landscape photography
Welcome Spring..
…well, the table is set – with a white tablecloth in the Chicago area. I can put off further digging for a day or two.
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crocuses
Seeds of Hope
The snow has pretty much worn out its welcome as far as I am concerned but I came upon something interesting today. In the photo below you can see a milkweed seed covered in snow. As cold & snowy as it is, this is a wonderful reminder that there will be small flocks of Monarch butterflies coming this summer. Sometimes hope comes in small, hidden packages.
milkweed seed
Welcome… or Welcome Back!
The focus of our blog – photo-synthesis …a photographer tries to garden – will again turn to the garden – mine and yours. We go from the Black Eyed Peas to snow peas. This will never be a “how to do it” look at anything but rather a “let’s try this thing together and see what happens” experiment.
Those who followed last years version understand that I am relying on help from friends near and far, novices and experts. Yes, we actually depend on information from you for our food!
Again my camera will never be far from me to document the process, the discoveries and the experiments.
I am hoping to include some guest writers this time so don’t be shy about wanting to be included. Just send me an e-mail and let me know what you have in mind. I also intend to invite a couple of knowledgeable gardeners to help us out.
Thanks for taking a look.
Bill
the old greenhouse
dpBestflow
For my photographer-friends, ASMP has announced what has already become my best resource for all things photographic… Take a look at dpBestflow, a site funded by the Library of Congress. Let me know what you think.
A Nearer Landscape #10
In three days this will be a path for many trick-or-treaters. Again, the weather forecasters call for rain – perfect for vampires and ghosts.
Thanks for taking a look at this group of photos. If anyone leaves a comment that they would like to see some additional photos from this portfolio, I’ll put them up.
East Harrison Ave.
A Nearer Landscape #9
The driveway continues to provide a dark backdrop for whatever falls there.
drivewayscape
A Nearer Landscape #7
We transplanted an American Beech tree from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to our back yard about twelve years ago. I’ve only seen about three of these in Wheaton.
beech tree
A Nearer Landscape #6
It looks like it’s time to clean the birdbath. Even after two hard frosts there are a few pholx still blooming under the protection of the large pine tree.
birdbath
A Nearer Landscape #5
Our old amputated apple tree still gives a few apples for the squirrels each year. There is not much left of it but I like the way it shines on a wet day.
old apple tree
A Nearer Landscape #3
The massive trunk of our old Norway maple tree takes on a distinctive green streakiness when it rains. Small lichens growing on it create this hue. Its leaves are always the last to fall in our neighborhood signaling an end of a season.
Norway maple tree trunk
A Nearer Landscape #2
I’m glad that there is some redeeming value in our dying pear tree. Our nearly-dead pear tree continues to produce pears that are shared by mostly ants and bees. I enjoy a few myself but the ants are regulars.
pear #1
A Nearer Landscape #1
Early in my career I thought about all the wonderful photos I could take if only I could travel to exotic locations. As one who always wanted to see what was around the next bend, I felt that my photos would greatly improve by going to where National Geographic photographers and writers went.
Then one of my photographer friends burned out rather quickly working for the Magazine I loved. I still anxiously read the articles and look with wonder at the terrific photographs in National Geographic Magazine but I now have a better understanding of the process than I did years ago.
This past Friday was a very rainy, fall day in the Chicago area. I used this as an opportunity to take some photos. I’ve always enjoyed shooting in the rain because a coating of water saturates the colors. The neutral color of a rainy sky adds a purity to the colors.
My goal was to shoot for no more than an hour, venture no farther than my yard and to come up with 10 photos that showed me something new.
Photography is much more about seeing than it is about taking photos. Familiar subjects seen in a new light become a different – even exotic world. (An hour in the rain could be miserable if this were not true.) Most of the hour was spend seeing; very little was spent shooting.
The images in this series are very straightforward in both composition and treatment. I opted to not use unusual angles or anything other than a “here it is” approach to shooting. I also used no Photoshop filters or any post-production tools other than an occasional use of curves to put the contrast back into sync with my eye.
I didn’t travel to faraway lands shooting these but I looked at each subject as if it were seen for the very first time. And I had a blast.
Landscape #1
This is a horse chestnut tree leaf from my neighbor’s tree. I always have thought of these fallen leaves as a dirty brown color. This one was a beautiful surprise.
horse chestnut tree leaf