A Beetle and a Dragonfly

ss 1/125 f 7.1 ISO 400

ss 1/200 f 7.1 ISO 400

 

To view an image of the dragonfly in black and white please visit Monochromia.

Last Season’s Left Overs

“Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.” ~ Thomas Fuller

To view this photograph in black and white, please visit Monochromia.

Icing on the Storm

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”

~George Eastman

To see a similar photograph in black and white, please visit Monochromia.

SS 1/2000, f 10, ISO 400

The Ladybug at Sunset

A small speckled visitor
Wearing a crimson cape
Brighter than a cherry
Smaller than a grape
A polka-dotted someone
Walking on my wall
A black-hooded lady
In a scarlet shawl.
~Joan Walsh Anglund

 

Oh ladybug, I wish you joy
As you complete your garden chores.
I’d like to put aside my work
And join you in the out-of-doors!
~Author Unknown

The Ladybug wears no disguises.
She is just what she advertises.
A speckled spectacle of spring,
A fashion statement on the wing….
A miniature orange kite.
A tiny dot-to-dot delight.
~J. Patrick Lewis, “The Little Buggers”

To see an image from this series in black and white visit Monochromia for my Thursday post.

The Beast

Watch, don’t turn your back,

Never let your senses slack,

When into the woods

You journey.

For it is there,

That wild beasts lay idle,

And hide,

Until dusk draws near.

Then, just as the sun’s glow

Begins to fade,

The beasts awaken,

No longer hiding from the day’s trespassers.

They pounce,

And if you are not prepared,

Your heart may skip a beat, and

With a fleeting moment of fear,

You’ll run, then disappear. 

copyright Robyn Graham

Portraits of Leaf

“Ideas come from everything.” – Alfred Hitchcock

 

Portrait of a Leaf

A Pair

A Portrait of a Leaf in Black and White

Portrait of a Leaf Times 3

 

Dreams Woven to Conscious Thoughts

“Our life is composed greatly from dreams from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together.” – Anais Nin

Below are the last couple of images I will post from our afternoon walk last week.  I chose the quote above because the little out building remind me of a children’s play house where many dreams were dreamt or came true.  The wild flowers appear to be woven together to make a bouquet.  It might be a stretch of sorts, but I felt a play on words working with the the images.

Where Dreams Came True

The Near and Far Woven Together

Hedge Balls

During our walk yesterday we found many Hedge Balls.  The balls fall from Hedge trees and when one hits the roof of the car it is pretty startling.

There are a few old myths about Hedge balls.  One is that Hedge balls keep crickets away.   Farmers use to put them in their basements and elsewhere in their homes to prevent crickets from setting up camp.  Legend also has it that the balls keep spiders away.

True or false?

False.  I read further that people found crickets living under the Hedge balls and scientists who have been studying the properties of the Hedge ball have not found evidence that the balls repel spiders.

The Hedge balls may also have been used as pig feed.  I didn’t find anything confirming this though.  And Native Americans used the wood from the Hedge trees to make bows.

Hedge ball lodged in tree branches.

Hedge ball in black and white. I liked the contrast and it looks mysterious.

As part of their science observation, the boys cut a couple of the Hedge balls open. They smelled sweet, had seeds that look like melon seeds, and had a sticky white liquid in them.

Fungus as Art

“Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Everyday is an adventure filled with little wonders if we just keep our eyes open for them.  Today’s adventure for our family involved a walk with the purpose of making observations for science classes.  The direction we took was strictly with the intent to observe a tree that we had passed numerous times recently.   Joshua had labeled the tree “the pancake tree”.    Once observing it closely, we decided it could also be referred to as the sea shell tree.  Once we examined the tree we came home and researched the unique yellow-orange growths on the internet.  We discovered that the growths on the tree are sulfur fungus.  It’s amazing how much art can be taken from simple explorations such as the walk we had today.  Over the next few days I’ll post more of our interesting finds.  Some days I’ll have quotes to pair with the images, some days there will only be photographs.  Be sure to check back to see what art nature gifted us with today.

The Pancake Tree

The Art Nature Gifts us With – Little Miracles Abound

The Colors of Fall come in Many Shapes and Sizes

 

Wordless Wednesday

Fall Berries

Fall Berries II

Fall Berries III