Happy Valentine's Day!

 

"Daffodils"

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils; 

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth - 1804

Winter Wheat

 

2009

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a nice lady who stumbled upon my meager blog.  Googling "Winter Wheat" she'd found The Giraffe Head Tree.

 2009

 She was putting together a program for her church and wanted to use one of the images.  Why, of course, I said. 

2009

Please send me one for my portfolio, I asked, and she thought that funny.  It is funny, really. 

2010

This exchange whetted my appetite for those images again so I looked high and low, finally finding them on my stand-alone hard drive.  Neatly archived away.  Out of sight.  Out of mind.  Until this nice lady's e-mail. 

2010

Why do I do that?  Hide my images away?  Visiting these images brought back some fabulous memories.  More than that I really, really like them.  This is the same wheat field, two years in a row. 

2010

May 2009 I shot them in bright afternoon daylight, a coming storm looming on the horizon.  Bright blue skies being gobbled up by bright white and grey clouds; golden wheat swaying in the wind.  May 2010 I rose before dawn and drove to the field awaiting the sunrise.  A gentle fog and rosy light made these my favorite images of all.  What do you do with your favorite nature images, and what is your preferred method for a portfolio for your work?  I'm really curious as clearly I'm horrid at both.

Summer

Yesterday my Sunny Friend, Eve, and I sat on her porch and chewed the fat about Life and Gardens. We both were lamenting the fact that we simply haven't been interested in taking photos of late. Maybe the heat and humidity were keeping us indoors, but whatever. I pondered this on the way home as I drove through the mountains in a bowl of sunshine.

Storms formed all around us and I left Eve's mountaintop home just in time. There was a little rain on me at first, but the dark gray misty clouds wrapped southerward around me, slamming Eve and Morgan in their cottage. They were rocking and rolling with nature while I was rocking and rolling with Bonnie Raitt in the sunshine.

The drive was amazing. A sheet of rain exactly one country block to my left almost to Ditto Landing. Shade on the left side, sun on the right side. To the west and north, more dark clouds lined the horizon while rain pummeled the south and east. Literally, a bowl of sunshine.

Eve and I did talk to make sure each was okay, and I made it inside before the next wave of rain pitty-patted down upon our patio and the Gazanias.


I bought these at the local Co-op. Their bright, sunny colors with stripes caught my attention. Never had gazanias; had never HEARD of gazanias. They want full sun and little water. They get sun, but we've been inundated with rain so they're a little bedraggled. Perhaps a little shocked. "Ma'am....we're great for xeriscaping, but NOT pots on a porch with lots of rain. Get it?"


Got it. But you look so lovely in rows of pots on my patio table, gazanias. Please perform for me? Please? I promise to take the water-catcher trays out from underneath you so that you'll not get wet feet. And I promise to photograph you a lot, okay? Your skirts are just so pretty!


Shades of red, red orange, orange, magenta, yellow and yellow-orange seem prevalent. Some have stripes and some do not. I wanted a "Duke's mixture" and that's what I got. The rainfall left pretty droplets of water in the dimming light of sunset. While the dogs were in the backyard doing what dogs need to do I amused myself with the macro lens.

Maybe the lack of desire to shoot was caused by lack of inspiration. These bright flowers in the graying light really called to me yesterday afternoon. Or, maybe it was lunch with a sunny friend that brightened my disposition. Or both. Yesterday jump-started my creativity gene again. Thanks, Eve, for everything. I needed that.

Project - Light Tent

My new light tent

I've been wanting a light tent but after doing a little research it became apparent that finding a reasonably priced light tent was out of the question. Then, I stumbled on a Do It Yourself project posted on the Internet. Vowing to save $100 I printed out the instructions and went shopping. The article with instructions can be found here. Full credit goes to Jeffrey Bail at the Digital Photography School's forums. Simply link above to read the full article, with photos!, and a complete list of instructions. I found it easy to do - and I'm not the crafty/buildy sort at all!


Above is the finished product complete with object to be photographed. Said object is my new friend, a stuffed American White Pelican whom I have named Sumner. Sumner because he has that tuft of white hair on top of his head that's all sticky-up, just like Sting! Sting's growing-up name was Gorden Sumner...hence...but I digress. Sumner has been patiently awaiting his introduction to my blogging friends but his mom - that would be me - kept forgetting to purchase one thing or another thus delaying his debut.

