"Uhane" by Bodhi Smith

Feb 24, 2023

this newest impression is named "uhane", the hawaiian word for "soul"...within the photo you can see the tropical hawaiian kualoa mountains rising up to touch the starry sky above, creating a stunning reflection that's glowing in the moli'i pond (as seen from secret island on oahu)...it's heaven and earth entwined beautifully together as one...but it's really just another reflection that's embedded into a deeper reflection of my "soul", the artistic reflection of me within each and every one of my photos...  
 
"my soul is 
the reflection you see
but my heart, my hope, 
my spirit is me
everything i am, 
and will ever be"
 
"i put my heart and soul into my work, and i have lost my mind in the process" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo
 
"so brown eyes i hold you near, because you’re the only song i want to hear--a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere where soul meets body" ― death cab for cutie, soul meets body.
 
"i knew a girl just like you, she was vain, just like you. such a pain, just like you and everybody knows the truth...transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know" ― willow with travis barker, transparent soul. 
 
"i got a bad disease, but from my brain is where i bleed. insanity it seems has got me by my soul to squeeze...where i go, i just don't know. i got to, got to, gotta take it slow. when i find my peace of mind, i'm gonna keep it for the end of time" ― the red hot chili peppers, soul to squeeze.
 
"heart might stop. mind can forget. i love with my soul. soul never stops or forgets" ― jalaluddin rumi, words of paradise
 
"when you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy" ― jalaluddin rumi, words of paradise
 
"wherever you stand, be the soul of that place" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
 
"can you feel my soul running free? somewhere deep inside here is me, or is it only the reflection you can see?" ― bodhi, uhane

released in 2005 during those "emo" alternative years, this song was the very first hit for the alternative rock band out of bellingham washington, death cab cuties..it's truly a beautiful and loving tune with heartfelt and spiritual lyrics. the band's frontman, ben gibbard sums it up as: "it's a declaration of desire over circumstance. it means, 'here's where i am and here's what i want to be and how do i bridge those two things.' i think it's a beautiful articulation of love, friendships and relationships and everything you do over the course of the day"...and this song is perfect for helping me to remembering those days when my head was in the clouds and i was freshly in love days with a touch of nostalgia, knowing exactly who's heart i carried in my heart...and with its lyrics, it is the perfect positive and hopeful accompaniment to connect music with a deeper contradictory meaning of my impression and blog as you read onward today: "soul meets body" by death cab for cutie. ...(just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....    

"i want to live where soul meets body. and let the sun wrap its arms around me and bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing. and feel, feel what it's like to be new. because in my head there’s a greyhound station where i send my thoughts to far off destinations so they may have a chance of finding a place where they’re far more suited than here. and i cannot guess what we'll discover when we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels. but i know our filthy hands can wash one another’s and not one speck will remain. and i do believe it’s true that there are roads left in both of our shoes. but if the silence takes you, then i hope it takes me too. so brown eyes i hold you near, because you’re the only song i want to hear--a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere where soul meets body, where soul meets body, where soul meets body... and i do believe it’s true that there are roads left in both of our shoes. but if the silence takes you, then i hope it takes me too. so brown eyes i hold you near, because you’re the only song i want to hear--a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere, a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere, a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere...a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere" ― death cab for cutie, soul meets body.
 
"knowing she's bad for you, you have an internal conflict on whether or not you really want to move forward with your life, away from her, your addiction. because her love is all you've known, even if you know she's squeezing the life out of your soul" ― bodhi, uhane
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MEANING
"if you look closely, i'm showing you me, i'm here before you, but i'm not really..." ― bodhi, uhane
 
here you can see the tropical hawaiian kualoa mountains rising up to touch the starry sky above, creating a beautiful reflection that's glowing in the moli'i pond (as seen from secret island on the hawaiian island of oahu)...it's heaven and earth entwined beautifully together as one...but it's really just another reflection that's embedded into a deeper reflection of my "soul", the artistic reflection of me within each and every one of my photos...
 
if you look closely, there i am, but there i'm not...so what in actuality is "soul" within a given piece of artwork?
 
from the merriam-webster dictionary, "soul" is defined as:
1.  emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance
2. the spiritual or non-material part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.

