Rain

Where the bees go during a soft rain...

The rain falls gently
Nature rests in dry shelter
I watch safe at my window

By Karen L.

Rain droplet suspended within a zinnia

It rained all the day
from morning to afternoon
then the sun came out

By ybonesy

Oil painting or photograph?

White flower
nods with sleep as summer raindrops
bend the lacy petals

By D. Bradford

Huntsville Botanical Garden

Carroll and I recently met at Huntsville Botanical Garden for bonding and lunch. After lunch we strolled through the various gardens. Lordy, it was hot so we headed for the shade gardens which were filled with various trilliums and ferns, native azaleas and hydrangeas. And mosquitoes. Still, we persevered and got some good photos.

Some were fun to play with in black & white.
















The above photo is what these beauties look like planted in mass. There were yellow ones and these rusty red ones and some ... white ones, I believe.



We have no idea what this red flower is but it was planted in abundance without any signage. A low shrub with red flowers poking through the foliage. That seemed to be common - no signage. Hence my lack of identification here on my blog. I'm no Harvey Cotton.


However beautiful the flowers were I fell in love with the Frog Buddha in their gift shop. Is he cute, or what? So Zen. Ommmm.........................

Garden Cats

Bob is the outdoor cat. A rescue. Black and white with bright green eyes, pink nose and lips, he rules the yard. He is the sweetest, most lovingest cat. Here, he knows he looks good. Posed just right, he grabs the camera's attention....until he realizes that I'm there. Immediately, Bob jumps over and strolls over to be stroked and petted.

Bob loves to help Linda garden. Chipmunk and vole control is his number one job. Well, after perusing the boundary, of course. And darting after butterflies. And napping on the warm bricks.

Meet Linda and Andy. Andy is the indoor cat. He is a ragdoll (rescued) who is quite shy and jumpy. This is the only decent shot after 100 frames. The mere sight of a stranger with a camera frightens him. Taken with my zoom lens it isn't the best but it'll have to do until another day. When the camera was away he sidled up for a pet, allowing all manner of cooing and baby talk while being combed. Andy The Indoor Cat and Bob The Outdoor Cat are not friends.

Bob loves his iron bench. Getting him to stretch out and enjoy the sunshine HERE was impossible. Above, he is getting a treat which only made him jump off and come to us for more.

I adore cats but cannot have one. There are many I love vicariously through your blogs and now there's Andy and Bob in the mix. Here's a fun poem I found about cats.

Catalogue
by Rosalie Moore

Cats sleep fat and walk thin.
Cats, when they sleep, slump;
When they wake, pull in -
And where the plump's been
There's skin.
Cats walk thin

Cats wait in a lump
Jump in a streak.
Cats, when they jump, are sleek
As a grape slipping its skin -
They have technique.
Oh, cats don't creak.
They sneak.

Cats sleep fat.
They spread comfort beneath them
Like a good mat,
As if they picked the place
And then sat.
You walk around one
As if he were City Hall
After that.

If male,
A cats is apt to sing upon a major scale:
This concert is for everybody, this
Is wholesale.
For a baton, he wields a tale.

(He is also found,
When happy, to resound
With an enclosed and private sound.)

A cat condenses.
He pulls in his tail to go under bridges,
And himself to go under fences.
Cats fit
In any box or kit;
And if a large pumpkin grew under one,
He could arch over it.

When everyone else is just ready to go out,
The cat is just ready to come in,
He's not where he's been.
Cats sleep fat and walk thin.

Photo Swap

Diane with Alberta Postcards encouraged me to join the Scent of Water Photo Swap group on flickr. The July assignment - "In Motion."

My challenge to myself was to do something completely different. Shake up the anal photographer within me and come up with a unique perspective to a favorite subject - butterflies.

Usually, my goal is for crisp close-ups where every hair can be seen, every color illuminated perfectly. Neat lines and an intimate portrait of feeding or resting or mating. I must have well over a thousand - probably more - of nearly every variety of butterfly and the images all look pretty much the same.

As you can see, these captures are completely different. They were made lying down on the sidewalk with my camera, zoom lens attached. Various shutter speeds, apertures and ISO's were used on every shot. Because of the low angle, the background is normally sky or some of the granite boulders located within the garden. For the photo buffs among us the photo above was shot at 1/3 second at a focal length of 400 mm, ISO 200, F/40. The only Photoshopping at all was to clone out those dang dust spots. My sensor needs cleaning in the worst way.

The first 50 or so shots were experimental and pretty horrid. However, after awhile I forgot myself and simply got into the rhythm of shooting, adjusting, shooting, adjusting, shooting, and simply had fun with the process. Discovering the treasures captured was the payoff. There are a few more on my flickr account, to which you can view on the right hand column.