Category: Flora

Day 30 – Essence of Dandelion

Dandelion

Something many photography teachers talk about is capturing the essence of your subject. I have been noticing that the dandelions are taking over the little green space we have in our neighborhood and went out this morning with the artistic vision of capturing a gone to seed dandelion with the yellow of a fresh flower behind it. I had to crop in quite a bit to get to this image but it comes close to my vision though it is not quite there yet. I think I will have to go back with a different lens when it is less windy and try again.

From Matthew Fox:

The intimacy of creativity corresponds to the mystical experience itself.

Day 26 – Poppy

Poppy

There is a patch of poppies in the ‘hood that appear to have come up voluntarily. The trouble with poppies is that they don’t open up until after the wind starts blowing so it is very hard to get a good picture of them. I had to adjust the crop on this one as it moved after I had framed it in camera. I also opened the shadows to put emphasis on the center of the flower. I liked how the texture I chose not only darkened the corners but also added so genuine texture to the flower as well as giving it more depth.

Today’s quote is attributed to Pete Turner. No idea who he is:

Ultimately, simplicity is the goal in every art, and achieving simplicity is one of the hardest things to do.

Day 24 – Bee on Blossom

Bee

It was another one of those days when I was going “Oh crap, I have to go out and find something to photograph.” So, I took the M3 for a quick walk around the neighborhood. The light was harsh, the wind was blowing and I wasn’t having much success. I had it in mind to do a close up of these blossoms when the bee just happened along. I had to futz with the exposure quite a bit due to the white blossoms and backlighting but I think I finally got there. Added a vignette to darken the corners and help the bee stand out.

Our quote today is from Henri Matisse:

Merely copying an object is not art. What counts is to express the emotion called forth in you, the feeling awakened…

Day 22 – Violets

Violets

Fortunately, I made a couple of extra images yesterday so I didn’t have to go out looking for something today. This was shot with the Lensbaby Velvet 85 so is intentionally a little soft in the focus. I just adjusted the exposure a little and added a very subtle texture to this one.

This week I am turning to Nancy Rotenberg’s book: Photography and the Creative Life for my quotes. For today, she quotes Carl Jung:

Without this playing with fantasy no creative work h ever yet come to birth.

 

Day 16 – Daffodil

Daffodil

The challenge with daffodils is trying to get a unique look and to get around how overwhelmingly yellow they are. I think I succeeded with this image though I might wish for just a little more depth of field. I processed it as a black and white with high structure and contrast then added an ambrotype tone to bring back a hint of the yellow.

Today’s quote is from Gabrielle Roth:

We have to be able to be gods, lovers and artists, we have to be soulful if we’re goin to be happy, if we wnat peace – and the soul is the part of us that is the creative process.

Day 15 – Grape Hyacinth, Painterly

Grape-Hyacinth

My neighbor’s grape hyacinths have been calling to me so I finally took the macro lens over this morning. Unfortunately, I did not quite nail the focus on this one so I decided to give it a painterly look. I also photoshopped out some flowers in the foreground. 

I’ve decided that instead of jumping around from book to book looking for creativity quotes I should just stick to one book for a week and then switch so that I can get more of a feel for the book and not just be looking for quotes.

So, I decided to start with Roderick McIver’s book, Art as a Way of Life.

Today, from Page10, a great one from Albert Camus:

A person’s life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art, or love, or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.

Day 12 – Hyacinth

Hyacinthw

I took the big girl camera with the 180 mm macro lens out for a stroll around the neighborhood this morning. Lots of daffodils but I’m a little bored with photographing daffodils so the Hyacinths got my attention instead. Processed with just one texture which helped give it some pop. I also did some photoshopping in the upper right hand corner to get rid of some distracting blemishes on the flower.

Today I turned again to Nancy Rotenberg’s book and found another great quote from photographer Freeman Patterson:

The camera points both ways. Images reflect the light that the photographer brings to the relationship.

Day 10 – Succulent

Succulent2It was a busy day today so I’m drawing on yesterday’s image of a succulent I found in a neighbor’s garden. Succulents are always so photogenic and I liked the drops of water from some showers we had. In processing I just brightened it up a little, added some sharpening and a texture to darken the lower corners.

Today’s quote is from the Tao of Photography:

Looking is a gift, but seeing is a power.  Jeff Berner

Day 9 – Blossoms

Blossoms

The first tree on my street is starting to blossom. I once again pressed the M100 into service with the 28mm macro lens. Judging from my results I need to take the big girl camera and tripod next time. So hard to nail the focus when working this close. I cropped this one quite a bit and added a texture and vignette.

I turned again to Julia Cameron for today’s quote:

Our creations are like children. They can be pushy about what they want and what they need. If we neglect them, they neglect us. If we ignore them they ignore us. Sometimes, they sulk and pout and cry and squabble until they have our attention. In the end, we have to do what they want. It’s the only way to make peace with them. Making peace with our creations is an artist’s primary task.