 
whose sheer beauty 
was pure and simply, 
her timeless simplicity" ― bodhinku, simplicity
 
"contemplate without thinking. stop the world. slow down everything. shut off the noise. breathe in. breathe out. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light that envelope you. see the melody and harmony that floats about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence within your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith. this is my world. awaken." ― bodhinku, my world
 
above all else as always, i hope this message and image find you well.

namaste,
bodhi
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