Tag: flower

Ah the fun that an old man can have with the simplicity of a small piece of an already beautiful thing. How light reflects, creates shadows, small valleys and rises. The color, already vibrant, can be made to seem to make a solid into transparency. All with the simplicity of a bloom and a small maglite. Add the fact that in can all be done within the comfort of eighty degrees when it’s 101 outside.

It somehow seems a bit of cheating the mindful practice, using artificial means to achieve what used to take hours of waiting until the natural light became what you needed or wanted. I long to be of the nature like Ansel Adams. I had read of the lengths that Mr Adams would go (or wait) for the images to form to his liking. But then I read his description of the making of his haunting image: Moonrise over Espanola.

                                                                                               ©Ansel Adams

From Ansel Adams, in Examples:

“We were sailing southward along the highway not far from Espanola(NM) when I glanced to the left and saw an extraordinary situation—an inevitable photograph! I almost ditched the car and rushed to set up my 8×10 camera. I was yelling to my companions to bring me things from the car as I struggled to change components on my Cooke Triple-Convertible lens. I had a clear visualization of the image I wanted, but when the Wratten No. 15 (G) filter and the film holder were in place, I could not find my Weston exposure meter! The situation was desperate: the low sun was trailing the edge of the clouds in the west, and shadow would soon dim the white crosses.

I was at a loss with the subject luminance values, and I confess I was thinking about bracketing several exposures, when I suddenly realized that I knew the luminance of the moon—250 c/ft2. Using the Exposure Formula, I placed this luminance on Zone VII; 60 c/ft2 therefore fell on Zone V, and the exposure with the filter factor o 3x was about 1 second at f/32 with ASA 64 film. I had no idea what the value of the foreground was, but I hoped it barely fell within the exposure scale. Not wanting to take chances, I indicated a water-bath development for the negative.”

Realizing as I released the shutter that I had an unusual photograph which deserved a duplicate negative, I swiftly reversed the film holder, but as I pulled the darkslide the sunlight passed from the white crosses; I was a few seconds too late!”

Please do not think that I am comparing myself to “Da Man”, other than we both use the same tool (of sorts), the likeness fades like an under-fixed print…..Peace Out †††

“WE BUILD TOO MANY BRIDGES AND NOT ENOUGH WALLS.”   Isaac Newton….. 

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #902 – Beauty so simple

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Marigolds
A garden of marigolds….orange, yellow and rust,
Bright, soft and rich, touched with golden dust.
Quiet and regal, sun kissed and fair,
Basil -citrus fragrance that mellows the moist air.
A thousand smiling marigolds, a thousand smiling suns,
Sweet nectar, ambrosia, for natures gentle ones.

Woven into garlands, yellow with tips of red,
Woven into memories with many a words unsaid.

Love’s hopes of an Indian  bride, clad with marigold,
With dreams wrought ‘n promises, her heart dearly holds.
Tearful farewells to soldiers, who traverse through destiny’s doors.
A garland weaved with love for  those, from across the seven shores.
And when the body is but a thought, as life grays and  olds
Wrapped in a hearse of love, their love, with weeping marigolds.
An offering so humble, yet flowers a Goddess  wears,
Auguring celebrations, with a soul’s heartfelt  prayers.
Orange, yellow, rust..to love, to pray, to mourn,
Golden, sun kissed, blessed.. marigolds that life adorns.

Nishu Mathur, India

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #899 – A rose without thorns

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I am surely in need of a wider variety of blooms. I keep going back to my Rose of Sharon shrub. It is just so prolific and I often favor on the side of easy.

I searched for a poem, some nice words to dance with this image. But the poems all spoke louder and longer and seem to step on the toes of my image. After all the image is supposed to be worth a thousand words and all that.

