“The country habit has me by the heart,
For he’s bewitched forever who has seen,
Not with his eyes but with his vision, Spring
Flow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun.”
– Vita Sackville-West
Maybe it is because of the long, gray winter or maybe it is because of the bleak, cold rainy spring, but for some reason this gardening season I have been drawn to the light. With camera in hand, I wander the garden looking for the unusual shots of flowers brightened by sun light at different times of the day, or blooms translucent from the light streaming through. And it has been this way from the moment the first crocus popped up. As you can see above, I was able to capture the light as it played on and through these flowers creating shadows and brightness.
So when Gardening Gone Wild announced their May Picture This Photo Contest, I was intrigued. When I saw it was all about close up shots and using light, I knew I had to enter. The dilemma is which photo to enter.
This late blooming amaryllis stands against the French doors in the kitchen. One day I turned and say the light streaming through the petals and grabbed the camera to take these shots progressing from close, to closer to macro. I am very partial to these shots, but I really like the crocus pictured above too.
The purple crocuses here were shot with me laying on the ground. Definitely a normal position for me these days if I am wanting to capture what the rabbits see. The red/pink tulip is an obsession. Every year these little tulips come up under my dwarf willow. As the willow leafs out, the light plays with the colors of the tulips. I think I took at least 200 pictures from every angle, and from bud to bloom. The choice is not getting any easier.
Another favorite, this tulip changes colors as it ages. I am drawn to the darkness within the very peachy flowers in their early stages. Then as they age and turn pale pink, the light shines through them as if they are almost transparent. These tulips are under the other dwarf willow just across the front walk. Both the peach and red tulips were planted for me to see from inside the house.
So there they are, just a few of the pictures I have taken that could be entered into the contest. We are told by the judge, Alan Detrick, ‘There is no set of rules when it comes to lighting. Each subject should be considered with the lighting conditions in order to produce the most visually pleasing image. Paying critical attention to the light is an essential element in creating that “magical” image.’
Then I found this wonderful quote….
“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
– Marcel Proust
So as I am seeing my flowers this year in a new light with new eyes, the choice for the “magical moment” would have to be….
Hope you like my choice!!
Thought I would also visit Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday and flaunt my closer look “light” images…
Special Note: Monthly around this time (usually the 10th) I guest blog at Walkabout Chronicles. I hope you can join me for my most recent post and interview.
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