The diversity of fleshy plants that we call succulents is immensely vast, and they have cool names — Foxtail Agave, From your nearest nursery to the Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park, the world’s collection of these plants provides us plenty of locations to shoot them.
Most of us have a bucket list of things we want (or would like) to do in our lifetime. Whether it’s traveling to exotic locations, learning to cook delicious meals or taking on a dream job — we’ve all got something.
Nicolas Vallejos, known on Flickr as ANVRecife, had the same desire, which is in part why he started taking pictures of a character he calls Woody.
“Woody is a catalyst for fun,” he says in the accompanying video. “He can be anything, go anywhere. There’s no limit to what he can do!”
Nicolas’ favorite photos are those shots where Woody represents his alter-ego.
“I always wanted a tattoo and design it myself, but never had the courage to do it!” Nicolas says. “But Woody can. He basically can be anything that I wanted to be and didn’t have either the time, patience or skills. And taking those pictures are the most fun.”
Photography has always a big part of Nicolas’ life. As a design manager in Minneapolis, he was used to directing photo shoots but wanted a more fun and hands on approach.
Nicolas discovered Woody in 2003 while shopping at IKEA. He noticed a bin full of wooden dolls and without question he realized he found his muse for his macro photography.
“I just looked at him and thought ‘Oh my god, I can actually use him as my model!’” Nicolas says. “The moment I picked him up and instantly knew I had something special.”
What excites Nicolas about Woody is the figure provides many challenges as well as possibilities. In the beginning, one of his biggest hurdles was how to convey emotion from something inanimate that has no facial expressions. Nicolas discovered he could achieve this with different body movements, colors, lighting and backgrounds. One of his favorite examples is Slow, where he created a sense of darkness and emotion with the simplest lighting and use of shadows.
Nicolas also loves to use Woody to represent visual metaphors for those situations humans can’t do.
“I think people would love to have a restart button in their lives,” Nicolas describes. “For example, if they’re going through a rough patch, wouldn’t it be great if they had a CONTROL Z or restart button? Woody can do that!”
At the end of the day, Nicolas wants people to laugh and be wow’d by what they see in Woody. To date, Nicolas has taken over 300 shots in the last six years and knows there’s still more Woody has left to do.
“People always ask me what will Woody do next?” Nicolas says. “And I always say, ‘You tell me!’ Woody represents all of us. And it’s exciting to know that every challenge I get, Woody is going to come to the rescue, bring my ideas to life that people will hopefully connect with. And I love it.”
Do you want to be featured on The Weekly Flickr? We are looking for your photos that amaze, excite, delight and inspire. Share them with us in the The Weekly Flickr group or tweet us at @TheWeeklyFlickr.
Last Flickr Friday we told you to rub the sleep out of your eyes and greet a new day with your favorite camera for our latest theme Glorious Morning.
And you got up with the sun to capture some wonderful shots of flora in the pristine dawn, breakfast table staples, and other moments caught up in that beautifying, early-morning light. Don’t miss all the contributions in the Flickr Friday group pool, and stay tuned for our next challenge that we’ll announce soon!
Witnessing whales as they break water surfaces (aka breaching) is an enthralling experience in the wild. From a chin slap to a full-body aerial, this lunging behavior displays the impressive power and imposing size of these marine behemoths.
Seasickness, extreme patience, luck, timing, balance — all factors in seizing moments to shoot exciting whale shots like the ones featured here.
If you are a parent or a student, you know that the costs of a U.S. college education have skyrocketed in recent years. What you may not know is that the annual cost of a four-year degree has surged three times the pace of inflation since the 1970s.
As college graduation season gets under way, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance and The Daily Ticker are teaming up to produce a special live streaming event on May 23 at 12:30 pm ET around the rising cost of college.
Have you ever wondered if going to college is worth it? Or wondered how you might pay for your four-year education? Are you concerned about how to find a good paying job after school?
Tell your story and get your questions answered by a panel of experts!
This monolithic rock called Peña de Bernal (Bernal’s Boulder or Bernal Peak) in Querétaro, Mexico, has come into the limelight after a recent geological study conducted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Researchers discovered that the freestanding monument formed almost 9 million years ago when a tectonic plate slipped under an adjacent plate, and its height of 1,421 feet surpasses other comparable monoliths, such as Europe’s Rock of Gibraltar and South America’s Sugarloaf Mountain.
Explore more views of this record-breaking rock, and its surrounding vicinity, in the World’s Tallest Rock gallery.
Myanmar’s ancient city of Bagan has a unique landscape speckled with over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas that were built during the 9th to 13th centuries. Balloon rides provide spectacular views of the city’s historic Burmese architecture.
In this edition of The Weekly Flickr, we asked you to help us celebrate those special women in our lives: mothers. We wanted you to share your photos of them and tell us the best advice she’s ever given to you. What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to hear their wise words that inspire our lives!
We received countless photos and testimonials from participants, and here you’ll find a selection of them submitted to us. Happy Mother’s Day!
After you’ve watched the video, be sure to check out the photos in our “Mother’s Day” galleries.
“The best advice she gave me is to lead a happy, healthy and full life — such as hers. I need to be mentally and physically strong, which is possible if I keep myself fully engaged in activities I enjoy and avoid worrying.” -KV Gopalakrishnan
“The best advice my mother gave me was, ‘Don’t ever let the negative things in life get you down.’” – ✈ Sean Marc Lee 李子仁
“The best advice my mom ever gave me was to save money. It sure has come in handy at times when I’ve wanted to buy something that wasn’t necessary, and I would think of mom and usually decide against the purchase. My mom is the best, and she certainly had a lot of advice, but I think ‘save money’ is my favorite.” – Doggie Luver
“The best advice she ever gave me was you have to remember to always smile and keep your head up because your smile could make anyone’s day. I’m not saying don’t be sad, we need a little sadness to truly appreciate the good in our lives. But at the end of the day, knowing you made someone’s day with just a smile will always put a smile on your face. I’m not going to be with you forever, but I want the image of your smile to be my last memory; that, would be my heaven.” – Omolade A. Oke | Human
“More than advice, she is my example and shows me how to be better all the time.” – M.Moraes Fotografia
“The best advice my mom gave me was to work hard and get along with others.” – disneymike
“My mother told me to notice all the beauties of the world.” – Room With A View
“The best advice my mom gave me was to lead by example, to never forget where I come from and be proud of who I am.” - patrick j. clarke
Do you want to be featured on The Weekly Flickr? We are looking for your photos that amaze, excite, delight and inspire. Share them with us in the The Weekly Flickr Group, or tweet us at @TheWeeklyFlickr.
Last Flickr Friday all we said was “Flickr Friday, Flickr Friday, Flickr Friday”, introducing our latest theme Repetition.
And you went out to gather beautiful repetitions: We saw repetitions in architecture, celebrating, colorful crowds, fractals in nature, and many other wonderful patterns all around you. Don’t miss all the contributions in the Flickr Friday group pool, and stay tuned for our next challenge that we’ll announce in less than a day!
The companion blog to Flickr, the photography revolution for sharing, storing, and organizing your photos that provides easy photo management and collaboration in one of the largest worldwide photo communities.
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