I'M HERE TO EMPOWER YOU!

I’m an artist . . . but that’s not saying much, because I believe, and it is something that I have devoted my time heavily to convey, that art expression is an inherent property of human nature. The media may vary, but not the innate disposition.

Those that know me have heard my “talent-as-myth” diatribe all too often, and if you end up tuning in to my posts, you will encounter it soon enough. It is my goal to change the notion, which a great number of people resign to, that one needs to have “talent” to pursue the art they feel or want and am doing this on a daily basis through my program in the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers.

With that as preface, I will probably devote a portion of my posts to inspiring artists, but I also plan to impart other conceptions that I have about life in general, with the goal of elevating, encouraging, enlivening or energizing those who read them.

Let me begin with this:

I wish for you the ability to create for yourself all that your heart desires.

Start!


➡️ fill out this form, if you’re interested in the new home for “G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers”

➡️ fill out this form, if you’re interested in keeping in touch or getting mentored by Robin


You can begin by watching "The Myth of Talent" here:


"The Myth of Talent" by Robin Griggs Wood

Robin Griggs Wood •artist•(@robingriggswood)'s Instagram

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RECENT POSTS

Counsel From the Mer-Folk Digital Image Composite by Robin Griggs Wood.


Counsel From the Mer-Folk Digital Image Composite by Robin Griggs Wood.
A gathering to consult the elders of the sea.
About this image:

30 images were used to create this one image. The rock structure was not actually on the water, but is a panoramic stitch of 4 images. Some of the seals on the foreground portion of the rocks were one seal that was being shooed from dock by a marina worker. Others are from various other stops along the coast. (Here's a sample of some of the images that went into it: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNVEFwafp4V5BVQ8E7dZIv1Dnvx8oRywnOPy8hO). The water was created using Flaming Pear's "Flood", among other basic reflection techniques. The liability with "Flood" is that it only creates a mirror reflection. However, that is not how real reflections work, in terms of perspective. So, many of the reflections of the foreground rocks and seals on the perspective plane had to be added individually after the initial reflection was created.

Pop Quiz! How many seals can you count here? (I won't make you count the pelicans ... ;o))


With this many #Sea-ullButts and #SeagullButtsInDisguise , it fits right into #SeagullButtSaturday  .... ;o))

––––
If you've made it this far, please know that there is NO such photography theme as #SeagullButtSaturday . The following people, sometimes posting to the #FunniestNonthemeOnGplus , are actually the #FunniestNonCuratorsOnGplus .

Robin Griggs Wood Ursula Klepper Christin McLeod Sassi Sassmannshausen Lauri Novak Richard Ball Craig Szymanski Melissa Beagle Ellie Kennard Cora Triton Steve Savoie Pam Wolfe +Joy Mum Jon Cassill Tom McGowan Annie Irving Diana Boyd Debby Moran Alex Lapidus Lou McCorkle Rob Lopes Kimmetal Smith Bette Kauffman Liz C Jacqueline Hodsdon Darion Jackman Steven Kennard Sharon Stone Dawn Siadatan Sumit Sen Jasbir S. Randhawa Gazzaroonii T. John Wade Dave Bell Swee Oh Leo Deegan Nancy Battis Vita Patrick Kelly Marilyn Benham Mari Luukkonen Lora Lee Chapman Giselle Savoie Carin Bruce David Q. Cohen Gernot Glaeser Maureen Roberson Brian Grzelewski cobalt please Darcee McCutcheon Annelies Jansen Rachel Ferris Margaret Tompkins Jan Vermeulen Christi Nielsen

Real themes:
#SurrealArtSaturday  with thanks to Mikko Tyllinen
#fantasticandsurrealphotos with thanks to Gemma Costa Rob Heron  and Fantastic & Surreal Photos
#fineartfantasticphotos  with thanks to Fine Art Fantastic Photos  Heimo MAUSER and Freya de Castelbajac
#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Tony Phillips Dave Gaylord Doug Hagadorn Eric Drumm and Landscape Photography

Must-have hashtags (for hackling the hashtag-haters … ;o))
#SeagullButtSaturday (duh!)
#SeagullButtShots
#SeagullButts
#notatheme
#SeagullButtsInDisguise (for other birds; a fine way to use up all those bird shots you took that are "not quite what you were shooting for" and currently languishing on your hard drive.)
#Gulluminati (what the group of non-curators have come to be known as)
#FunniestNonthemeOnGplus (because, isn't it?! … ;oD)
#Splatterday (Jasbir's invention, applicable for, ahem, some conditional shots … ;o7)

