Week 29 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 197

I decided to dedicate this week of photography to flowers. With our wet spring and summer they seem to grow and bloom like weeds whether wild or cultivated. I had thought my Borage did not make the winter. Instead it came up outside the hollyhock bed. Only one of those has bloomed thus far but the buds are numerous.

I begin this week with an orchid blossom from the plants in my studio. For years I bought orchids to enjoy the blooms on them when bought and they never seemed to bloom again. Now I have three blooming for a second and third flowering and a baby which was spawned off of the older orchid seems to be setting up to bloom itself.

Day 198

The salmon poppies were extraordinary this year. And even our heavy rains did not daunt them. I am including a bonus picture of half the field of poppies this year. If one poppy because of size and depth is difficult to photograph a bed of them is even harder especially with a slight breeze.

Bed of poppies

My peony bloomed this year. It has yet to be highly successful but it produced two blooms and I captured one of the buds just opening and with an ant on it. There have been more insects than we are used to this summer.

Day 199

The first hollyhock to bloom was the newest, a variegated double ruffle pink. Its blooms were too heavy for the stalk and I captured this photo before I staked it of a cascade of blossoms.

Day 201

And another of my neglected (forgotten) irises bloomed. The danger of planting too many things at once is you forget what you plant. The longer I garden the more I learn. Only one or two new plants at a time. I say that but I have put in three new hollyhocks this summer and some new grasses in the wild herb bed. Thankfully it has rained enough I think they are surviving my neglect.

Day 200

And then there are the blossoms which I have not had to care for: the sunflowers on the sides of the roads and the cholla cacti.

Day 202

Both species put on a grand show this last week or two. Desert plants and high mountain botanicals have taken advantage of the moisture after the drought of several years to bloom and pollinate.

Day 203

And what photographer doesn't want to take advantage of that. I promise no flowers next week. I have saved up some photographs of Folsom and Johnson Mesa for the coming week.

Week 28 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 190

Photography is all about light. It is about recording light. First on photographic plates and then on film and now a digital memory card. And to me the best images are about light. As in the photograph above which shows the light edging the clouds. Or below where the light is just beginning to illuminate the iris blowing in the shadows of a building.

Day 191

Light and shadow is an important part of my attraction to the four deck chairs below. That really shows up in a black and white photograph which is all about light and dark.

Day 192

Capturing my black labradoodle as something other than a black blob is all about catching the light dancing off her coat. It helps that she is silvering out.

Day 193

Light is essential to the photograph below. It is about light in my opinion. But many viewers of this image have interpreted based on their faith. One was sure I had to be praying when I took the shot. Actually focusing. Though if you are into the chop wood/carry water forms of meditation I was at least meditating. Taking a photograph in marginal light requires a stillness within yourself.

Day 194

Day 195

Taking a photograph of something white is almost as difficult as something black. Too much light and not enough shadow and you "blow out" the image. The subtle shadows in the depths of the peony make the image work.

Day 196

I was attracted to the contrast of the delicate flower lying on the rough stone, the difference in texture, the soft petals and the hard lichen. But the shadows cast by the flower and the plant it fell from makes the photo.

Week 27 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 183

Summer. There is a fullness about the earth and a warmth in the sun which even the frequent rains do not diminish. And the sense of light is somehow different than even a cloudless winter sky. I was once again drawn to the wooden chairs on the patio. And their shadows. In this morning light they seemed to be warming up for loungers with mugs of coffee. I wanted to put down my camera and linger.

Day 184

There is a balcony above the cobblestone patio and the lounge chairs. It is of another era though built at the same time. It opens an expansive view the wooden chairs do not share. But it is right they are on the garden level. And the balcony is on the drinks level.

Day 185

Feel like Georgia O'Keeffe with another poppy creation. I do not paint them. Somehow paint cannot capture them like digital photography. Still looking for the penultimate depiction. This is very close. But there are more days in the season to practice.

Day 186

It has been a rainy summer which adds the dimension of dew and rain drops to photographs of simple flowers. I love this peony just opening to the sun this last week. Our humidity is generally in the single digits but today I checked and it was 88%. Hard to tell the dew from the mist from the rain.

Day 187

And everything is going bonkers growing. The grasses are so very high and all the flowers seem to be blooming at once. Hard for a photographer to narrow their focus.

Day 188

Rain adds to the streams and to the ponds. And when the sun is out before the clouds come in the water sparkles as if it just fell.

Day 189

Or seems to reflect all the green around it. I am generally not a green palate person but it is hard not to appreciate all the green after several years of drought.