"soul" is used by artists, such as myself in my photography, to creatively convey a simple feeling, emotion, or thought. although it's meaning is elusive and often references a wide range of attributes associated with heart, mind, and spirit, in many art forms, "soul" showcases a metaphorical mindset to reveal a deeper meaning...

"soul" represents different aspects pertaining to being human: reason, faith, hope, perception, feeling, thinking, memory, and consciousness. an artist finds unique ways to unscramble all this complexity of being human in their own unique lucid manner. although in religious, mythological, and philosophical contexts the soul is an incorporeal essence of living beings, in art, "soul" may not manifest the actual meaning but rather convey an expression of reality or a dream...

while certain artworks explore the dark side of life and love within the "soul", many depict the joys of life that reside in our actual self. the mode or tone of much art has "soul" as a metaphorical dwelling place for humans that feel trapped, or conversely completely free inside their minds. certain artists illustrate "soul" within the moment, their works visually presenting the mental distress and anxiety they've encountered within the problems they've faced or are facing. in other art works, "soul" is a light hearted impression to engage emotions versus thoughts, the contradictory aspects of life.

"some aspect of soul is reflected in every single piece of artwork, by every genre of art: poetry/literature, music, performance, and visual art" ― bodhi, uhane

in a number of artworks, "soul" represents happiness or sadness associated with the state of mind of living and being. often a collection of thoughts that relate to a positive mindset or negative mindset are portrayed with a thematic representation of characters. artists from different genres bring to life the emotional intensity and intellectual energy of people from different walks of life. in certain pieces, the spiritual nature of humankind is credited with different faculties of knowledge and reasoning associated with mind and soul; in others, complex emotions of love and feelings of resentment are supplemented with attributes of a troubled soul....

immortality and psyche are displayed in contrasting ways by artists to depict mind and spirit. sometimes intense passion and the burning desire to be with someone are dramatically showcased with alluring elements of the dark side. the transformation that people go through in different phases of life is sometimes highlighted with reflective changes in their inner-self, their "soul"...imperfection and imbalances of love and being human are often interwoven into an artwork reflecting the inability to control the desire and spirit within (as is the case with my impression here)...
 
because you see, i'm constantly a walking oxymoron...full of contradictions between thinking and feeling, between my head and my heart, between fate and chance, between faith and logic, between anger and peace, between being lonely and being in love, between having a soul and being cosmic dust in the wind...my photography reflects this paradox within me in, the battle of my emotions over my thoughts behind every single photo created with the opening and closing of my camera's shutter...the impression of that constant oxymoron within me has become the "soul" within my artwork...
 
"depicting an impression of soul is elusive in both feeling and meaning, equally for the artist and his audience" ― bodhi, uhane
 
released in 2021, this next tune is really the polar opposite to the first song above by death cab for cutie...the song and lyrics are by the alternative musical artist, willow (the daughter of will smith and jada pinkett smith). and it excellently illustrated that contradictory darker side of life and love to which i alluded above...because unfortunately, my mind still has a bit of negative animosity lingering from recent memories of those brown eyes that's battling with the current peaceful balance inside my heart for outright control of my soul... "transparent soul" by willow (featuring travis barker of blink 182). read or listen closely to the lyrics (which perfectly reflect those bad memories i still have) and you'll clearly understand without a doubt how it goes along perfectly with the deeper meaning of my impression and blog today...(just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....  

"one, two, three, four..i don't fucking know if it's a lie or it's a fact. all your little fake friends will sell your secrets for some cash, smile in my face, then put your cig out on my back. if you ever see me, just get to running like the flash. i knew a boy just like you--he's a snake, just like you. such a fake, just like you, but i can see the truth...transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know. transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know...i don't fucking know if it's paradise or it's a trap. yeah, they're treating me like royalty, but is it kissin' ass? no one's brave enough to take the fall right. but it's all your fault, why you acting like it's alright? i knew a girl just like you, she was vain, just like you. such a pain, just like you and everybody knows the truth...transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know. transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know...it's clear to me now. you're scared of me, wow. it's clear to me now, transparent soul...it's clear to me now, you're scared of me, wow. it's clear to me now, transparent soul...transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know. transparent soul, i can see right through, just so you know" ― willow with travis barker, transparent soul.  
 