#rgwoodpost #Gulluminati #Gullarazzi #FunniestNonthemeOnGplus
#googleplusphotos #DigitalArtSaturday #hqspphotoart   #BTPOtherPro   #digitalart #digitalpainting #photoshop #photomanipulation   #mattepainting

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This image available for print:
http://www.robingriggswood.com/buy/38075446_CPsjbP/4460342601_42fDsDQ/

Please feel free to ask me,
if you would like any of my images
available for print at robingriggswood.com

If you would like to view my albums here at G+ go to
 ––> https://plus.google.com/photos/+RobinGriggsWood/albums
or https://plus.google.com/photos/103698889037599783920/albums

I went on a little adventure with my friend Alice the other day,


I went on a little adventure with my friend Alice the other day, who took me to one of her favorite places. It was a frenetic and whirlwind tour––since Alice is rather scattered––so I didn't get a plethora of snaps. However, I did manage to grab a shot of this rare daisy, just before we came back up the rabbit hole.

;o7

#ShotsFromWonderland  #AdventuresWithAlice


#FloralFriday with thanks to Tamara Pruessner Eustace James Beth Akerman Kiki Nelson and FloralFriday
#MacroAddict MacroAddict with thanks to Sandrine Berjonneau and Didier Caron
#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #Friday #TGIF #naturephotography #macrophotography #FlowerFriday   #flowerphotography #floralphotography #btpflowerpro   #hqspflowers #hqspmacro #Macro4All #MacroManiacs #droste



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Please feel free to ask me,
if you would like any of my images
available for print at robingriggswood.com

If you would like to view my albums here at G+ go to
 ––> https://plus.google.com/photos/+RobinGriggsWood/albums

Losing My Breath to the Coast


Losing My Breath to the Coast

Another seascape from my coastal adventure. If you read this post: https://plus.google.com/+RobinGriggsWood/posts/4v1x6gEyQ7H, you know that I decided to keep my long lens on my cam for the whole amble down the coast. (There was a lot of wildlife out there I wanted to be able to capture at a moment's notice!) So, for landscapes, I ended up shooting panoramas handheld (and crossing my fingers that Photoshop could deal with them when I got home ... ;o)) This one was made up of 28 images and Ps handled it pretty well! It ended up being about 14,000 pixels wide (approx. 126 megapixels), and the processing was slow going ... but perhaps I found my solution to the "want to travel light; which lens do I take?" conundrum.


#ThirstyThursdayPics with thanks to  Giuseppe Basile & Mark Esguerra #thirstythursday
#CoastalThursday with thanks to David Polzine Jon Kahn Coastal Thursday
#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Tony Phillips Dave Gaylord Doug Hagadorn Eric Drumm and Landscape Photography

#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #hqsplandscape #BTPLandscapePro #California #SunsetPhotography #Sunset #Travel #TravelPhotography #Sky #Beach




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This image available for print at: http://www.robingriggswood.com/buy/24851253_KskZTv/4475045030_3LpnX7s/

Please feel free to ask me,
if you would like any of my images
available for print at robingriggswood.com

If you would like to view my albums here at G+ go to
 ––> https://plus.google.com/photos/+RobinGriggsWood/albums

I've been wa-a-ay too busy this past week


I've been wa-a-ay too busy this past week and not putting in enough posts here on my fav social network ('cuz all the awesome peeps are here ... :o)) ... but I thought I "otter" post at least something to let you know I'm alive ...

River Otter ... possibly about to sneeze ... ;o7

#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #wildlifephotography
#wildlifewednesday   #wildlifephotos

People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be.


People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.' I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.     -- Carl R. Rogers

Thank you for being wonderful you!



#ThirstyThursdayPics with thanks to  Giuseppe Basile & Mark Esguerra #thirstythursday
#CoastalThursday with thanks to David Polzine Jon Kahn Coastal Thursday
#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Tony Phillips Dave Gaylord Doug Hagadorn Eric Drumm and Landscape Photography


#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #hqsplandscape #BTPLandscapePro #SantaMonica #California #SunsetPhotography #Sunset #Travel #TravelPhotography #Sky #Beach

"Stay. Am Friend. Please. PLEeEeEeEASE?!!"


