There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
there is rapture in the lonely shore,
there is society where none intrudes,
by the deep sea, and music in its roar;
I love not Man the less,
but Nature more.
~Byron
Helios & Helianthus
It’s even better, if there’s an interesting sky.
Red Barn With Sky
Rural Putnam County, Indiana, on an ordinary October day.
For years, I was able to find things in stacks in my office by estimating the life of the pile. Needed something from last March? No problem. March was about …. right there! I was always close.
The same with my photographs. There was a time when I thought that I would remember every photograph that I took. And, I was certain, that I would remember when I took it so that if I needed to retrieve it, I could easily.
So, when I went to find a particular photograph — a closeup shot of a milkweed seed — for a forum I participate in, I wondered when I took it. I knew it had to be fall because that is when milkweed pods burst. But I couldn’t remember what year it was. 2013? 2012? 2011?
I didn’t start using Lightroom until Spring of 2013. Previously, I didn’t tag and only rarely named the files with anything other than the automatic IMG_xxxx assigned in camera.
After several hours of searching, over the course of two days, I finally located the shot that I wanted, although I only found an edited jpg, not the original raw file. And, to my surprise, it appears that I took it when on a road trip, not along the creek near my house as I had originally thought.
Milkweed Seed
Lesson learned? I’m glad that I now catalog and tag my photos. LR is such a powerful tool; I’m not sure how I found anything before. One of these days, I’ll need to go through all of my pre-LR photos, import and tag them. Otherwise, they are not much different from the boxes of photographs and negatives I’ve accumulated over the years. Looking through them may bring back memories, but it’s time-consuming and too difficult to find what you want.
Here’s a shot of some things I found on my walk today. It’s cooler than normal; fall is definitely in the air. I’m hoping that I don’t regret not covering my porch plants this evening. I’m sure they’re thinking “What the heck? This cold already?”
Dr Suess -like acorns
Two stainless steel abstracts for Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme. Didn’t travel too far for these; waterdrops in a messy sink, captured with my iPhone and edited in LR & PS.
Bloom & Bottle
Linking with Kim Klassen’s Café for Textured Tuesday. Used one layer of Kim’s kk_cherish texture, using blend mode of Overlay, 50% opacity, removed from bloom & bottle, to add a little bit of color to foreground and background.
Although I’ve always appreciated the work of painters, it’s only been in recent years that I’ve started appreciating the work of sculptors. When I saw that Ailsa’s Travel Theme for the week was statues, in one second I knew what I wanted to post, though in seconds two, three, four…ten, I thought of several others.
My husband and I have a this thing whenever one of us is in NYC without the other. If we happen to go to MOMA, we text a picture of Rodin’s Monument to Balzac. For years it was in the lobby, but has also been displayed in the garden.
Here is one of the casts of Rodin’s famous sculpture, located in the gardens of Musée Rodin (one of my favorite places in Paris). It was quite controversial when Rodin unveiled his plaster study. His commission for the work was cancelled and the statue was never cast during Rodin’s lifetime. Today, it is considered to be one of the first works of modern sculpture.
Monument to Balzac, Musée Rodin
In January, while vacationing in SW Florida, on one of the rare days we dragged ourselves off the beach, we made an excursion to the Naples Botanical Garden. It was much chillier than we had anticipated and T quickly decided that he wanted to cut short his walk and wait inside in the warmth. With camera in hand and lots of pretty things to shoot, I pretended to not care about the cold and wandered off towards Asian Garden where I wanted to take pictures of the Java-inspired ruins.
But, as I entered the gardens, I noticed that the groundskeepers were beginning to cover several plants to protect them from the predicted frost that evening. With large Cristo-like sheeting, several plants and trees were shrouded. Although I wondered what those trees were and what was hidden underneath, I couldn’t help but find the unintentional statues compelling to look at.
When I saw this one, I knew I had to take a picture. I wasn’t anywhere near MOMA, but I immediately thought: BALZAC!
Modern Sculpture?
Posted in Art
Tagged Balzac, Naples Botanical Garden, Photography, Rodin, Travel Theme: Statue
Linking up with Kim Klassen’s Texture Tuesday. This week’s theme: Color.
Tiny rainbows: Donax variabilis, aka Coquina
Coquina (d. variabilis) are abundant on the beaches in Southwest Florida. Although they are everywhere, I am always taken with the variety of colors and patterns in these little shells. The bivalves are edible (these were just the shells of the little creatures), but I’ve heard that they are not very tasty! They’re so tiny, I would never have the patience to shuck enough to make even a small appetizer.
This image was layered with one layer of Kim’s texture kk_0603 with Blend mode of Multiply at 15% opacity, masked off of the shells. There was already plenty of texture in the wood (love that grain!), but the texture helped the tone a bit along the edges.
Posted in beach, Florida, Miscellany
Tagged Color, Coquina, nature, Photography, texture, Texture Tuesday
Taken with my iPhone, using VSCO Cam, edited with VSCO Cam & Portray.
I started this blog on January 2, 2006, with a different name, a different blogging platform, a different purpose — and no camera! WordPress told me when I last posted that I had posted 998 posts.
Who knew back then that this blog would transform into primarily a photoblog? I never would have predicted that. Likewise, I don’t know what lies ahead for this blog in 2014 — maybe more writing, certainly more photos — but I intend to publish my 1000th post in January and to keep on going. A big thank-you to all who take a few minutes out of their busy days to spend a few moments here.
May 2014 bring all good health, good friends, and good cheer!
Four Deer Oak 