“When man unfocuses his mind, he may be said to be conscious in a subhuman sense of the word, since he experiences sensations and perceptions.” Ayn Rand
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Driving by in Stockholm
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Paris Unfocused…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… A gathering of protesters at a park in Stockholm
“Psychologically, the choice “to think or not” is the choice “to focus or not.” Existentially, the choice “to focus or not” is the choice “to be conscious or not.” Metaphysically, the choice “to be conscious or not” is the choice of life or death.” Ayn Rand
When I first saw the prompt for this week’s photo challenge – Unfocused - I was not sure it would be feasible to find a half decent photo to fulfill the challenge. For starters, I’m not a professional photographer and, when I take lousy photos, I usually delete them to rid myself of the evidence of a poorly focused shot… Who knew that someday, the unfocused would become sublime; there is a lesson there to be learned. The Stockholm shots were taken from a moving vehicle (those are lit candles in the park), and the Paris one I took on foot… All embarrassingly out of focus.
“And so it (fear) stays just on the edge of vision, a small unfocused blur, a standing chill that slows each impulse down to indecision.” Philip Larkin
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Lilacs
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused…Buttercups
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Iris in bloom
Although some of the pictures I found were taken from a moving vehicle, (see above), others were taken in my garden, at a concert, or elsewhere, and were out of focus which works for this challenge. I was trying to capture the lilacs, buttercups and lone blooming iris in the garden and some of the shots went south… Even though I usually delete photos like these, I somehow let them sit in the files as other important tasks called my attention. So, I’m grateful to find time to now focus on the unfocused…
“Whatever I did, I didn’t do a very good job. We were so unfocused and undisciplined. I’m embarrassed.” Al Lang
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Sade Unfocused…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Another Unfocused Sade shot
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Backup singers/dancers for John Legend
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Another shot – Backup singers/dancers for John Legend
These were part of a collection of photos I took with a tiny camera at the Sade concert. I took tons of pictures that night and while some turned out great, many of them were blurry and unfocused… In the excitement of the evening, Sade’s first tour in the USA in ten years, I kept dropping the damn camera, taking shots while dancing in the aisles, and wondering why my sub-par camera was acting up. Duh? 
You can see my better shots of the show in this special post. Anyhow, I looked through the collection for this challenge and picked a few to share. More below! 
“Man can focus his mind to a full, active, purposefully directed awareness of reality—or he can unfocus it and let himself drift in a semiconscious daze…” Ayn Rand
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… Storm King
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… The wall at Storm King
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused… French countryside unfocused
An important lesson learned from this challenge is that we can find merit even in discarded things… When we talk about building a sustainable planet where nothing is wasted, we are being reminded to use everything including those things we typically toss out and treat with disdain. There is beauty and use for everything. Enjoy your weekend!
Hope you enjoyed this! What are your thoughts? What photos depicting Unfocused did you find? Was it easy/hard to find photos that made sense of your views on the subject? Were you drawn to certain types of photos for the prompt? Do share? Thank you! 
My fellow bloggers were equally creative with their selections. I listed several via Zemanta below. (I will update it and add more). We all appreciate trackbacks/ping-backs and LIKES from fellow bloggers too! Check out how others interpreted the theme – Unfocused – below. ***
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused. You may curse or cheer this week’s theme. We’re looking for that picture which is unfocused. It may be completely intentional, or accidental. You might have thought about trashing it, but in the end it definitely conveys something. Share a picture that is UNFOCUSED with everyone!
Positive Motivation Tip: Wherever our focus is directed, there is much there to help us learn and grown… Even the fuzzy spaces shed some light…
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my personal collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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flowers can be sooo difficult
Great choice of pics
Ty dear friend… Those flowers were giving me trouble; especially the buttercups. But I did eventually get better shots of them…
Here’s to us and our tenacity then!
These are wonderful. I au paired in Paris so I particularly like those. Do you scrapbook your photos?
TY Catherine… As per scrap-booking, I used to but not anymore. I just keep files now. Why?
I suppose you scrapbook more when you have kids to pass the memories on. I just have a friend who is really into photography who loves scrapbooking. I miss it but don’t really have time now.
Same here… I did scrap-booking when my kids were younger and I just don’t have the time now. Maybe when the grand-kids show up I’ll pick it up again.
Lack of focus also creates mystery, I thought your protesters candles were a flower bed of orange tulips!
Like the last rain shot! Thank you for pingback!
TY for the comment…
Beautiful selection! I thought the candles were flowers too
I’m glad I identified what they were then… Missed the chance to get an up-close shot. TY!
You have visited some lovely places.
TY Tilly and so have you… Did you ever share photos from your trip to France? Spain? Do soon.
I did! I wrote eight or nine posts on them
What!!! So I must have seen them then. Will go back and look again. I recall some indoor shots. Were there outdoor ones too? Will go back to look again.
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I love the “unfocussed” photos of the flowers and as for sade, I saw her i concert once and she is truely amazing, focussed or unfocussed.
TY! Yes those flowers look kinda cute now…
Sade is always great! Glad to see you here Peter! 
Like you, I delete the unfocused ones so I really had a hard time finding something for this challenge. I like the ones you took in Paris and Stockholm – the unfocused aspect of the picture can be forgiven when you look at the setting.
TY Colline… I would never have shared these shots and kept them because of the memories. I usually delete stuff like this.. TY for your kind words.
So many great shots for the theme!
TY! It was a surprise to me…
Love all of them! totally amazing!
TY for your feedback… This was a tough challenge.
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The moving vehicle is a great way to go (oops! bad pun!) for this challenge, and probably how I’ll choose when I post mine. Have to agree with everyone about the difficulty in shooting anything floral! One little breeze and all set-up is gone!
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They are nice challenge for this week. Have a great weekends.
TY for your feedback and have a great weekend too!
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Great choice for this weeks photo challenge: unfocused. It was not so easy to do this one but I enjoyed looking at all the unfocused shots others took…Nice Eliz!! ♥ it all
It wasn’t easy, I agree! I was impressed by many I saw though! TY!
I love the Sade shots!
TY! I do too!
thanks for sharing!
flowers were always challenging for me when i used the camera on my cell phone. finally i discovered it had a close-up option, who knew?
the image of sade is awesome – the unfocussed treatment of this image, whether intentional or not, is actually brilliant!
TY! The brilliance was accidental for sure… I loved the show but the photos were sometimes a challenge to take because of the lighting.
I would need some backup singers too for my stage acts –
no matter if they are unfocused – the voice counts!
You are funny! I hope find focused ones. TY!
Like you, I delete my unfocused and bad shots. I need the space to put better ones — having a hard time finding even one that’s suitable.
I feel like I need to buy a new pair of glasses now. LOL
Same here… It was hard on the eyes, all those off focus shots! TY!
You have so many wonderful unfocused photos! I’ll bet you have fun locating them for this challenge!
It was a challenge as I usually delete them… But it was a fun exercise. TY for stopping by.
Great set of photos for the challenge! I prefer the first Sade white dress photo.
I like that one too… Almost ghostlike. TY!
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Oh, and I also love the Ayn Rand quotes!
So far the “Unfocused” challenge is the only one that I didn’t really care for. I’m still trying to figure out the why. Maybe it has a deeper meaning that I haven’t grasped yet.
I liked the one of Sade in the white dress the best. It is truly a beautiful shot.
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