Another Wednesday, another series of photos. This week, let me share the view over the Salish Sea from “my beach,” and then take you for a morning walk ’round our little island in the Pacific Northwest. . .
The sun rising through smoky clouds one morning last week. . .
And then, one late afternoon, I managed to catch something of the glaucous luminosity that has always eluded my lens before (I did a White Balance pre-set with a piece of white paper and that seemed to make the difference). When conditions are right — some correspondence between light and sea and clouds — there’s a sense of being inside a translucent bowl, a magic, translucent bowl. . . it’s always fleeting, lasting 5, 10 minutes at the most. . .
The photo above and those following were all taken yesterday morning on an island walkabout between 7 and 8 a.m. They’re self-explanatory shots taken from/at roadside, except for the ones in our gated Community Garden.
Thistles and Queen Ann’s Lace grow wild here on the boulevards — I hope residents will continue to allow this, although increasingly, many who move here seem tempted to tidy up. Thistles are so attractive to bees and butterflies and their rich honeyed scent gives more than a hint at the reason. . .
Here are the Community Garden shots:
Outside the deer fence . . .
Inside the gate, looking through the grape arbour. . .
And I’m in . . .
I have so many more shots from inside the garden that I think I’ll do a separate post soon. . .
But now it’s time to wander back home for breakfast, so just a few more photos. . .
Perhaps you can get a sense here of why this extended drought is such a concern. Our houses are all surrounded by very large trees. . .
But that’s not why I took these photos. Somehow, I just liked the glimpses of vehicles, the way the light played. . .
The red wagon, particularly, caught my eye, but I haven’t managed a shot that gets at why (I have five or six more, but nope, it’s just not there). Perhaps I’ll go back later and see if it’s still there, try again. This is when I really regret that the course I took was so intensive, all that information crammed into one weekend — it takes time to get out and take the shots that show me what else I need to know. Failing is such a good prod to learning how to do better, but I’d really benefit now from some ongoing feedback, particularly about the technical aspects of the camera. I’m looking forward to taking the Intermediate course, now that I’ve figured out some basics. But one step at a time, right?
Comments always welcome. Happy Wednesday!
Lovely photos. I'm interested in the community garden. How does that work? Do all the islanders get involved. Mary
Yes, I'd like to know more too. I have only come across community gardens in urban environments before where residents lack their own open spaces
Gorgeous photos. The light is wonderful. I'm intrigued by the description of being inside a translucent bowl at certain times. Queen Anne's Lace and thistles are so photogenic and you've captured them well.
I wish I could describe the phenomenon better, Lorrie. I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with the light coming from the east across the space of the water and then running into the dark green trees around us. . .
That first one is amazing.
And I know exactly the glaucous look you refer to – and I see it caught, just enough, in your photo. I hope you are really enjoying this time to deepen your skills. You are inspiring me to try and do the same.
I'm glad you know what I mean! I am enjoying the time walking around with my camera. Such a good excuse for looking at the world!
Great photos! And once again,wanderful nature! Please.take some more!I think you learned a lot, play a little more before you take the intermediate!
I am confused a little. I answered lately(I think that was Lisa's ,or yours),question about community gardens with no. It was about gardening near bus stops or something like that. But we have something similar to this:people ,mostly those who live in flats, can take a little piece of land in community gardens and grow their own vegetables,very rarely flowers! So,I think I was wrong,sorry
Dottoressa
You're right, it was here that I showed some photos of a spot in the city that volunteers can apply to the city to take on a small bit of boulevard and beautify it. These are different than allotment or community gardens that we also have — as what I'm showing here. So you have those as well — they're such a good resource, aren't they?
Lovely snapshots from your island paradise!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.
That first photo, of the sun through the smoke and the clouds, just amazing. Beautiful and unsettling simultaneously.
I am inspired by your progress. And reminded of all the things there are yet to learn in life.
Yes, it was an unsettling beauty, and I hope not to see it again, honestly.
I agree! Learning curves stretch out all around us — daunting and exciting at once. We certainly need never be bored!
Addressing your observations about the image of the red cart … you have a triangle of reddish flashes in that shot, the cart, whatever that is under the trees to the right of it, and a hint of red or brown in the eaves (?) at top right, but there is too much else that distracts the eye from that visual path in and out. Try cropping to just left of the tree trunk and just below the tree's foot … does that give more of the feeling you were trying to capture? The eye is better at filtering out extraneous information than the camera and framing tightly will compensate for that, and if you don't have a long enough zoom then closer cropping afterwards is your friend. In the same way I find the shot of the truck becomes more powerful when you lose that burnt out tree trunk top left.
Thanks so much for this generous and very helpful analysis of the wagon photo, Annie. When I went back to the original with these new suggestions, I realized that some of the initial shots I'd taken of the scene were much closer to the framing you recommend, but I'd rejected them for some "problems" I'd perceived in depth of field or with wind movement in the foreground grass, etc. After having some time away from them, and with your suggestions, I'm now preferring some of those choices. Playing with the truck shot, I see I'm going to need a decent editing program eventually — there's not enough flexibility in the cropping options of what I've got here (only offers me a set of frames to pull around, most of which end of cropping stuff I'd like to keep). Thanks so much for getting these wheels slowly turning. . .