Category: Flora

Day 7 – Succulent

Succulentw

I have been walking the dog by this succulent that has leaped from a neighbor’s yard into the public landscaping and thinking I should photograph it for weeks. I needed something quick for today so I put a macro lens on the M100 and headed down the block (with protests from Cody who wanted to come along). Now that I see some of the amazing detail in the flowers (?) I think I need to go back and get even closer. In processing I added a preset that mainly just sharpened thing up and then a vignette layer to darken the corners and edges.

Today’s quote is from Nancy Rotenberg:

…there are dragons that roam the wilderness of creative quests. If left to run amok, they can inhibit the most determined artist. The creative process transforms you, the artist, into a creative warrior – arming you to slay the dragons or at least keep them at bay. Empowered with truth, the creative warrior discovers the place where beauty, magic, and fire live.

Day 5 – Sunflower

Sunflowerw

I decided recently that given all the money I am saving by not traveling it would be OK to buy myself flowers once in awhile. One of my photography gurus put me on to a website called Farm Girl Flowers which is out of California and overnights the flowers right to your doorstep. So this month’s bouquet was sunflowers which, unfortunately I did not get around to photographing until it was almost too late. On this one I went for a dark and moody look using a preset that took it in the right direction and then added a texture to darken the edges even more. Shot with the R mirrorless and one of the lensbabies, maybe Velvet 56. I keep forgetting to photograph the lens before I swap it in so I know what I was using as the lensbabies do not show up in the meta data.

Today’s quote is from Julia Cameron from her day book called The Artist’s Way Every Day: A Year of Creative Living. I have taken the liberty to substitute the word art for her original word writing but you can swap it back if you prefer writing.

What if [art] were approached like white-water rafting? Something to try just for the fact of having tried it, for the spills and chills of having gone through the rapids of the creative process. What if we allowed ourselves to be amateurs (from the Latin verb amare, “to love”).

100 Days of Creativity – Day 1- Daffodils

Daffodilsw

Yep, it’s been too long. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing another 100 days project for a couple of weeks now. I’ve also been resisting the idea for a couple of weeks now. But, the truth is I’ve been really depressed since I learned that being eligible to be vaccinated does not mean I will be getting vaccinated any time soon. So, I decided I needed something to focus on besides taking the dog for six walks a day and combing through thousands of ancestors searching for the immigrants.

I first thought of doing 100 days of Spring but it was almost exactly a year ago that I started my 100 days of Beauty project and that sounded too much the same plus I got depressed all over again thinking of all the gardens and blossoming trees I photographed last year that were lost to the Almeda Fire. I got a little excited about the idea of reprising my 100 days of Lensbaby  project from a few years ago but that would mean I can’t photograph the birds at my neighbors’ feeders or along the greenway. So, I finally hit on 100 days of creativity which leaves the door wide open for all of the above and then some, including still life. And  it focuses my attention on jump starting my creativity which is what I’m really after here.

Daffodils have been popping up all over the neighborhood. I went out with the EOS R and Lensbaby Spark to see what I could come up with. I immediately realized that I needed extension tubes and I don’t have any that fit the R. However I liked this wider shot of a cluster of flowers and the bokah from the Spark is  great. I added one texture to give it some depth and warmth and, well yeah, texture.

I pulled about seven books off my shelf that have a creativity theme and the expectation of some good quotes to go with the photos…or digital art. Today’s quote is from Matthew Fox in his book Creativity:  

Creativity constitutes the very meaning of being human, and our powers of creativity distinguish us from other species.

Sunflower

Sunflower

It’s not really summer until the sunflowers come out to play. I had a friend in San Francisco who always used to tell me “If there’s one thing the world doesn’t need, it’s another picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.” I suppose he would say the same thing about sunflowers. But part of the challenge is coming up with a new way to look at these same old things. This one was captured with the Lensbaby Sweet 50 and had texture or two added in post processing.

Day 100 – Mother and Child

Mother-and-Child

And that my friends is, as they say, a wrap. I hate to quit when it seems the world needs these moments of beauty more than ever. But, in truth, I need a break and my new puppy is demanding my full attention. I will be back to the weekly format next weekend. Until then, may you walk in beauty.

I was excited to see that a photographer I follow was quoting John O’Donohue in his weekly blog this week. So, I thought I would end with the very apt passage that he shared:

The beauty of the earth is a constant play of light and dark, visible and invisible. We perceive and participate in that beauty through the interplay of senses and spirit. Our senses are lanterns that illuminate the world. Beauty is never simply in the mind alone. Beauty awakens for us through what we hear, touch, taste, scent and see. The great traditions have always recognized that beauty is a mysterious presence. Beauty envelops the heart and mind. In beauty’s presence there is no longer any separation between thought and senses, between heart and soul. Indeed the experience of beauty confirms the intricate harmony and creative tension of senses and thought. Without the senses we could never know beauty. Without thought, beauty would seem transient and illusory.

Day 99 – Chive with Bee

Chive

 

I was working on photographing this chive with it’s fellows out of focus in the background when the bee just happened along.

From John O’Donohue:

Beauty awakens the soul, yet it is never simply ethereal. Beauty offers a profound psychological and indeed mystical invitation. The dream of beauty is the self drawn forth to its furthest awakening, where the senses and the soul are utterly alive and yet in a harmony, brimming with presence.

Day 96 – Wabi Sabi

WabiSabi

As you might imagine as I approach the end of the project I am running out of ideas, not to mention enthusiasm. I had purchased these Dutch Iris at Trader Joe’s last week but before I got around to photographing them they curled up and died. But I thought they might be interesting to photograph on my new light pad and with a well chosen texture I found the result rather pleasing in a perfectly imperfect sort of way.

And from John O’Donohue:

A person’s beauty is sophisticated and sacred and is far beyond image, appearance or personality.