Some days we fall short  by a hundred or so, but we will make up for them tomorrow.

monos en theos † jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #898 – Beauty and Da Beast

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On my return to the house from our morning walk I stopped to pause at our Rose of Sharon bush. It has a number of mostly identical blooms. Outstanding in color and form but one does get bored with the same view. One bloom stood out with this praying mantis eating his breakfast of a little Skipper butterfly. Of course my macro kit was sitting inside the house and not even all together. So a mad scramble to make my return and see the last tastee’ morsel disappear.

It is all about timing and being ready. Your ship always arrives while you are waiting at the bus station!  monos en theos ††† jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #894 – A Rose of Sharon is a Rosasharn is a Rose of Sharyn!

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Rose of Sharon is a common name, a biblical name, that has been applied to several different species of flowering plants that are valued in different parts of the world. The name’s colloquial application has been used as an example of the lack of precision of common names, which can potentially cause confusion. “Rose of Sharon” has also become a frequently used catch phrase in lyrics and verse.

  • In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Rose of Sharon (often called “Rosasharn”) is a major character, the eldest daughter of the Joad family and the sister of the protagonist Tom Joad. In nature the Rose of Sharon was found to survive the adverse conditions of the Dust Bowl just like Steinbeck’s character.
  • The Rose of Sharon is referenced in the Killswitch Engage song “Rose of Sharyn” from their 2004 album The End of Heartache.

Things are what they are!  monos en theos ††††† jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #890 – Magenta Daisy

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“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.” ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

A lovely store-bought magenta daisy. I try to buy my wife a bouquet of flowers every Monday. It warms her heart, makes me feel like a man and it gives me a photo subject that always poses nicely in the cool of our home.

I applied an oil paint effect to this image. It is such fun to play in PS and pretend I can draw or paint. I can’t even draw a straight line, but who in the hell would want to anyway!

monos en theos †††† james L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #875 – Iris in Bloom

 

150418jwflower©_6032Well I am back, at least partially. I finally got my Nikon back out. With all the rain, there is a bounty of blooms about.

The rain is a mixed blessing. I really did not totally think of the effects of moving to a damp area. It has reaped havoc on my arthritic joints.  I am still sore from crawling around after this bloom. Then I also had a little back surgery to remove a tennis ball and golf ball size growths (yes, benign)  from my spine. I don’t know why we alway use a sports ball as a comparison for growths and hailstones, but we do. Maybe it sounds more manly.

May not be posting new every day, just have to see what develops …..en theos…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #871- Just floating along

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“Love the things you’ve got until one day you realize that the life you have is the life you want.”

Kirsten Hawkins, age 15

I am still trying to adjust to the time change. I am sleeping later and the golden hour seems so short. I just feel like I am just floating along. Then I read the temp is dropping into the twenties tomorrow. Not sure I am at all winterized yet.

enjoy what you got…†…monos en theos…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #846…Dandelion Facts

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Here are some interesting facts about the dandelion flower:

  • The dandelion is the only flower that represents the 3 celestial bodies of the sun, moon and stars. The yellow flower resembles the sun, the puff ball resembles the moon and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars.
  • The dandelion flower opens to greet the morning and closes in the evening to go to sleep.
  • Every part of the dandelion is useful: root, leaves, flower. It can be used for food, medicine and dye for coloring.
  • Up until the 1800s people would pull grass out of their lawns to make room for dandelions and other useful “weeds” like chickweed, malva, and chamomile.
  • The average American recognizes thousands of logos for commercial products, yet recognizes fewer than five plants that grow in his/her area. Dandelions are most likely one of those familiar plants.
  • The name dandelion is taken from the French word “dent de lion” meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves.
  • Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant.
  • Seeds are often carried as many as 5 miles from their origin!
  • A not so fun fact: Every year Americans spend millions on lawn pesticides to have uniform lawns of non-native grasses, and we use 30% of the country’s water supply to keep them green.

 

 

Heck, and just thought they were fun for children of all ages to blow the seeds into the wind! I always thought the seeds to be more like parachutes than stars…..monos en theos…†…jim