The theme this week is Orange and was suggested by Martie.
Martie:
This week's theme, "Orange" was a lot of fun. I decided to celebrate the fall harvest by attempting to photograph a "still life" with all orange fruits and veggies. I also decided to push my photography a bit and shot with totally manual settings. And, except for the yam appearing more like some horrid mole, I'm rather pleased with the results.
So, in celebration of a bountiful harvest - here is my tribute to ORANGE.
Kate:
Piles of Orange Squash at a local farm stand
First of all I apologise for this “wordy” post on a site where the focus is on photography!
We’re on orange overload at this time of year – at least in the northern hemisphere. Everywhere I look there are patches, blocks and swathes of orange, both inside and out. It’s never been a colour I’ve particularly enjoyed but this year on the Canadian west coast, fall has been wonderfully vivid and rich in both colour and texture – and many of them are of the bright shades of autumn orange. I have to admit that I’m rethinking my bias. Even London’s online Sunday Mirror declares that “Orange is the New Black” this winter.
And so, because I want to look at Orange from a new and more positive perspective, I’ve done a little research and come up with a list of randomly interesting (or interestingly random), facts about “orange”:
1. Orange in general represents Hinduism and Hindu swamis traditionally wear orange robes. The significance of orange as the colour for swamis is commonly thought to be connected to the idea that orange symbolizes fire. Their fiery ochre robes display outwardly the inner transformation - the burning of ego, their former selves, and their personal wants.
The Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Thailand also wear plain saffron or ochre robesThe orange colour originally came from staining the material in vegetable matter and spices like saffron which were readily available.
2. Deluxe International orange is the colour of the paint on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
3. The orange fruit is technically a hesperidia, a kind of berry.
4. In energy medicine, orange is associated with the second chakra which is located just below the navel. Orange is the color of joy and creativity and promotes a general sense of wellness. It provides emotional energy that you can give to others, including compassion, passion and genuine warmth. When this chakra is blocked we experience fear, anxiety, attachments to material things and a lack of compassion, and distrust. A balance of orange will let a person handle the ups and downs of life with finesse, quickly recovering from disappointments or wounded heart or pride. Orange is out going, busy, cheerful, bright and stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Bring on the orange!
5. The complementary colour to orange is azure, a slightly greenish blue. Orange pigments absorb mostly blue light.
6. Hypercarotenemia is an excess consumption of carotene that turns one's skin orange. The places that become the most orange are the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and the whites of the eyes. Oddly enough, it only takes about 3 normal-sized carrots (8-9 inches) per day to come down with hypercarotenemia. This translates to about 20 mg of carotene. The condition is harmless, unless you have something against turning a bit orange. Think of all the money you'll save not buying fake tans.
7. Orange peel is used by gardeners as a slug repellent.
8. Terry’s Chocolate Orange of Yorkshire, UK, dates back to the 1920s, when the "Chocolate Apple" was first produced. The orange was launched in the 1930s and was much more popular than the apple, leading to the apple's phasing out in 1954. They were bought by Kraft Foods in 2005 and are now produced in Sweden, Belgium, Poland and Slovakia.
9. Creamsicle is a brand name for a frozen dessert which resembles an ice pop, with a center composed of vanilla ice cream and an exterior layer of flavoured ice (all around a wooden stick). The most popular flavour is orange. Here’s the cocktail version of this treat:
1 ounce triple sec or cointreau 3 ounces vodka 12 ounces orange juice 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
blend and serve !
Orange you glad I’ve enriched your knowledge of all things orange? As further evidence of my move towards introducing this cheerful and creative hue into my life, I’ve shocked almost everyone I know by ordering two lime green chairs for my living room with ORANGE pillows. Match that with hot pink and turquoise against various shades of grey backgrounds and you’ve got the colour scheme for my new home.
Whatever happened to my subdued earth tones?
Gone. Vanished.
It’s a whole new me.
