Loyalty and Devotion

How I shot this: ss 1/60 f 4.8 ISO 2500 – natural light – Nikon D800, Nikkor 100mm f2.8

In the Victorian language of flowers, Alstroemeria mean devotion and loyalty.  My husband gave me a beautiful bouquet of them on our 20th anniversary in November.   The flowers kept their beauty for three weeks, when I finally had a chance to photograph them.   The funny thing is, they have never been my favorite…I am unsure why, and needless to say my husband was teased about brining home flowers that he knew were not my favorite.  His intention, however, was perfect.  The Day Lily is the flower for the 20th anniversary.  As he was not able to find Day Lilies he purchased another flower that is in the lily family.   Now that I know the meaning of the Alstroemeria, and because of the occasion that introduced me to the meaning, they will become a flower I appreciate and treasure.

And with that, I leave you with a quote that could not be more perfect to accompany this post.

“Through devotion, your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe to the prince more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable.”

~ Saint Francis de Sales

Independence Day ~

“Those who won our independence… valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.”

~ Louis D. Brandeis

I took the liberty to play in Photoshop this morning and create a unique, vintage American Flag to post for Independence Day.  I cropped and rotated the flag and added a layer of texture using Adobe Paper Texture Pro.  Opacity was adjusted on the layer level.

For comparison, I included the original below.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

The Porch at 560

ss 1/60 f 5.6 ISO 200

This home was once grand, beautiful and well-maintained.  In more recent years it was the Mill Creek Bed and Breakfast.  Until, someone purchased the “mansion” next door and later purchased this historic building to tear it down and build a garage.   The town of Nashville, IL would not allow this and the new owner is letting the building grow into ruin.   It saddens me to think that someone would let this happen just because she didn’t get her way.   The former owners of the Inn are wonderful, kind people and would never have sold it had they known what was going to happen to it.   Can you imagine living across the street having to see the building you poured so much love into a crumbling, mis-happened mess?  This building was the location of many special occasions in my youth…bridal showers, baby showers, and more.  Despite the dilapidation and ruin, the building still has character, charm and is fascinating from a photography perspective.

To see a close-up of the door and the “letter” box on the outer wall, see my post on Monochromia.

 

In Honor…

“137 years later, Memorial Day remains one of America’s most cherished patriotic observances. The spirit of this day has not changed – it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. ” ~ Doc Hastings

Unrequited Love I

“Unrequited love has Winter for Spring ~

Spring presents herself, but Winter does not want to take leave.

He delivers an unwelcome snow that covers the blooms Spring has brought forth.

The blooms pout as the weight of the snow bears down on them

and prevents them from sharing their glory.”

copyright Robyn Graham

In the “History and Language of Flowers”, one of the meanings of the daffodil is unrequited love.  The above poem was inspired by this meaning of the Daffodil.

To see another black and white photograph of a Daffodil covered with snow visit Monochromia for my Thursday post.

Flowers and News

“Dazzled by your Charm”

“Study of a Tulip I”

I am excited to announce that both photographs above were selected for the Philadelphia Sketch Club Annual Juried Flower Exhibit. If you live in the Philadelphia area, I encourage to stop by the exhibit – so many beautiful paintings, photographs, sketches and more.

Please note, today is Thursday, which means I posted on Monochromia today.  If you enjoy street photography and faces, be sure and check out my post.

Study of a Tulip II

ss 1/60 f 4.5 ISO 800

Natural light, back-lit with light from door.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 105mm, 2.8

To view this image in black and white, please visit Monochromia for my Thursday post.

 

A Perfect Love

A Perfect Love ~ A Poem

“A perfect love

Comprises of

Intuitive emotions,

Passion,

Warm sensuality,

Playful joy,

Friendship,

Unity,

Inner peace,

All through faith

In another.”

~ Copyright Robyn Graham ~

“We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

~Tom Robbins

Happy Valentine’s Day

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

Lensless

I had no intentions of posting today, but I was nominated for the 7-day nature challenge on Facebook by another photographer.   I posted photographs from my archives the past two days and the photographer then reminded me that I was supposed to post photographs of the snow like everyone else.  Well, I honestly tire of looking at pictures of the snow after about a week or so of repetitively seeing them.   But, to make the photographer happy I decided to go out and shoot this afternoon.  I climbed through at least two feet of snow and played.  It was warm, 40 degrees F and it felt great to be outside and playing with my camera.  I felt somewhat like an animal on the prowl as I searched for my subjects.

While I was photographing a pine cone using back lighting and creating beautiful bokeh I remembered an article I recently read about lensless photography.   Because I had the time and was on a mission to create some unique winter images I decided to try it.  The above photographs are the results.

Do you love the hazy effect as much as I do?  I feel like I captured my prey.  One might argue that the first image is too “blue” meaning the white balance is off, but I was in the shade and it is a winter/snow shot and it is cold so to me, the color is perfect for what I was representing with my work.

Which do you prefer?  The color photograph or the black and white?