These Flowers Interrupted My Breakfast!

It was a beautiful morning and the sun was streaming in through the windows. I was really looking forward to sitting down and eating my breakfast. I had just taken but one bite and my eye caught the light shining through the flowers in the vase on the table before me. Wow, that's really nice I thought to myself. I also calculated in my head that it's not going to last very long either. This is one of the problems of being a photographer or being married to one. Life is a series of interruptions of things to be photographed. So what's a person to do? I pushed my plate aside grabbed my camera and a tripod. I photographed the flowers, put the camera away and went back to enjoy my breakfast. God's precious love to all, chris

Thank You for the Roses

When I sit in my backyard photoblind watching the birds come and go I often see the smaller birds perch on Lenore's roses before they come down to the bird feeders. This morning I decided to take advantage of that and photograph the birds on the roses. Thank you Lenore for the beautiful roses. Enjoy and God bless, chris Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400 L IS, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Setting- ISO 400, AV Mode, F5.6

Wabi Sabi

I have always liked the look of flowers that have aged on the stem and are slowly breaking down. They have a special beauty all of their own. Japanese culture has a term for it "Wabi Sabi". It is described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Lenore recently commented on an image of roses she had posted stating, "Even old roses with falling petals are beautiful. May we feel the same for the elderly among us?" Her statement really made me pause and think.

This afternoon I was dead heading the roses and I found beuaty in the discarded petals and heads as I collected them. A great example of Wabi Sabi. God too finds beauty in our imperfections, seeing us as the perfect beings that he has created. I'm sure it is his desire that we see others around us in the same way. Perhaps the Japanese are onto something important here? God's light and precious love to all, chris

Lenore's Sunday Morning Roses

Lenore has seven or so rose bushes that she keeps in the yard. Three of them are pretty spectacular. They are just covered in blooms. This morning we were both out in the early morning sunshine and Lenore was dead heading some of her roses. This was the end result.

God's light and love to all,

chris

A Little Ice and Frost

Yesterday it spit rain and snow off and on all day. Today the dawn came clear and cold. Perfect conditions for frost and frozen puddles. Lenore and I went for a short walk along Willits Creek and there was plenty of subject matter to create images from. Afterwards I found a few more things to look at with my camera in the back yard.

God's blessings to all,

chris

A Rose

I'm determined to get a beautiful image of a "California Sister Butterfly" this year. This morning there were three of them cavorting in the backyard. They just wouldn't land where I wanted them to. Needless to say I couldn't create a decent image of them. Sometimes I'll spray water on the flowers and that will entice butterflies to land. No takers. Though I did notice one rose that looked rather gorgeous with the water drops and the sunshine. So I went into the house and grabbed a piece of black foam core to use as a dark back drop and proceeded to create a beautiful image of a rose.

God's love and blessings to all,
chris

Painting Flowers With Light

Today was Father's Day and my family spoiled me. The weather was beautiful so we finally got out the new BBQ from the garage where it has been hiding from the rain and fog. This was its first time out and it performed flawlessly to my great happiness. Especially since the last one was a piece of junk and often burned the food as it had some serious hot spots.




While BBQing today I finally took a good look at all the flowers that are blooming in the backyard right now. The roses and the Fox Glove look fantastic. I made a mental note to take some images of them this evening when the breezes settled down. Late evening came and went and the breezes didn't diminish so I decided to do a little painting with my flashlight.




I got my macro lens,trusty tripod and made a couple of images by flashlight. Basically it was just a long exposure during which I brushed the flower with light from my L.E.D. flashlight. Looking forward to doing a deeper exploration in some soft morning light
in the next few days.

God's light and love to all,

chris