Shadow Shots

Doesn't it look like a little mouse is sniffing the daffodil?
Love how the shadow elongated the jar!

This was taken outside on the deck. The patio table is in the corner which was in shadow and the evening sun shown on the bouquet of daffodils. I know the light is harsh but I like the bold contrast.

A sunny yellow daffodil!

(remember you can click pics to make them bigger)

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Today's Flowers: More Daffodils

My last post was daffodils but I love these first blooms of spring so I'm still playing with my camera and my photo software. The above photo was taken late in the evening with just the soft light of my dining room chandlier. I really like the blue jar in contrast with the yellow bloom.

"On The Fringes"

A little macro work.

Although I strive to get my photos right in the camera as I'm taking them I have also really been enjoying working with adding textures to my photos. I like how the texture in this gave it a more old fashioned look.

I'm posting for Today's Flowers.

LEM Photo Challenge: Spring

Spring is starting to bloom in our yard. Yesterday when Hubby went to the mailbox at the end of our long driveway he came back with a handful of daffodils. I told him I hoped he hadn't picked them all and he said we have LOTS more to bloom.
Since I shot them against a white background with not much natural light left in the gloomy day I decided to pop it up a notch by adding a texture and then erased the texture from just the center daffodil. This one is my entry for the challenge this week with the prompt of spring.

I've included this photo for the purist of you photographers out there who enjoy the original image.

For more Spring pics join Tara at Live Every Moment.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

VANISHING POINT

These steps lead from our downtown area to a park on top of the hill. If you aren't into making the climb the good news is you can drive around to the top.

I've added a texture and played with different blending modes to achieve the look.

SQUARE CROP

While out driving around yesterday in our 62 degree weather we saw some daffodils and I had to stop and take a quick shot. We were in the middle of the road and the midday sun was extremly bright so I had to play with the levels to try and save the shot but it's the first daffodil I've seen and I wanted to share. Yeah Spring!

UNDER

"One Nation Under God"

"WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE"

This is a mural my son put on the wall of my grandson's nursery. The plain white shiny wall seemed to need a little something so I added a texture and then erased the texture from the monkeys.

JUNGLE #2

These are from my archives from October. Hubs and I passed it sitting on a trailer in front of a sporting goods store. I didn't ask!

CALM

Now that my post is finished and ready I think I'll have some!

For more Scavenger Hunt Sunday join Ashley here.

Daffodils

For more Macro Monday join Lisa here.

For more Today's Flowers click here.

Mellow Yellow From Bud to Blossom

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Thursday's Nature Notes

Sitting here at my computer on Wednesday morning looking out my window I see the first gentle rain of spring falling silently refreshing the earth.
Each time the rain ceases the birds fly to the feeders for nourishment. The cardinals are there as always. Their brilliant red color made more vibrant by the grey overcast day. They’re sharing their seeds this morning with a couple of Red-Winged Blackbirds and some Grackles that have all shown up this week in the quest for food. The ever present Mourning Doves are content to munch on the seed falling to the ground and have begun pairing up in the treetops. Pine Siskins and Finch rally for position on the thistle feeders.
Flying toward the house I see a wide wingspan and grab my camera. For a couple of days now a vulture has circled. I haven’t yet been able to snap his photo. I see that he lands in a nearby tree and I watch and wait. He’s too far away to get a photo. Suddenly I see him leave his perch for the ground. I try quietly to open my sliding glass doors and slip out on the deck in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. Suddenly I realize the wet deck is cold to my bare feet. The warm weather of the previous days is gone. There isn’t time to rethink and go back for shoes. I slip quietly to the end of the deck and see Mr. Vulture just off in the woods. Just as I clicked my camera he flew in a blur of feathers. Next time. Maybe.
I can tell that the day is going to be mostly wet. I’m thankful I took a walk around the property yesterday to see all that’s happening. The first buds of the plum tree are starting to spring forth; their tiny blossoms miniature works of art. More of the daffodils are ready to emerge from bulbs that look as if they could burst at the touch. The smallest of the forsythia bushes are in complete bloom. Even the bugs have already found the little trumpet shapes and are feasting away.
Even though it is a wet cool day in March warm Spring days are ahead. The rain is falling gently, the earth is again coming to life and I find myself longing for green leaves on the trees, fireflys, fresh tomatoes from the garden and being outside looking up at the stars. It's all just beginning. For today I'll sit back and enjoy what is mine for the moment. When the rain stops I'll go out again and marvel at the surprises that no doubt await me.

For more Nature Notes please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods.

Project Yellow: Take Three - The Flowers of the Field

The Flowers of the Field

The flowers of the field

are but lonely stems

That wear pretty hats

to keep the sun from

reaching their slender souls.

When I took this picture and especially after downloading it the above poem came into my mind. I wrote that poem years ago in college. It was chosen by one of my English professors to include in the college literary magazine. I was honored and humbled to be included.

Fast forward a year and my roommate at the time had to take an English Lit class. It turned out her professor was using the previous year's literary magazine to teach poetry. She (Mary) came back from class one day and told me I wouldn't believe what the professor had said about my poem. It turns out he thought the poem was unique. Ok, he's getting points right off the bat! But wait, he says the flowers aren't the thing on top - what? He continued to say the poet was putting up a good front and could be too fragile inside. Points all lost - out the window they went. I was furious.

I had sat on my parent's front porch, my legs stretched out and feet firmly planted on the porch banister - pen and paper in hand. Looking out at the wide open hillside in front of me and my Mom's flowers in the yard, I penned a little short poem about the makeup of flowers. I looked at the stem, the flower and what it looked like, threw in a few poetic type words, voila - a poem.

What did I get for this - a room full of students,who either knew me or could easily find me, thinking I was some kind of fragile being holding it all inside! I would of confronted him; but there weren't that many English professors on campus at what was primarily an engineering school. I knew I just might need a class he taught. So, I let it go; but it still haunts me all these years later.

Everything we write is subject to interpretation. Those interpretations are as numbered and varied as the people who read what we write. But....he was so far off the mark!!

Remember to check Anna's for more Project Yellow participants!