"unfortunately, my mind still has a bit of negative animosity lingering from recent memories that's battling with the current peaceful balance inside my heart for outright control of my soul" ― bodhi, uhane
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
released thirty years ago in 1993, this is timeless classic from the red hot chili peppers out of los angeles california...the song's title is like me, an oxymoron combining contradictory ideas--one with the non-physical attribute of the soul paired with the physical action of squeezing...the lyrics express how deep pain can be felt mixed with a desire to find inner peace. but life can be bitter, while at other times it can also be very sweet too. it's about an overwhelming addiction that cannot be escaped (to a lover, or to drugs, or any obsession). in the case of a lover (as would be the meaning for me), knowing she's bad for you, you have an internal conflict on whether or not you really want to move forward with your life, away from her, your addiction. because her love is all you've known, even if you know she's squeezing the life out of your soul... "soul to squeeze" by the red hot chilli peppers. ... (just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)...
 
"i got a bad disease, but from my brain is where i bleed. insanity it seems has got me by my soul to squeeze. well all the love from me with all the dying trees i scream. the angels in my dreams, have turned to demons of greed that's me. where i go, i just don't know. i got to, got to, gotta take it slow. when i find my peace of mind, i'm gonna give you some of my good time...today love smiled on me. it took away my pain, said please, i'll let your ride be free, you gotta let it be, oh yeah...where i go, i just don't know. i got to, gotta, gotta take it slow. when i find my peace of mind, i'm gonna give you some of my good time...you're so polite indeed. well i got everything i need. oh make my days a breeze, and take away my self destruction. it's bitter baby, and it's very sweet. a holy roller-coaster, but i'm on my feet. take me to the river, let me on your shore. well, i'll be coming back baby, i'll be coming back for more...doo doo doo doo dingle zing a dong bone ba-di ba-da ba-zumba crunga cong gone bad...i could not forget but i will not endeavour simple pleasures are much better, but i won't regret it, never...where i go, i just don't know. i got to, gotta, gotta take it slow. when i find my peace of mind, i'm gonna give you some of my good time...where i go i just don't know. i might end up somewhere in mexico. when i find my peace of mind, i'm gonna keep it for the end of time" ― the red hot chili peppers, soul to squeeze.
 
"wherever you go, go with all your soul" ― confucius
 
"so the unwanting soul sees what's hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants" ― lao tzu, tao te ching 
 
"twin resonance is soul deep. it embraces the heart, body, mind and spirit of one another completely and fully; darkness, weirdness, magic and all" ― c. ara campbell    
 
"oh how you awaken me; stirring me to the depths of my dusty soul. the barriers standing guard around my longing heart dissolve; all that is left for me to do is feel...no matter how far out my tide goes, i always return to kiss the sands of your shore. my heartbeat calls to you, echoing your name across the pages of time and space. i can feel you moving through my soul...such a spell of love you weave upon this heart of mine as i swim eternally deeper into those sacred seas of your beautiful eyes" ― c. ara campbell (with additions by bodhi)
 
“you are the only solution to all the sadness in my heart and awfully—also, its only cause" ― beau taplin
 
“you are all the places you have been, the sights you have seen, the marvels you have achieved, and every soul you have touched. each passing moment is another brushstroke on the canvas. so rise, live always with passion and heart, and someday you will look back on your life and see a work of art" ― beau taplin
 
"i love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul" ― pablo neruda  
 
"my soul is an empty carousel at sunset" ― pablo neruda
 
"love is the nourishment for the soul. just as food is to the body, so love is to the soul. without food the body is weak, without love the soul is weak" ― osho, the secret of secrets  

"fate is the magnetic pull of our souls toward the people, places, and things we belong with" ― colleen hoover, it starts with us
 
"the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds" ― nicholas sparks, the notebook
 
"really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other" ― paulo coelho, eleven minutes
 
"i'm not a body with a soul, i'm a soul that has a visible part called the body" ― paulo coelho, eleven minutes
 
"we must never stop dreaming. dreams provide nourishment for the soul" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist
 
"i am the master of my fate, i am the captain of my soul" ― maya angelou
 
"this is the first, and the wisest thing i know: the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness" ― mary oliver, the journey
 
"whether we choose to focus on the guilt in their personality, or the innocence in their soul, is up to us" ― marianne williamson, illuminata
 
"not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy" ― c. joybell c.
 
