Another Iris for you. I think this one may be my favorite so far.
Today’s quote is from Joan Chittister:
It is Beauty that magnetizes the contemplative, and it is the duty of the contemplative to give beauty away so that the rest of the world may, in the midst of squalor, ugliness, and pain, remember that beauty is possible.
Today I decided it was time to break out the Lensbaby Velvet 85 and oh what a fine job it did on this blooming Dutch Iris at North Mountain Park.
From John O’Donohue:
Beauty is not all brightness. In the shadowlands of pain and despair we find slow, dark beauty.
I noticed my neighbor’s pink dogwood was blooming yesterday but it was too windy to photograph so I made a note to get out there first thing this morning. Unfortunately I had a webinar from England that started at 7 am so the wind was already starting to pick up by 9 when I got out there. Still not too bad. I also couldn’t find my 180 mm macro lens so had to use the Velvet 85. It did a good job but now I can go back with the 180 (which was in the last place I looked of course) tomorrow!
Today from John O’Donohue… this is actually the very next two sentences from yesterday but it so captures why I am doing this I had to use it:
Like music, beauty dwells in some invisible realm adjacent to us, yet it never becomes our possession. But when it emerges to visit us, it wafts us away to a realm where desolation and gravity no longer preside.
So, I have nearly 15,000 images in my file for 2019. Is it time to do some culling? Yes. Is this the best image I made this year? Probably not. But when I tried to think of stand out images this one came to mind. I like the subject, I like the pop of color, I like that it represents dabbling in experimental and artistic photography, I like that it was made on my birthday in Arles, France on a magical, wonderful morning camera walk. For me, photography is about creating art and enjoying the process, not about competition or perfection. This image makes me feel good on many levels because I so enjoyed the process of creating it and everything that went into getting me to a point where I could create it.
For my last hurrah I took the Velvet 56 and the EOS R to the Harry and David Rose Garden. There is such a poignant beauty to faded roses and some of them look like they had been freeze dried with the colors still warm and vibrant. I added a high pass filter to bring out the details and gave it a little pop of vibrance and saturation. Then I added a texture that seemed to compliment the texture of the rose. And that, my friends, is a wrap. It’s been fun playing with my lensbaby lenses and getting to know them a little better. As always some of the images were better than others but I learned a lot and while I’m glad it’s over, I’m not sorry I started. I’ll be reverting to image of the week again now that the 100 days project is done.
I worked a full day shift at the Genealogy Library then had to run to an OLLI leadership training. Needless to say, photography wasn’t at the top of my priority list today. I would hate to have dropped the ball on day 99 though. I found this metal rooster at grower’s market the other day. Just sharpened it up a little with a high pass filter and added a texture to rough up the background. Oh yeah, shot with the Velvet 56.
I noticed my tiny Japanese Maple was putting on quite a show of color so I grabbed the closest camera to hand which turned out to be the M3 with the Burnside mounted on it. But when I got up close the leaves were pretty far gone and not nearly as pretty as I thought. So, I turned to my Hydrangea which just never stops giving interesting and colorful compositions. I love the mix of purple and green in the background. I though about adding a texture but decided that would just be gilding the lily. As I approach the end of the project I’m torn between “Thank God it’s almost over” and “I don’t want to stop.” But trust me I will, I have plenty of other projects to work on.
I stopped by the Grower’s Market today with the Velvet 56 on the EOS R. You can see that nice velvety background but the main apple and front of the basket are nice and sharp. I did add a high pass filter to tighten it up just a little more. I also cropped out a distracting red and white tablecloth. And I added some vibrance and touch of saturation to bring out the rich colors.
I took the Velvet56 for a walk on the Greenway this afternoon. I found a little bit of lingering fall color but I’m always intrigued by the Teasel. The Velvets have a feature of offering a little bit of a glow at large apertures. This was shot at f1.6 so shows off that feature well. I added a high pass filter and two textures to add interest to the background and just a wee hint of color.
My enthusiasm for this project definitely waning but I guess it would be pretty uncool to give up with only a few more days to go. I worked at the Genealogy Library this morning and was inspired to continue my research this afternoon so no new captures. There really isn’t much left to photograph anyway. So I went to the archives and found this one from day two when I was perusing my neighbors’ gardens. It was taken with the Velvet 85 on the R and was a little soft as is normal with the velvets. So I sharpened the edges with a high pass filter and added a couple of textures to give it a little more artistic look.