The box was a nearly square 16"x18" Home Depot Box. Supplies included Bristol board, one large piece of cold-pressed watercolor paper (only because no one had larger sheets of Bristol board), masking tape and a clamp light. I also purchased a 100 watt Eco-friendly DAYLIGHT bulb to use, but think I need to go back for either more lighting or a higher watt bulb. I bought a box cutter only because I didn't have one but most folks have them lying around.

The clamp light is currently clamped onto the chandelier hanging over the dining table but somewhere in this house I have a light stand. It's just a matter of finding it, but in the meantime this will suffice. It's totally light and portable and was easy-peasy to do! Even for ME!

This is the first photo. Sumner's a little dark, which of course can be brightened in Photoshop. But I wanted you to see the first photo straight out of the camera. Oh, I did crop it because you could see the sides, but that's 'cause Sumner's a big boy.

This box is great for people who want to photograph products for their website (greeting cards, framed photos, whatever) and for folks who want to photograph wares to sell on E-bay. It was certainly cost effective. I'm happy with the results and wanted to share with you all. Do check out the link if you're interested. Again - it's here.

Just Playin' Around

My good friend Eve at Sunny Side Up recommended a new lens for my kit - a 50mm 1:1.4, which is perfect for low light situations. I was worried about taking portraits at the Bar Mitzvah, in a small synagogue I've never seen, so during lunch one day she suggested I check it out. Not only did I check it out but I ordered one that very day! Turns out I didn't need this lens for that situation but I'm really happy to have it. Yesterday was the first day I allowed myself to go outside and play with it.

The dried flowers of this sedum had ice captured among the bits and pieces, much like icing dribbled on a cookie. It's dusk now, nearly "dark thirty." Getting a shot from the top is easy and predictable so I bent over and shot upward as much as my body would allow.

A very good friend of mine doesn't enjoy photos with Bokeh, but I love, love, love shots that are surreal and make you wonder. They sort of give your eye and brain something to do while gazing at the photo.

I went completely bonkers playing around.

In the end I enjoyed each and every photo, but also knew that you would appreciate seeing only a few (maybe) (if that). Playing is good for the soul and body, mind and spirit. Without play, random meandering down roads not taken, discoveries and adventures, life would be quite dull. So I say to you GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!!!!

October 29, 2008

My bestest buddy Carroll took me off into the wilderness Thursday. We'd read many of the Looper's blogs and some boaters mentioned following the American White Pelicans southward along their journey. On this day I got my new camera body - a Canon 40D - so we thought we'd see if we could spot some white pelicans at the dam.

We arrived to a very windy, choppy lake below the dam. Fishing boats were rocking in high waves. Fishermen struggled to keep their balance as they threw their lines out into the chop. The Great Blue Herons were having a convention and we spotted a couple of cormorants and coots, but not one white pelican. We know of a trail through the brush that sometimes reveals "pelican island" when most of the leaves are gone. We give it a shot, but no pelicans. Obviously, they're not here yet.
Walking back along the trail we spot some beautiful berrying vines draping the trees like holiday garland. The glorious Virginia Creeper was in full autumnal glory with its deep, garnet red leaves and blue-black berries with red stems. This is one of my all time favorite vines.

This particular area is listed in the North Alabama Birding Trail and it's easy to see why birds of all manner are attracted here. There are high limestone cliffs upon which eagles and osprey perch watching for fishes. Herons and ducks and cormorants and loons and coots and all manner of water fowl are here as well for the great fishing. Songbirds twitter high in these trees thanks to the abundance of food and shelter. These Virginia Creeper berries won't be here long.

Several species of Sphinx moths rely on Virginia Creeper as host plant, and a variety of bees are attracted to the nectar and pollen.

Virginia Creeper is not poisonous but does tend to tangle in the wild with Poison Ivy, which you can see in the photo above. Poison Ivy has three leaves whereas Virginia Creeper has five. Poison Oak doesn't grow in North Alabama (so say the experts), plus it has whiteish berries, so if you see a five-leafed vine with blue/black berries in the wild it is Virginia Creeper. We also saw a brilliant red-berried vine with which we were unfamiliar. After consulting with our local Botanical Garden director we now know what it is. That'll be the next post.

