“Raindrops on Hana Matoi Abstract”
Heatherwood Spring
Yesterday, my post was of individual raindrops on our Hana Matoi Japanese maple. Today’s image is what happened when I added a little motion blur to the image. A little playful creativity can make magic.
Note: the little white curves are individual raindrops.
“Raindrops on Hana Matoi”
Heatherwood Spring
A rainy day in Yakima, Washington is not a common occurrence. And on this day, it rained ALL day. Since I have moved back into the area in 2016, I cannot recall it raining ALL day. But, my memory can be questioned from time to time.
On this rainy day, I was cooped up for most of the day. I couldn’t stand it much longer so I grabbed my camera and rain jacket and went exploring for rain drops. Walking through the garden among the trees and shrubs was like walking through a wonderland. Droplets were hanging down from the delicate bare branches of our Japanese maples. If I looked close, I could see an upside down reflection of my camera on the droplets. It was a day to create and experiment.
“Early Morning Sunlight”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
The color is starting to change in our Heatherwood garden. The early morning sunlight brightens up the colorful leaves. Every day brings a change in the colors. For the next several weeks I will be out in the garden continuously. Every day presents a gift of something new.
“Hana Matoi”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Across the path from the Hokkoji, a Hana Matoi Japanese maple, captures our strollers eye. It is planted on the hillside and surrounded with rocks, ice plants, and thyme. The vignette created by the maple and ground covers can be seen from multiple spots through out the Japanese garden. It is one of the key focal points of interest. Below are a couple of highlights:
Hana Matoi Late Fall Growth
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
A few red and green leaves of late autumn growth contrast against the dried brown leaves of the spent leaves. Ice plants in their red and yellow winter color on the hillside frame the new leaves.
Below, the fragile disectum leaves of the Hana Matoi shade the spreading blue purplish green thyme below.
This concludes my Hana Matoi mini-project. Or does it? These six images in the last 3 posts were all taken on an overcast day. Early morning light and late afternoon light provide many additional perspectives. Different seasons display different colors. Snow, ice, rain, and dew create magical views. And there are always an abundance of opportunities for abstracts. An infinite number of images are yet to be discovered.
Hana Matoi Looking Down
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
This post continues my Hana Matoi mini project. Looking for a different perspective, I walked up and leaned into the tree. I stood on my tip toes, held my camera above my head and took this image looking down through the top leaves to highlight the structure of the trunk and branches. It looks like a good spot for a bird to nest.
The image below is from a perspective of walking on a semi-hidden path adjacent to the main Japanese garden path. The Hokkeji pulls a visitor’s eyes to the Hana Matoi and the garden hillside.
Hokkeji and Hana Matoi
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
Hana Matoi Japanese Maple
Heatherwood Japanese Garden
I love my morning walks through the garden with my camera. Many times I stop and take a photograph of something I have taken several times before. A couple of days ago I decided to give myself a little challenge to take purposeful photographs of some of our Japanese maples from a different perspective than I have before.
I walked around the little Hana Matoi from different directions and distances. I took close-up and distance images. I climbed above and got down on my hands and knees to just check things out. I used the tree as my primary subject and as a background. I used my feet as my zoom lens. After about an hour, I had around fifty images of different perspectives. I decided to make a small mini project of six images to attempt to characterize our little Hana Matoi Japanese maple.
The above image portrays the Hana Matoi near the entrance of Heatherwood’s Japanese Garden looking east. The maple welcomes visitors to the garden and introduces them to what is to come.
In the image below, the Hana Matoi bids the visitors goodbye as they round a bend and start to exit the garden.
