Let’s hear it for petunias and flower baskets in need of a good hook.
I’d like to say three weeks later these beauties are thriving. Alas I cannot. I suspect a mix of two much water and not enough sun has wrought havoc on my latest C02 splitting machines. In lieu of their recent suffering, I am glad I made a bunch of photographs when I had the chance.
In the meantime, let’s see if I can nurse these two back to life.
Heart of Rebellion — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/200
4 May 2025. May the Fourth. Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Chat, anyone out there watching Andor season two? Two arcs deep—six episodes in total—and this political thriller keeps me on edge. Unsettling in the best way possible, it’s a welcome, if not uncomfortable, treat to be dropped into the early world of the rebellion olds like me grew up on with a story centered around—and explicitly intended for—olds like me. Andor picks at the raw under belly of the nascent rebellion’s leadership, exploring the insidious loss of humanity that corrodes slow and sure in the darkest corners of dying souls. A cause may be righteous; its effect on its people is not. And yet some fights must be fought—irrespective of the costs.
Riffing on the theme of the day, the thing that was hiding in the bleeding heart’s shape slapped me right in the face. The Rebel Alliance starbird is made to fit tattooed onto this flower. Brain gears begin to churn—let me see what ChatGPT can do. My suggestions proceeded as follows:
Me: Yo chat, happy Sunday. If I send you a jpg of a bleeding heart can you embed the Star Wars rebellion logo inside the heart-shaped flower?
ChatGPT: Yo! Happy Sunday to you too. (Smiling sun emoji.) Yeah absolutely — send over the JPG of the bleeding heart flower, and I’ll embed the Star Wars rebellion logo.
Me:Uploads above photo
ChatGPT: Shares first image
Me: Now try it with the logo inverted
ChatGPT:Second image, which is the same as the first image
Me:Abandoning the inverted starbird idea: Create the logo in the street art style of Sabine Wren
ChatGPT:Third image
Me: Nice job recreating the goated Sabine Wren. Now, can you have the spray paint logo follow the contours of the flower?
Abundant spring rain paired with seasonably cool conditions gave us things to gripe about and a quality spring bloom. I’ve been slacking with posting them, but I have made some photographs as the flowers about my yard come and go.
As far as favorites go, peonies are up there. Probably top five. Their pink blossom is about as ephemeral as they come; felling themselves by any combination of weight, weather, or a Planck length of time. Nevertheless it’s a stunner. Much like its partner in pink, the cherry blossom, its blooming met with such anticipation of its coming, yet throttled back by the anxiety of its going. A mental push pull with good lessons to unpack for sure.
As for the goods: I present you with a 100mm macro photograph of a fresh opened pink peony blossom. Enjoy.
Seldom seen stirrings have set about my abode. Flowers are blooming amidst a rejuvenated yard; and indoors, far strangers things are afoot. An inspired streak of home making has left behind a proper office. No more work from home days set upon a wooden kitchen chair, flanked by hoarded boxes and a litter box. No more.
Now I’ve a proper space, replete with curated wall art, solid lighting, a growing brood of house plants, a proper office chair, and a rug that really ties the room together. Driving it all is the record player and fretless bass sentries to the sonic element. This minor bit of self care transformed the entire vibe of the house. From worst to first it is now the best room in the house.
And this relates to this neglect web site how? I’m not at all sure, but I can say it has my creative urge shifting out of groggy, why the hell did you wake me up? To rested and ready to go. It is with this preface that I noted my best clematis bloom in a decade so I set about making some macros.
Fast forward to file transfer and scanning through my frames I landed on this, the last shot. And for the first time in years lost to clear memory I made a photograph that hit that heart swelling of unlocked inspiritation and pride. A chasing the unicorn type feeling my friends and I quip as the ‘h chord’. The resonant buzz of flow in pure spirit.
Wherever this goes I am happy to be here. I missed this place. Cheers to the weekend.
It is 31 December and I am out of days. It looks like this will be the last backlog photograph I get to post in 2023. So let’s roll back to 5 September and my backyard hibiscus. Not a ton of floralmacro work this year, so it feels good to close out the year with this low key, cross process shot.
2024 is mere hours away. Let’s get after it. Be excellent to each other.
I have a photography problem. A mix of neglect, half measures and procrastination type problem. The neglect is simple: not shooting enough. The half measures and procrastination bit happens after the times I do shoot but do not process or post. Which brings me to today, sitting at The Union Market working at my backlog. And so we throw it back to mid-May and my backyard clematis. Thought it looked cute, probably won’t delete later.
