“Rudbeckia Cezanne Style”
Heatherwood Meadow
As I was reviewing some of my past images, I saw this one and immediate thought of an Impressionistic painting. Topaz Impression and Cezanne came to my aid. Magic happens.
Below is the original image straight out of the camera.
“Original Image”
“Early Morning Beauty”
Heatherwood Meadow
Yesterday I woke up to a bright and brilliant early winter day. The skies were bright blue without a cloud. Sun was streaming down on our Heatherwood meadow. I grabbed my camera and went exploring. Many times when I wander through the garden I pick a certain photographic aspect that I want to practice. Yesterday I chose close-up isolation using depth of field. I chose a 100-400mm lens as my tool.
So off I went looking for a spent flower highlighted by the beautiful early morning sunlight with an interesting background. This is one of the “beauties” I found. It was a wonderful way to start my day.
“Winter Color”
Heatherwood Rock Garden
December 31 was a beautiful winter day and a great way to end the year in the garden. The temperature was in the mid-40’s and the sky was bright blue. Mary and I took a walk around the neighborhood and then settled into our Adirondack rockers or our lower patio. We closed our eyes and cherished the warm sun as it beamed down on our cheeks. It was a time for quiet and a little reflection on things that we were thankful for during the past year.
Peacefully sitting in our garden enjoying the warmth and beauty of nature, it just doesn’t get any better.
Snow Covered Grasses
Heatherwood, Winter
It has been a long and difficult year. But, that is not a reason to let my head hang down. With the Covid-19 pandemic and all the political discord our lives have changed. They will never be the same. We have learned to cope with uncertainty and adjust. New ways of doing things have entered our life styles. That is not all bad.
Being newly-weds, the “stay-at-home” initiative has given Mary and me a lot of quality time to really get to know each other’s habits and interests. We have had a lot of time to discuss our feelings and opinions. We have had time to plan for many things we would like to do in the future. We miss not spending time with our families and friends but look even more forward to what the future will bring.
We are thankful for the challenge and joy that our new garden brings us. We excitedly have watched the garden form during the last two years. We enjoy our frequent strolls through the garden and appreciate those special moments as we sip our morning coffee or afternoon wine.
It has been a long and hard year! But, I can look up with a smile to the challenges and opportunities that a New Year will bring.
Spent Echinacea
Heatherwood Meadow
In its summer glory, this echinacea graced the Heatherwood meadow with its beautiful white bloom. Now at the beginning of winter, its glory still hangs on providing a striking contrast to the ground cover and dead leaves below. As snow falls it will continue to stand out as the white crystals collect on the seed head. It will never give up providing interest to the garden.
Ground Cover Abstract
Heatherwood, Winter
Sometimes it feels good to get away from reality and let the imagination flow. Looking through some macro images I took yesterday I wondered what would happen if I would put a couple of ground cover photos together. I picked a close-up of a clump of blue fescue and a red-colored ice plant. One had a fine texture, one a smooth course texture. One was blue, one was red. I made a multi-image composite in Photoshop and was pleased with the results. I still felt playful and decided to add an impressionistic overlay patterned after Georgia O’Keefe … voila, the above image appeared. Am I creative or crazy? Maybe a little of both?
Heaherwood Japanese Garden
After a day of heavy frost, we had a day of beautiful morning sunshine. During my morning walk I focused on finding the light. The morning sun made the various colors of our late fall/early winter garden pop out in brilliant shades and hues. Water droplets on tree branches and leaves sparkled like little stars. Backlit leaves and grasses displayed semi-transparent yellow and orange shapes that fluttered in a gentle breeze. It was a beautiful morning!
“Leaves in Shade”
Heatherwood Fall
We are now blessed with a little frost every morning. When the sun comes out, the leaves remaining in the shade retain their frost dusting. There is so much to see. How do I pick what to photograph?
I use a similar technique that some of our forefathers used to find underground water on their land called “water witching.” Their first step was to find a branch shaped like a “Y”. They held the “Y” branches very lightly with the leg of the “Y” facing horizontally in front of them. They would slowly walk across the land hoping that the leg of the “Y” would drop. When it did, there was water below and they selected the site to dig their wells. Now, imagine a camera with a telephoto lens serving as a “witching” tool. I hold my camera lightly with the telephoto pointing horizontally forward. When I feel the lens starting to drop down there is my pile of leaves that I am destined to photograph. “Leaf witching” works for me … or maybe, my arms just get tired.
“Rudbeckia & Grasses”
Heatherwood Garden
I saw these spent rudbeckias blowing against flowing grasses in our Heatherwood garden. I did not see the individual flowers or the grasses but instead visualized swirling orange, brown, and yellow colors and textures. When I reviewed several of the images I took, none seemed to catch the feeling that I had when I was out on my walk. Instead of moving on to other images, I decided to experiment a little by creating a multi-image blend in Photoshop. Voila … this is the result!
“Multi-colored Leaf”
Heatherwood, Fall
Magenta, green, orange, yellow, red and green … How many colors can a leaf have? Patterns and lines grace the leaf in random fashions. What factors determine the design of an autumn leaf? Like a snowflake, no two are the same. The wonder of nature has many stories to tell.