For me, I love the autumn color of this vine and think it's fall finery makes for some pretty shots. So...what do you think? Are these photos clearer than my 20D photos? I wanted more resolution and the 40D is 10 pixels versus the 20D's 8 pixels. The 40D has lots of new tricks I've yet to learn, and I can't wait to play with it more. (...fair warning)

November 14, 2005

This was the very first photo taken with my Canon 20D when it was brand new, right out of the box on November 14, 2005. I love, love, love my camera, almost unhealthily so. I have a passion for it and love the weight of it, the look of it, the feel of it. It's comfortable in my hand. It's almost as though it's an additional appendage. It's a part of me. It's intrinsically connected to my heart, my eyes, my hands and my soul. The only object that comes remarkably close to this same sort of intimate relationship with an electronic device is the one I share with my iPod, but that's another post entirely.

My first camera was a Yashica FX something 35mm with 3 lenses: 55mm, 28mm and a 70-135mm zoom. That camera documented much of my young adulthood, capturing driftwood and campfires and beaches and lakes and spiders - gosh, the same sorts of things I shoot now. That camera was my constant companion until it developed a serious light leak so she's up on a shelf now. She still receives a good dusting and gentle caresses now and then.

After I reluctantly retired the Yashica I was without a camera for many years. Looking back, those were turbulent times with lots of drifting and seeking...and not finding...myself. In hindsight, and I don't need a "Hindsight Committee" to figure this out, I believe it was because I wasn't out in the field doing what I love. No campfires, no water or lakes, no photography, nothing. It was work and school and work and work and school and actually going out and getting plastered with people I didn't really like. I wasn't me, and I was miserable.

A change of friends helped, as did a new career. Then Bob came into my life and I began to settle. After we were married he gave me a new camera - a Canon Elan II EOS with a sweet 100-300 zoom and a 55mm lens. Oh, wow! Oh, yeah! I played with that for a few years and then along came the first digital into the household when my tech-head husband HAD to buy a Sony Cybershot 5.0 megapixel.

I scoffed. Puh-lease.......that's not a "real" camera, I said in my snottiest voice complete with elitist attitude. Ahem, I'm a PHOTOGRAPHER, honey. Cough, cough. I ignored the little Sony completely, and continued to drive my film into town, picking it up days later and though I was always, always unhappy with the results I kept my unhappiness a secret. I went so far as to consider and plan my own darkroom I was so displeased with my prints.

I can't remember what possessed me to try the Sony but one day I did. That's when I discovered something called Immediate Gratification. Sometime later I discovered Photoshop. Then I got the Canon 20D. Now I want a Canon 40D body. I'm in digital heaven, and I'm loving it. It's completely addictive, and I know many of you are nodding your heads and saying Amen! This isn't to say that film cameras are bad, or poloroids are bad - I'm just not gifted with those mediums. Not to suggest that I'm "gifted" with digital, but that it's simply bringing pleasure and joy into my life.

These days my Canon Elan II sits beside the Yashica and I dust them often, and sometimes I hold them, look through their eyepiece and silently say "Thank you." (to say that out loud would raise eyebrows) Who knows...one day I may take the Canon Elan II out for a spin and see what comes of it.

Sunrise October 2004

I'm in sort of a photographic, literary slump. Just not much to blog about. Well, that's not entirely true. There's tons going on but nothing that can be blogged about. You've all been there - especially if you have one or more teenagers in your home.

Since I've not been out taking many photos but feel compelled to keep this blog running and at least mildly interesting, I've decided to offer it up as a place of beauty and respite. Call up the photos and use them to focus while doing Yoga, if you like them save them as a screensaver (please ask me), or just simply enjoy them....or not.

Most of the sunrises and sunsets were taken when we first moved to the lake. At that time my husband had purchased our first digital camera. I was at that time a dedicated film snob and preferred my Canon EOS Elan II. However, I became fascinated with the digital process and especially enjoyed the instant gratification. No film to mess with, no waiting for development which could be such a disappointment. Shoot, download, voila! I fell in love with digital and promptly claimed the Sony Cybershot as my own. My trusty Canon EOS Elan II still sits at my side, but sadly is never used. Today, I use a Canon 20D with which I have a deep and true love affair.

The above shot was taken October 26, 2004 at 7:13am: F/4, 1/160 sec. ISO 100, 34mm focal length. That's another thing I love about digital - it collects all that data for me and it's always available.

For awhile I'll post some pretty pictures. Some will be old, some will be new. Simply enjoy them, breathe, and enjoy the rest of summer.