Thoughts and happenings
It’s been a big year for me and live music, brought to you by Asbury Park. I’ve managed to see Rebelution, The Hip Abduction, Too Many Zoos, and Stick Figure in the span of about five months. I even scarfed a bunch of excellent Korean fusion street tacos along the way—looking at you, Mogo.
2023 will go down as an all time banger year for video games. Tears of the Kingdom chief among them. I have 200 hours socked into this masterclass in game design, and it’s been superior summertime comfort food. A much needed palate cleanser considering the abomination that are the 2023 New York Yankees.
Speaking of abomination: I cannot wait for Dune: Part 2. Which reminds me, I still need to see Barbie and Oppenheimer.
The Witcher season 3 was a disappointment. I can’t decide if it was actively bad, or if I’m already missing Henry’s Geralt?
Stoked for Ahsoka but not without concern. She’s my number one in the Star Wars universe, and I hope that don’t do her dirty like they did with Obi-Wan Kenobi which was decidedly mid. Andor, however, is LEGIT.
Found out Andy Serkis has an audible voiceover for the Silmarillion. I’m souped to hear his version. Also, if you’re a LOTR fan with interest in podcasts and the entire legendarium, the Nerd of the Rings is an absolute must podcast.
Buzzed my hair for the summer. So why is summer almost over?
The Way of Walking Alone — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1000
Or The Way of Self-Reliance (Dokkōdō).
I’ve started listening William Scott Wilson’s translation of Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings on Audible. As something of a budding Japanophile, and a person long into all things history, the study of The Way and Samurai culture rings true to my soul as a monk’s bell meditatively struck in morning. In the forward, Wilson translates the final lesson handed down from Mushashi to his disciples: 21 precepts outlining The Way of Walking Alone. The teachings of Japan’s sword-saint are open to us all, and I thought I’d share a bit here.
Do not turn your back on the various Ways of this world.
Do not scheme for physical pleasure.
Do not intend to rely on anything.
Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply.
Do not ever think in acquisitive terms.
Do not regret things about your own personal life.
Do not envy another’s good or evil.
Do not lament parting on any road whatsoever.
Do not complain or feel bitterly about yourself or others.
Have no heart for approaching the path of love.
Do not have preferences.
Do not harbor hopes for your own personal home.
Do not have a liking for delicious food for yourself.
Do not carry antiques handed down from generation to generation.
Do not fast so that it affects you physically.
While it’s different with military equipment, do not be fond of material things.
While on the Way, do not begrudge death.
Do not be intent on possessing valuables or a fief in old age.
Respect the gods and Buddhas, but do not depend on them.
Though you give up your life, do not give up your honor.
Never depart from the Way of the Martial Arts.
Second Day of the Fifth Month, Second Year of Shoho [1645] —Shinmen Musashi
Shout-out to Digital Dao for providing the online text as I did not transcribe this from the audio text.
World Between Worlds — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400
What of the caterpillar? The two act play in a life lived twice. First bounded to a potted dill long gone to seed. Nothing more to do than eat. Eat and pray—pray your striped camouflage is enough to ward off prey. Birds whiz hither and dither somehow tricked by the ruse or warned off by its bright colored reticulated pattern. Color often means danger in the many corners of the animal kingdom, though I’m not sure that is the case here.
Still I pause to wonder does she know what comes in act two? Should she endure to soon spool up into her silken cocoon to wait and to transform. A miraculous metamorphosis awaits. A death to one life followed by transformation and rebirth into another. Resurrection to new life. A wonder to behold.
How would such a complete change of our physical being affect our lives and our self-awareness? What would it mean to become so fully remade? What then would it mean to be human? What then would the caterpillar think of us?
Serving up a soft focus dahlia on a Friday afternoon. Smooth and inviting this flower grows to soothe. When viewed through a macro lens we come close to the tiny tubular petals emblematic of the dahlia. These petals are numerous as they are fascinating. There must be 50 our more making up each full flower. This late season dahlia came to me by way of another splendid Eastlin Floral Design bouquet. As ever, Erin expertly plies her craft.
I am going to miss photographing flowers. As we pivot to autumn the opportunities grow fewer. As is the way of things. As I reflect back on this years floral work, I am satisfied with some of the photographs I have made. I have said it before and will again, were it not for flower macros I would never have learned to handle myself with a camera. The broad, sweeping landscapes would have never come to be. It is good to stick to roots that bear fruit, and I am happy to stick with my floral friends. Looking forward to honoring you again next year.
My heart grows a little bit softer remembering the inexplicable tragedy that struck 19 years ago today. May we all find a little more ease in troubled times.
