It seems there are a lot of special weeks nowadays, but just last week was National Pollinator Week. A very important one for us to promote and pay attention to the latest news about them. While my post may be late in mentioning it, it is never too late to learn about pollinators, how important they are to our food chain, and what we can do to promote habitat for them.
I was recently scanning some slides from my archives, and this image reminded me that Pollinator week was just here recently. Another image rescued from Picture Purgatory. I loved all the triangles in this image, from the basic form of the coneflowers, to the trio of coneflowers, to even the shape of the Red Admiral butterfly. So I thought it worth a mention for those who don’t know much about it. Go hug a pollinator today. Ok, maybe not, perhaps better to plant them some habitat instead of the hug and promote pesticide alternatives.
As fascinating as I find the colors of the rocks I have been photographing, sometimes it helps to take the color away to just be amazed by the patterns. This is a macro abstract of Amethyst Sage, evoking thoughts of some fantasy world. I move from seeing a mountain volcano erupting with bats in the night to seeing dragons. I find that geometrical elements can influence the types of images you may see - the sharp points and sharp lines lend themselves to darker responses. What do you see?
These pine cones are from two dawn redwood trees I have in my yard - where I also have a white pine as well. The unique shape to these cones made for a great pattern study. I actually fumbled around for awhile until finally settling on this composition. It was interesting how the single white pine cone changed some of the dynamics. I wanted to position it so it would act somewhat of a barrier to your eyes leaving the frame, and bounce them back up again. I used a soft gold diffuser to bounce some warm light into the patterns to enhance the texture.
These trees have an interesting history as well. Though they are related to the more famous genus of Sequoia redwoods, no one seemed to know they existed before the 1940s except in fossils. Then a small forest of these trees (only about 5,000 supposedly) was discovered in China, some Harvard researchers went to collect seed samples, etc - and so they started to be cultivated elsewhere. There is a preserve of these trees now in North Carolina, Crescent Ridge Dawn Redwoods Preserve, that will not open until 2035 to hopefully re-establish a native forest of them. Their site has a lot of interesting tidbits about these trees, including some photos of the fossils. I am not quite sure how they became ornamental landscape trees, but it seems I have a link between my yard, North Carolina, and ancient China.
Hey folks, not much to write about lately - just in kind of a funk. So I thought I would just pull some images from the gallery now and then…more of photoblogging than my babble-blogging. This is a Black phase gray wolf (or grey if you prefer) photographed last winter - I loved the frosty face. Other wolf photos in my gallery. My love for malamutes is probably no surprise given my love for wolves. Read somewhere lately that black wolves have some ancient dog DNA in their history. Guess it isn’t exactly new news - but fitting for the picture anyway. Here are some stories: NatGeoNYT
Our dear Alaskan Malamute, Chinny, passed away unexpectedly this past Thursday, May 21, at just over 8 years old. There are simply not enough words to describe the immeasurable impact she had on our lives, the love we have for her, and the kind spirit she has. She left a wonderful impression on everyone she met.
I introduced her to all of you in this post a couple of years ago. We have so many memories and experiences she shared with us - good times, but still hurtful to think about right now…so many planned experiences with her that we feel robbed of. It is pure agony. We miss her more than I could ever express in words.
These macro abstracts of the rare stone Pietersite reminded me of the primordial fires that helped form this planet. I can’t help but imagine that fire being frozen in time in these rocks. Given it is found only two places in the world - Namibia, Africa - where this particular piece originated from, and from in China - you wonder if it is telling an ancient story.
The chatoyance of this rock can make it difficult to photograph. Change the angle of light, and the colors and patterns shift before your eyes. It is hard to capture its true reflectance and shimmering in a non-reflective presentation. Believe it or not, I actually had to tone down the colors as captured by my camera. The reds came through much too saturated, and I toned them down to keep them from overpowering the other intense colors. I am fascinated, and perhaps a little haunted by this stone.
I have added a couple images of Montana agate to my rock abstracts gallery. This agate is found near the Yellowstone river and believed to be from the Pleistocene age. (1.8 Million to 10,000 years before present).
For me, dendrite inclusions really give character to certain stones, and the dancing dendrites in this particular sample are no exception. I found the bird-like one a particularly strong graphical element, so I chose the compositions based upon that particular dendrite. Lighting also plays an important role in portraying agates. With cross-polarized flashes for front lighting, and some slight backlighting - I was able to give these abstracts more depth. I think it also helps with the luminous quality to the images. Both images made with a Nikon D700, ISO200, Nikon 200mm f4 macro lens with polarizer at f11, and two SB-R200 macro flashes, with polarizing film on each.
Montana Agate
The rock is photographed wet with a light coating of vitamin E oil. I sometimes have to use oil because water starts to evaporate in spots creating uneven surface reflectance. Both have a fantasy world feel to them. Interpretation is what is most exciting with abstract photography for me. People formulate their own interpretations depending on their own experiences and moods - and it may change from day to day.
I am interested in your own interpretations of or reactions to these images - so please feel free to leave a comment describing it.