"there is a place born of silence. a place where the whispers of the heart arise. there is a place where voices sing your beauty. a place where every breath carves your image into my soul" ― jalaluddin rumi, words of paradise
 
"when you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy" ― jalaluddin rumi, words of paradise
 
"you are in truth the soul, of the soul, of the soul" ― jalaluddin rumi, a year with rumi  
 
"out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. i'll meet you there. when the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi
 
"goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi
 
"i want your sun to reach my raindrops, so your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved
 
"look carefully around you and recognize the luminosity of souls. sit beside those who draw you to that" ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul
 
"darkness may hide the trees and flowers from the eyes, but it cannot hide love from the soul"
 
"what matters is how quickly you do what your soul directs" ― jalaluddin rumi, whispers of the beloved   

"the soul has been given it's own ears to hear things the mind does not understand" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi
 
"there was a sunset i remember when my soul heard something from your soul. i drank water from your spring and felt the current take me" ― jalaluddin rumi, the music and silence of the heart
 
"i have one small drop of knowing in my soul. let it dissolve in your ocean" ― jalaluddin rumi, poems of ecstasy and longing
 
"there is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. there is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. you feel it, don't you?" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved
 
"when soul rises into lips, you feel the kiss you have always wanted" ― jalaluddin rumi, the music and silence of the heart
 
"lose yourself completely, return to the root of the root of your own soul" ― jalaluddin rumi, a year with rumi  
 
"an eye is meant to see things. the soul is here for its own joy" ― jalaluddin rumi, hush don't say anything to god
 
"the desire to know your own soul will end all other desires" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi
 
"making true love is not about feeling the skin, it's about feeling the soul without touching" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved
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ABOUT THIS IMPRESSION
"my photography reflects this paradox within me in, the battle of my emotions over my thoughts behind every single photo created with the opening and closing of my camera's shutter...the impression of that constant oxymoron within me has become the "soul" within my artwork" ― bodhi, uhane
 
pictured here are the kualoa mountains reflecting in the molii pond from secret island on the north shore of kaneohe bay on the east coast of the hawaiina island of oahu under the stars on a clear night after a calm windless sunset...mountains were captured a few minutes before the sunset at 6:06pm and with the stars later at 8:08pm on january 17, 2023...
 
this composition is comprised of two separate long exposures...the kualoa mountains reflecting in molii pond a few minutes after sunset (f/11@24mm for 111 seconds, iso-64), and the stars reflecting in moli'i pond a little over 2 hours later at 8:08 pm on the same evening (f/1.4@24mm for 15 seconds, iso-2000)...
 
in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and 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 my completed impressions...
 
to get the effects and balance i was looking for in this long exposure composition (f/11@111mm for 22 secs, iso-64), i used two progreyusa filters. along with the progrey g-120z antarctica magnetic holder. to secure these filters to my nikon d850 with a nikon nikkor 24mm f/1.4 prime lens.... 
 
first, a 3.0nd progrey antarctica filter. to bring the light in the image down 10 stops and permit for the 111 second long exposure in pre-sunset light, which allows for my style of photography in creating the dreamy smoothness in the pond, plus naturally saturate all the green, and blue colors in the image (i would not have been able to use this long exposure and filters if the wind was blowing, because the palms at the waterline in the image would be blurred severely)...
 
combined with the second filter, a 0.9 gnd progrey aurora filter. to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the exposure an extra three stops to better balance the much brighter light in the left hand side of the sky (the light from the approaching sunset) with the darker shadows in the palm trees and shade in the kualoa mountains. this filter thus helps to permit details to expose better in all the palm trees, and their reflections, and thus come out better in the exposure... 
 
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 induro phq3 series 5-way panhead with an induro (now benro) stealth carbon fiber tripod. in combination with the progreyusa filters. which i use with every photo i take...
 
"you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you?" ― bodhi, blessed 
 
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhi, if 
 
"i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses" ― bodhi, into my photo
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary " ― bodhi, my diary
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty, content to be completely incomplete. stop the rush. slow down time. breathe and notice. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this higher moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colours of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhi, my world
 
leave you today wishing that bright joy 
and spiritual peace fill your life...
imploring you to make every moment count, 
no matter what, always and forever, 
for that is the only thing that truly matters... 
  
and above all else,
i hope this message and impression find you well.
 
namaste,
bodhi
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