Nature
I took around 500 photos while I was in California recently. Most of them are of plants. Today, I post yet another example of the flora that grow in southern California.I believe that nothing in nature develops accidentally and when I look at this I wonder about the purpose of all of the parts of this fern and of their design. Maybe a fern expert could chime in. Or maybe I could look it up on Wikipedia. . . .
I spent 5 days in California and most of what I photographed was done with my 100mm macro lens at two different gardens. Yes, I'm in a rut. But I like it. . . .
I was in photography heaven at the Sherman Gardens in Laguna del Mar, California - especially in the cactus section because of all of the amazing lines and textures. Sorry but I don't know the name of this cactus but it looks like a little magical kingdom with decorated domes.
Taken at the Sherman Gardens in Corona del Mar, California.
I am in California for a few days and because I am using my iPad and iPhone for work and connectivity, keeping up with this blog is a little more challenging - especially the photo editing. But I'll try to do my best.This photo was taken a few blocks from my aunt's house and it is like alot of green things I post - it is very green.But aside from that, I really like the luminescence of this photo. I probably took 40 photos of this plant and they are pretty redundant. But, as usual, my photography wasn't so much about what I got as it was that I was out seeing and seeking. And it was a perfect southern California morning, with temperatures heading into the high 70s. :-)
You tell me the evolutionary intent of colorful tree trunks. Could it be to lure tourists to Maui from places like South Dakota, where trees tend to be utilitarian and bland?
I guess I kind of like the "lone gold leaf" theme. This time I found a single leaf stuck to the hood of a gray car.Other gold leaves:Aspen LeafFrozen In TimeBefore the Fall
I talk from time to time about chaos and patterns in nature. When you move the camera lens in close to something, it's hard not to see things that you would otherwise miss.As I was preparing this photo I was wondering about the "why" and "where" of the formation of frost crystals. And why not wonder "why?", too?
This piece of coral was lying on a beach in Mexico that was covered with pieces of coral. I'm not sure what causes coral to wash up, or even what coral like this looked like when it was thriving in it's undersea world. But I do know that the many small structure make for good macro subjects - especially in low, angular light.
One half ended up diced for our clam chowder soup. The other half ended up on the blog. I hadn't planned on taking a food photo but the symmetrical design struck me as worth of a closer look.This was shot with a 100mm macro lens in light that filtered in through our patio doors. I put the onion on a dark red cushion from a nearby bench and I think it provides a pretty good backdrop.
So the assignment I gave my students last week was to capture South Dakota winter but to be "creative" in doing so. Of course, what complicates this assignment is what is meant by creative, though to me being creative as a photographer is partly being able to frame and capture something in ways no one else has. What has been submitted has been fun to see, though one of my favorites so far is a manhole cover photographed by a first year student named Tiffany. It doesn't show the beauty of our winters but that's what I like about it. (You should check out Tiffany's photo blog, by the way.)Anyway, I went out to see if I could do my own assignment. While there were amazing photo opportunities yesterday morning because of the frost, I'm afraid that creativity didn't abound. So today I present a pretty photo. But there's not much that is creative here. In fact, I just Googled "pine cones with frost" and I got 1.02 million results, some of which look a lot like my photo. I got 93,000 results when I searched for photos of "manhole covers with slush," but very few actually have slush. Can Google results be a partial measure of creativity?So ends my little discourse on creativity.