"Stay. Am Friend. Please. PLEeEeEeEASE?!!"
This is just a Malayan Wreathed Hornbill, but it totally reminds me of a Skeksis from "The Dark Crystal"! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMmE53Uae3Q

Malayan Wreathed Hornbill: http://s3.zoochat.com.s3.amazonaws.com/large/buc007-190648.jpg If you're not in the East or can't visit, you can read about Oakland Zoo's guest here: http://www.oaklandzoo.org/Malayan_Wreathed%20Hornbill.php



 #TextureBlendPhotography with thanks to Gemma Costa Rob Heron and Texture Blend Photography
#birdsgallery  with thanks to Heinrich Wagner
#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #wildlife #wildlifephotography #bird #birdphotography #birds4all #birdsinfocus #hqspbirds

Change


Change
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
Steve Jobs
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Leo Tolstoy
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
George Bernard Shaw
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
Winston Churchill

Happy Monday! I wish you all a wonderful week ahead. If, as the week progresses, that doesn't happen for you, just know that with every second that ticks you can CHANGE that ... :o)

#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos
#MotivationMonday #Motivation #Inspiration #QuoteOfTheDay #MotivationalMonday #Success

Resist the urge to grumble about less than ideal circumstances.


Resist the urge to grumble about less than ideal circumstances.
"There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly"

~ Buckminster Fuller

#FloralFriday with thanks to Tamara Pruessner Eustace James Beth Akerman Kiki Nelson and FloralFriday
#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #Friday #TGIF #naturephotography #macrophotography #FlowerFriday  #flowerphotography #floralphotography #hqspflowers #hqspmacro #Macro4All #MacroManiacs

"There, there, now, Herkimer ... things will get better."


"There, there, now, Herkimer ... things will get better."

Comfort Those in Need

#cuteoverload

#wildlifewednesday  Morkel Erasmus Mike Spinak
#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #btpanimalpro #hqspanimals #pacificcoast   #wildseals   #seal   #seals   #California

"In fourteen-hundred and ninety two


"In fourteen-hundred and ninety     two
Columbus sailed the ocean             blue"
I'm not in elementary school, are kids still taught this mnemonic? Are kids still taught that Columbus discovered America, for that matter?

Anyway, here's a land that you can discover, even if it's been discovered before .. ;o). Who knows, with enough brute force you might be able to make it your own ... ;o)))

The Lone Cypress, Spanish Bay, on the "17-mile Drive", Monterey Peninsular, CA

#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Tony Phillips Dave Gaylord Doug Hagadorn Eric Drumm and Landscape Photography


#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #hqsplandscape #BTPLandscapePro #California #Travel #TravelPhotography #Sky #Pacific   #Monterey #CypressTree #PacificCoast



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Please feel free to ask me,
if you would like any of my images
available for print at www.robingriggswood.com

If you would like to view my albums here at G+ go to
––> https://plus.google.com/photos/+RobinGriggsWood/albums

Oh, the embarrassment of a nasty case of #seagullbutt hyper-fluffies!!


Oh, the embarrassment of a nasty case of #seagullbutt hyper-fluffies!!
#IsThereAPillForThis ?
#ShouldIGetVaccinated ?
#CanSomeonePointMeToTheHyperFluffyClinic ?

A little early for #SeagullButtSaturday ? .. yes indeed, but #FridaysAreBokehlicious  and there's all that bokeh back there to distract you while our friend here gets his ahem back in order there ... ;o)

With a nod and grin to those #bokeholics, Leo Deegan Michael B. Stuart Dave Besbris Art through the Aperture Photography Wesly Smith Angie Smith  Wendy Chase Paul Moody Shannon Adelson and sundry (that may rival the non-curator list of a certain non-theme! … ;o7)

Oh, and heck, I may as well the pull those non-themers in on this, too ... ;o)
If you've made it this far, please know that there is NO such photography theme as #SeagullButtSaturday. The following people, sometimes posting to the #FunniestNonthemeOnGplus, are actually the #FunniestNonCuratorsOnGplus.

