Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Devices Photo Challenge: Nature (Gerber Daisy and the New Year)

05 January 2015

Lens:

Gerber Daisy; Copyright © 2014 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved/Lens and Pens by Sally

I welcome comments about my photograph.

Pens:

The first day of the New Year will be remembered for our family exuberance echoing from the walls of my dining room, and then the silence of quiet rooms and empty hallways with lingering memories. Each giving me a wealth of savory moments–moments that are in contrast yet bestow nourishment.

The second day of the New Year will be noted for my personal attention to the reverberations of nature: the water flowing with intention in the creek bed, birds skirting in the trees with melodies following their pathway, an almost indistinguishable breeze waving slowly across my face, the Earth swaying but not felt. I was gloriously content. I could sense this day’s meaning and cherish its early accomplishments.

Regardless of the character of a day’s agenda or its flow, I always defer to Mother Nature: that’s my instinct and has been for as long as my adult self emerged. She orients and reorients my inner compass, setting the here and now, working not to go too far astray, and yet letting life happen as it will. Nature is omniscient.

In the Lens section is a single Gerber daisy, which symbolizes the trajectory of my personal philosophy. In the flower’s design and composure are remnants of the past, present and future of the Earth’s magical abundance–an abundance that seems to be redefining itself with staggering help from humanity.

I gave the graceful Gerber a patina that represents: changes in the landscape, reductions in the glaciers, shifts in population of species, extremes of weather, depletion of the ozone, alterations of the coastlines, stresses on food production, loss of biodiversity…The floral sweetness of the Gerber is a vantage point for nature as a spiritual guide–a guide that always has something profound to offer. We must listen to her.

The layer of our planet’s ills seem to overwhelm the comparison of one flower’s innocence and purity, but the Gerber was discovered in the 1880s and has survived more than my juxtaposition. French essayist and philosopher Michel de Montaigne says it with brevity: “Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do.” It’s a simple and straightforward declaration of Mother Nature’s overarching presence, one that the Gerber daisy understands: one that the human animal needs to heed.

Tip of the Week: Meg of “Move the Chair” (click here) invited photographers to participate in a 12 x 12 project. This event had 12 photographers, who also are bloggers, taking 12 photographs on 12 December 2014. Each of us had the freedom to curate our own portion of Meg’s online mobile photography exhibition. The Gerber daisy in the Lens section is one of the 12 floral images that I submitted for the project. Please visit Meg’s site and savor each individual’s contribution.

 

View other entries for this week’s challenge:

http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature-in-the-city/

https://lensandpensbysally.wordpress.com/iphoneography-challenge/

http://streetsofsfphotos.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/nature-opening-up-2-photos/

https://angelinem.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/phoneography-challengenature-in-a-flower-shop/

https://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/a-couple/

http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/phoneography-nature-challenge-three-days-in-monterey/

https://chasinglifeandfindingdreams.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/perspective-is-everything/

https://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature-sunshine-coast/

http://nwframeofmind.com/2015/01/05/iphoneography-monday-nature-pike-place-market-flowers-in-december/

https://angleandviews.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/blue-hour/

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2015/01/06/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-photo-challenge-nature-rambutans/

http://neomanu.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/phoneography-challenge-nature/

http://artifactsandfictions.com/2015/01/07/mt-elephant/

http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/phoneography-nature/

https://amaltaas.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature-3/

Note:

As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog.

If you’d like to join the Photo Challenge, please click here for details. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming Photo Challenges:

1st Monday: Nature.

2nd Monday: Macro.

3rd Monday: Black and White.

4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).

5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.

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