My side yard where the back meets the front features a fence gate, a forsythia, some tiger lillies and one modest Jane magnolia. It’s taken a beating in recent years—it simply has not responded well to its transplant two years back. After a complete bust of bloom last Spring my magnolia bush appears to be getting some of its strength back. While hardly covered with blossoms, there’s at least some quality bloomage to enjoy.
Or hearts if you’re a Time Lord.
It’s a grey, sullen day here in New Jersey. Rain, wind, and cold decided to bring shades of Winter back into the fold with highs that have struggled to get out of the 40s. But hey, it’s May tomorrow, right? Right?
This shot is a holdover from this past Saturday; today seems as good a day as any to post a reminder that Spring is in fact here—even if it doesn’t know it yet. Bleeding heart flowers are a real favorite of mine, and my yard, front and back, is appropriately fashioned with them. An early season bloomer, I’ve got both white and pink varieties. I captured their development just as the hearts are beginning to take shape descending down to their final position on what amounts to be a flora close line. As soon as the good weather returns I’m sure I’ll be photographing them in full bloom.
I’ve been waiting for this little guy to show up—one of my favorite early season flowers. At this point I was beginning to think it wasn’t gonna show this year. But finally, just the other day, this lone Hyacinth finally reared its welcomed head. Now ready for the camera, I spent some time this afternoon snagging a few macro photographs.
Taking my first look at the shots in Lightroom, it became quickly apparent that sticking with color was going to be rather ho-hum. Fortunately, some strong contrast added to a black and white finish really stepped up the intensity to demand more attention.
Update: Thanks to @dpalamino from Twitter I’ve learned this flower is a crocus.
Here’s another shot from yesterday’s brief photo session. Bonus points if anyone can identify this flower for me.
Onward with the black and white binge—I knew straight away I’d at least have to give this a look sans color. To that end, I needed this image to be dark. Dark with strong contrast to render well defined edges.The lines marking the three petals draw the eye inward toward the center bouquet of pistils. There, floating, the eye hangs with the image gradually letting you pull back out.
I had some time to kill yesterday and met up with friends at my buddy’s place. With some fresh growth breaking ground across the property I went for the macro lens. After all this time attached to my wide angle lens, the macro felt good and comfortable. Like meeting up with an old friend.
I made my way flower to flower (most of which were daffodils this early in the season), even stopping at some fungal growth clinging to old wood, until I settled upon a little pine tree. Eyeing it up I went with a center focus on the new growth.
In this setting applying heavy contrast during post processing serves to draw attention right to the midpoint while the background falls away into blackness. I had a hard time deciding upon this image and its black and white equivalent. I like them almost equally. Perhaps I will post that interpretation later.
With weather types talking up the threat of early Spring snow for folks in the northeast, I made sure to document that springlike lifeforms are in fact making their presence known. My front and side yards are both home to daffodils and they never fail to be the first to make the annual flora journey back to life. Like clockwork they sound the springtime alarm, beating all of my other plants, trees, and flowers to the sunlight. In this case though, it looks like my buds may open just in time to be buried by snow.
Ah, weather.
I remember photographing this Small Blue butterfly like it was yesterday. She made for the most patient of subjects, giving me a solid five minutes to position, hone in and shoot. I intentionally underexposed for a low key effect, and then in post processing with Sliver Efex Pro 2 I bumped up the brightness on the Small Blue to give her the visual weight she deserves.
The show is all about this here butterfly.
Macro photography of a purple peony backdropped by rich bokeh. In hindsight I’d go back and crop off the top 10% of this photograph to tighten the overall image. I’d probably roll with the 2:1 ratio.
Update:Thanks to Barb for identifying this flower as a Cleome.
Looking for some audience help with this one. I have several of these flowers growing wild amongst the stones in my path to the backyard. They put off a strong odor with a hint of skunk, but arrange themselves in the most wonderful spiral array.
Bonus points to the first person who gets the song reference.