I’m working on a group challenge this year that is forcing me to look at the details of an object.  So, what do I really see when I see something? There are a number of ways that I look closer at an object.

Sometimes I do it with binoculars. I see the birds at the bird feeder and pull out the binocs to look at the details of the wings or feather coloration. Today, I saw a bird fluttering about the feeder and I wasn’t sure, but thought I was seeing blue. With the aide of the binoculars, I clearly saw that it was a male indigo bunting. That was exciting to to see and felt like I’d won a prize.

Another way I see details is to plop myself on the ground and look close. Frequently, as I sit on the ground, I’ll use my cellphone camera to take micro shots of tiny objects. I get as close as I can and zoom in. Its amazing the fine detail you can see with these photos.

Once I have a good image, I’ll look for more details by zooming in on it with photo editing software. For example, this week I opened up a photo of a Monarch butterfly that I took several years ago. I zoomed in and cropped the photo to show just a portion of the full image. I find it interesting because you see things that you might not normally see.

I printed the cropped image on photo transfer paper, then applied it to fabric. I guess I could have moved on from there, but the process of stitching the image forced me to look even closer at the details. As I stitched, I paid close attention to the shapes, lines, and colors in the wing. So many layers of detail. As I delve deeper into this project, I realize I am consciously and unconsciously looking for more.