Welcomed And Loved

taken:
day forty three
08.02.2014

A wild vine leaf. This vine appeared all on it's own, taking over one whole side and corner of my garden fence. Something wild and unplanned has become welcomed and loved. It may be unruly at times but all it needs is a little tender loving care to tame it and keep it in shape.

When Fall Meets Winter

A couple of weeks ago we had some frost filled mornings.

Then it snowed.

At the time, a lot of the trees and shrubs hadn't lost their leaves yet.

Now, two weeks later, most tress have since lost their leaves and the snow has long ago melted.

But this is what things looked like when fall met winter.

Within days after Halloween the snow fell.

Covering our poor little jack-o-lanterns.

Welcome November

Welcome November!

The door is closing on autumn and opening soon to winter.

Cool colors are fading.

Tones of rust, copper, gold and brick are enveloping the season.

Single leaves hang on with all their might.

 Jewels of miniature Indian corn from my garden boast intense fall hues.

I can't say I'm happy about winter being within reach.

But I do love the shades and scents of fall.

Hope you have a wonderful and warm November!

Welcome October

Welcome October!

Change is happening. Autumn is beckoning.

With hearty winds branches are becoming bare.

The spotted knapweed blossoms have turned brittle and stark.

Some pine needles are in on the colorful change too.

Crisp leaves ripple in the breeze, flickering like shiny sequence.

While the scent of fallen leaves begins to hang in the air.

The season of glowing hues of amber and fire is a radiant time of year.

My hope is for a warm and long autumn before the cold of winter sets in.

Happy October!

Charm

taken:
day seventy six
09.04.2013

It's often overlooked, the underside of a sunflower leaf. This leaf, with it's defined deep purple veins, belongs to an 'autumn beauty' sunflower. It may not be as showy as the blooms boasted from the sunflower but it should definitely not go unnoticed. It's got charm all it's own.

Sunlit

taken:
day fifty two
08.11.2013

After I cut a bouquet of my annabelle hydrangeas and placed the vase on my kitchen window sill, I noticed how pretty the leaves looked with the bright sunshine streaming in behind them. I adore how defined the sunlit veins are. They remind me of tiny little roads on a tiny little neighborhood road map.

Do You Know What Bokeh Is?

taken:
day seventy eight
09.05.12

Who doesn't love a little bokeh? What? Bokeh??? You may know you love it or enjoy the way it looks in a photo, but you may not know what it is. 

It's adapted from a Japanese term, meaning blur or haze. According to Wikipedia the definition of bokeh, in photography, is: the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".

I've heard bokeh pronounced about 3 different ways, I like to pronounce it: bow-kay. It kind of reminds me of the word 'bouquet' as in a 'bouquet of flowers'. Perfect. Easy to remember, right? And the prettiest way of pronouncing it, in my opinion.

At this point I could get all boring and technical about lenses, aperture and depth of field, but I'm pretty horrible at explaining things technically. I suggest goggling it if you are really interested. You'll find tons of interesting information and in much better detail than I could give you.

What I can tell you is that I love blur, I love out of focus, I love light and sparkles, I LOVE BOKEH! The bokeh above, created by water droplets from an overnight rain, is so bubbly, like twinkling lights, something that only the lens can bring to life. And when captured, it's so so so exciting. It's an addiction, a thrill and I'm always looking for a way to achieve bubbly bokeh!

Emerging

taken:
day forty five
08.03.12

Just a tiny leaf emerging from a wild vine in the wooded area behind our house.

All on it's Own

taken:
day fifty nine
08.18.2011

I love green. All shades. It's my favorite color. It's so alive and fresh and rejuvenating.

These are the brilliant green leaves of a sumac tree that started growing in my garden this spring all on it's own. It's growing tall and fast, at about 4 feet high already. I love sumac for it's tropical and exotic appearance. I'm happy this one decided to make my garden it's home and excited to see how tall it will grow by summers end.