Robin Griggs Wood Ursula Klepper Christin McLeod Sassi Sassmannshausen Lauri Novak Richard Ball Craig Szymanski Melissa Beagle Ellie Kennard Cora Triton Steve Savoie Pam Wolfe +Joy Mum Jon Cassill Tom McGowan Annie Irving Diana Boyd Debby Moran Alex Lapidus Lou McCorkle Rob Lopes Kimmetal Smith Bette Kauffman Liz C Jacqueline Hodsdon Darion Jackman Steven Kennard Sharon Stone Dawn Siadatan Sumit Sen Jasbir S. Randhawa Gazzaroonii T. John Wade Dave Bell Swee Oh Leo Deegan Nancy Battis Vita Patrick Kelly Marilyn Benham Mari Luukkonen Lora Lee Chapman Giselle Savoie Carin Bruce David Q. Cohen Gernot Glaeser Maureen Roberson Brian Grzelewski cobalt please Darcee McCutcheon Annelies Jansen Rachel Ferris Margaret Tompkins Jan Vermeulen Christi Nielsen

Real themes:
#birds4all curated by Walter Soestbergen Ricky L Jones & Birds4All
#birdloversandwildlife curated by Robert SKREINER  BIRD Lovers & WILDLIFE
#birdsgallery  with thanks to Heinrich Wagner

Must-have hashtags (for hackling the hashtag-haters … ;o))
#SeagullButtSaturday (duh!)
#SeagullButtShots
#SeagullButts
#notatheme
#SeagullButtsInDisguise (for other birds; a fine way to use up all those bird shots you took that are "not quite what you were shooting for" and currently languishing on your hard drive.)
#Gulluminati (what the group of non-curators have come to be known as)
#FunniestNonthemeOnGplus (because, isn't it?! … ;oD)
#Splatterday (Jasbir's invention, applicable for, ahem, some conditional shots … ;o7)

#rgwoodpost #Gulluminati #Gullarazzi #FunniestNonthemeOnGplus
#googleplusphotos #hqspbirds #btpbirdpro #birdsgallery

The White Seal


The White Seal

While this is clearly a composite, a little anecdote goes with it. We stopped along the coast at a bay inaccessible by humans (who didn't have mountain goat in their lineage) that was overrun with pelicans, seagulls and seals. She was truly the only white seal amongst the crowd and alone on one rock in the middle of the water. There was one of those observation stands where you put a a couple quarters in and you could see everything through huge binoculars. It was the only place to stand that was up above the (darn) fence blocking the lenses of all the photographers there.

There was one guy standing on it when we arrived, with his long lens perched on the tourist binoculars and pointed towards this little white seal. She had her back to everyone. We stayed there quite a while, hoping to find another spot to stand above that (damn) fence and this best shooting spot hogger guy never budged from that spot.

I was about to give up and hike back up to the car and neared the observation stand. The spot hogger guy turned towards me and then climbed down indicating that I could have the spot ... mumbling irritatedly, "Good luck getting her to turn around" and hrrumpfed off.

As soon as I climbed up on the stand and pointed my long lens at her, she turned around––and kept turned around for another few minutes, just staring at me. Ha! I think I get to have the moniker of "seal whisperer" now ... ;o))). It was worth the wait; she had such a sweet face.

About the composite: when I got back home, the rocks in this shot reminded me more of something arctic, so I put the little seal in there and used a rainbow that I'd shot out of the car window on the drive, turned on it's side, for the aurora in the sky.

#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Jim Warthman Toshi Nakamura and Landscape Photography


#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #hqsplandscape #BTPLandscapePro #California #Travel #TravelPhotography #digitalart  

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Please feel free to ask me,
if you would like any of my images
available for print at www.robingriggswood.com

If you would like to view my albums here at G+ go to
––> https://plus.google.com/photos/+RobinGriggsWood/albums

The Call of the Wild


The Call of the Wild

California, Pacific Coast, just prior to fusion chicken sopes with a draft micro brew.

There may or may not be a seagull out there somewhere ... ;o)


#LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Jim Warthman Toshi Nakamura and Landscape Photography
#SunsetSaturday with thanks to Dennis Hoffbuhr
#rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #hqsplandscape #BTPLandscapePro #California #SunsetPhotography #Sunset #Travel #TravelPhotography #Sky

This image available for print:
http://www.robingriggswood.com/Featured/Photography/i-VGcgsvM/A