PHOTOGRAPHY & HOT SUMMER DAYS

Tags

Elkton VA, Geraniums, Gerbera Daisy.Close-Up Photography, Heritage Basket Studio, Macro Photography, Pelorgoniums.Begonias, Photography & Hot Summer Days

 

 

It is just so hard to feel motivated to do much at all outdoors when the heat and humidity is so high. One morning this week, due to a good nights sleep and air conditioning, I felt energized to get up early and go out and do some exploring around the country roads through the mountain hollows of easter Rockingham county, which means just close to home. It was 8 am when I left my apartment, actually was simply a beautiful day, partly sunny, perfect for taking pictures, right, until I opened the door! Nonetheless, I thought that I could get some quick pictures, and run back home, cool off and process the images, that was not meant to be a joke, but it turned out to be, within minutes of setting the camera on the tripod and getting ready to snap pictures, my glasses were covered in salty sweat, I looked like someone pushed me into a swimming pool, it did not take me long to figure out that I was just a tad over zealous, I packed all back into the car and returned home. AHHH Air Conditioning!

 

As it turned out it was much easier to walk out onto the balcony garden and into my own little microcosm of nature and take pictures and walk back inside to the air conditioning, resulting in a much happier day and much happier me. While on the deck I found my little friend (generally spiders and I do not like each other) however, this one seems to like my Japanese Painted fern and the geranium leaves, he is so small you must look hard to see him and his web. It just looked like a little spider, until I pointed the 55-255mm lens with all 3 extension tubes attached  at it atop the tripod, then the magic of color happened. Amazingly enough it was one of the most brightly colored spiders I have seen, only really visible at this magnification, otherwise it just looked light grey.

The flower picture below the spiders, is a very petite thumbnail size zinnia that was kindly left for me last fall by a bird, totally volunteer and I could not bring myself to pull it out, it is kind of shy, it does not like to show its pretty face, just its backside, so this is what you are looking at.

Below, is a yellow Gerber daisy, partially opened. Below it are two very deep purple fusia geraniums, on with the remnants of the morning dew on its petals.

I have really been hoping that we have some moderately comfortable morning, so that I can get back over to Dayton, however those days have not been this week, perhaps next week.

 

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THE FLOWERS WITHIN

Tags

Caladiums, CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPHY, Eryngium, extension tubes, Heritage Basket Studio, Hydrangeas, Lillies, RAW, Sea Holly, THE FLOWERS WITHIN

I like to experiment with flowers as everyone surely knows by now, I am enamered by the beauty deep within a flower, that we do not always see with the naked eye. We miss so much, of the intricate detail that shapes the bloosom from within. These things are small as the veins in the flower, leaves, stems and buds. The anthers, pistols and stamens. It is amazing what we see when we get closer in.

 

 

Yesterday at the store I saw a hydrangea, (a slower I absolutely love) for its subtle tones and soft delicate masses of flowers. I also saw some stately yellow lillies, I love all colors, but yellow reminds me the happy times in life. However, I saw the Eryngium (Sea Holly) I picked this due to its high contrast as compared to the others.

 

 

 

You can only get better at what you do by practicing, so I shot these flowers this morning early around 7am on my deck in natural bright light, without direct sun, using one or more extension tubes. Finally, the colorful textures and veining of the Caladiums. I am sure I am not done with the flowers from this bouquet, as I just replaced my camera card this morning and it says I have room for 1,100 images. I am really surprised at how many RAW files fit on a single card.

 

FLOWERS FROM THE CONTAINER GARDEN

Tags

CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPHY, Flowers from the Container Garden, Gerbera Daisy, Heritage Basket Studio, Japanese Painted Fern, Lantana, Lobelia, Portulacca, Rex Begonia, Sweet Alysum, Wasp

This year we have had so many cloudy and rainy days, some flowers like the geraniums, which should be ramping up into constant bloom, due to warmer night temperatures in the upper 60’s and 70’s are just sitting idle, once in a while putting out a single bloom here and there.  So many cloudy/rainy days, the plants themselves are doing fine, but very few blossoms.

 

There are some which seem uneffected by the weather, the white sweet allysum, blue lobelia, gerbera daisies, and salvia gargantua. While portulacca loves sun and heat and only blooms on days which are very bright or sunny, seems to be doing fine. The Rex begonia and Japanese Painted fern, seems to revel in the cooler cloudy weather, though I do miss the masses of geranium blossoms.

 

The three varieties of elephant ears and caladiums seem to like this weather as well. Sunday was just a leisurely day with the camera and tripod out, seeing what I could get from the flowers on the deck.

At first I thought this little wasp, was being a huge annoyance, however it ended up trying to tell me that he wanted to be included in with the flower photography that day, as soon as I aimed the camera on the railling he landed and held really still for me to put on the extension tubes and lens and sat there very patiently and let me take its picture, then he flew away.

Below are yellow Gerbera Daisy & yellow Lantana

 

PICTURES WITHIN PICTURES

Tags

CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPHY, Exploration, Lightroom, Pictures within Pictures, Watercolor painting

It is simply amazing what a different world comes to light when you take a simple subject, in this case a simple watercolor painting, an put on your extention tubes and look closely through the lens at what pictures pop out at you from within a simple watercolor painting.

You will find a new world of colors, textures, and layering that the normal field of vision will not detect. Often, you will see it in near 3-D effect. I enjoy looking at these things and finding new worlds within simple subjects as a watercolor painting, petals of flowers, leaves. You just never know what you will find.

It is amazing what our world is actually mad up of, when you go closer and closer!

Perhaps as below, in a simple flower painting, you will discover that you have a roasting hot lava lake from an errupting volcano!

 

Perhaps you find some leaves hanging from tree branches in summer and autumn colors. 

 

Colorful abstract designs emerge from within a painting

   

You can see the layered looking textures between what you laid down on the watercolor paper and the subltle textures of the underlying paper of the cold pressed surface

 

Rocky and Mountainous scenes as with the second picture almost in antique sepia tones, moody mountains against a cloudy sepia orange sky. Imagination!

 

The raging ocean beating and up upon the rocky shoals, billowing up over the rocks.