When Deb and I paid the entrance fee for the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, a few weeks ago, we weren't expecting much given that the gardens were past bloom and prepared for winter. But we were surprised by what we found. And even if we hadn't found anything worth seeing, it would have been good just to stroll through a largely deserted landscape on a nice November day.
I suspect that many gardeners would feel that what you are seeing here is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. But I see a great mix of lines, colors and textures. This isn't quite like Monet's famous lily ponds at Giverney but this but perhaps a way to pay tribute the one of my favorite artists.
Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/5.0 ISO200 100mm
It occurs to me that in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where this photo was taken, the ponderosa pine is visual white noise in that there are so many of them and, unless they are fallen or bug infested or on fire, they are rarely seen.
My friend Dennis Newman, who is an artist and an art/photography instructor, says that good art (including photographs) should invoke emotion. I heard him say that about a year ago and since then I have tested most of the photos I post here with this question: "What do I want my viewers to feel and think?" Not all of the photos I post have a certain answer to this question, though I've been posting long enough to know that what I feel as the photographer isn't always the same as what you feel as the viewer. Such is the nature of art. . .
Deb and I took a hike through a nature area on our visit to St. John in the US Virgin Islands this past June. I spent quite a bit of time photographing the plants that grew on plants here, much like this air plant is growing on the side of a small tree, which is also host to a vine that is curling upward. Are these plants friendly and helpful to each other? And is that what symbiosis means? Or are we seeing evidence of parasitism?
At the end of one of my photography classes the other day, I asked if there were any questions. During the minute or two that I waited, I was greeted with silence. I told the class that their silence may be due to their shyness, their total understanding of everything I taught, or their confusion. I did point out in a friendly way that "teachers don't drive the best learning; curiosity does."
So today's photo is a huge leap from what I've been posting the last couple days. Is there some plan that I have so that I can keep my viewers off balance? No. In fact, the number of views I get when I post kids goes way up. Today's photo won't get a third of the hits yesterday's got. But that's OK with me. . . . 
Yesterday's photographic mission was to copy a photo that had been taken 59 years ago. The subject in the photo is Debra DeGeest (AKA Deb Shephard). The new subject for the copy was Glenny J. (AKA Glenyce Jane Shephard). The dress in both photos is the same dress - worn very little for the photo so long ago and worn only for a few minutes for the recent shoot. Both subjects are 6 months old.
A few years ago one of my photography students told the front office that there were several reasons I should be fired. As hard as it is to realize one isn't all things to all people, the one reason that made me laugh went something like this: "He should be fired because he doesn't like children and therefore we won't learn how to photograph children!"
So I'm indulging in my architectural detail fetish today, this time with a shot of the Utah state capitol dome. Tomorrow maybe I'll have a turkey photo given that it is Thanksgiving here in the USA.