30 October 2017
Lens:
Taken in Camera+ and edited in Snapseed and Pixlr.
Click onto image to enlarge. Let me know your response to this photomontage. Prints are available upon request.
Pens:
Nature displays herself through many kaleidoscopic effects. She beams and navigates pathways in a multitude of directions, never making it easy to guess her next visual symphony.
One of the most unappreciated forms of the autumnal portrait is a leaf or flower is its dried state. The extension of its life’s presence can astound.
There is a meditative element to the collection and savoring of buds, flowers and leaves in various stages. My process of air drying is a glacial dance of what was and what surprisingly can be. The newly-minted can mesmerize for years.
While larger flower heads experience their metamorphosis in the upside down position, smaller samples of nature’s bounty can be left on a shelf or molding around an object or hidden between the pages of a poetry book (seems apt). Regardless of the site of the specimen’s change the afterglow can be dazzling and sustaining.
In the Lens section is an example of a photomontage that blends two such gems: an anemone and a coneflower. Each picked a few weeks ago and offering days of entertainment.
Sometimes I find this dried form one of nature’s most curious examples of the unexpected and unrecognized. These elements and qualities are blissful characteristics of Mother Nature’s limitless serendipity.
Note:
In this week’s Opinion/Editorial section of The New York Times an article focused on the extraordinary nature murals to be found throughout New York City. “Public Art Takes Flight” (by The Editorial Board, published 24 October 2017) gave front and center to public spaces that honor the nineteenth-century painter John James Audubon. He was renown for his paintings of bird life, and lived near the Hudson River in upper Manhattan. Here is an excerpt from the article: “A tour of the Washington Heights and Harlem neighborhoods with the aid of an Audubon map amounts to a new sort of bird-watching. It takes a search to track down the Williamson’s sapsucker, bigger than life, down by the West Side Highway. The black-billed magpie is visible all day now on the Broadway gates of the defunct New Happiness Chinese Restaurant. Elsewhere, Audubon himself is rendered in flesh tones and with mutton-chop sideburns, staring curiously at a cerulean warbler on his shoulder with neither his rifle nor palette at hand.” For those who will not be in the city to see these fabulous murals, view the story here. The art is a spectacular gift to the city’s visitors and residents.
Very beautiful and full of mystique!
Tiny, thanks so mic See you soon.
This is beautifully lit. Camera+ is an app I would love to try out one, but unfortunately it doesn’t exist for Android phones.
Otto, Camera+ is my favorite, but my second is Polamatic. It mimics the Polaroid effect and seems to capture color tones.
Seems like Polamatic is available for Android, so I may have to try it out. 🙂
Otto, let me know how you like it.
The public art project about endangered birds is wonderful! And so the delicate “lace” of the cone flower is beautiful. I love the lighting. Have a great week!
Patti, thanks so much. I agree about the murals depicting Audubon’s work. Enjoy autumn and its variations.
Wow sally – the Audubon art murals sound amazing and I did but know of his strong ties to Manhattan and so what an extra nice tribute.
I like your montage – has your signature style and love how you noted “portrait is a leaf or flower is its dried state” is often understated or beauty is missed – such a good point. I especially love the fallen blooms from Rose of Sharon because they change color As they dry and wilt – from pink to light lavender to gray – and sometimes they cluster and have such a pretty mess.
Enjoyed this post and wishing U a nice rest of the week
Lovely to hear from you.I appreciate your thoughtful response. Enjoy your week.
Beautifully processed, Sally. Perfect composition and lighting. 🙂
Amy, I’m humbled. Thanks, see you soon.
Nothing less than a fine Still Life painting, Sally. Great quality of lighting and proportional relations between the dried flowers and their long stems, gorgeous the choice of the pitch black space behind, it highly compliments the natural colours of your synthesis. And, your thoughts in the pens part gave to the dried flowers and leaves life and beauty eternal …
Dora, I’m humbled by your response. Thanks so much.
exquisite image Sally!
Cybele, lovely to hear from you. Thanks.
A beautiful photo, Sally. I had to chuckle when i read that one of the flowers was an Anemone. My first reaction to the photo was that it resembled a confluence of sea-life—perhaps a jellyfish and an anemone!
Happy Monday,
Ω
Allan, thanks, and enjoy the week ahead.
Masterpiece! Almost festive
Carol, I’m humbled. Thanks.
Very pretty! There’s something so delicate, so fragile about dried flowers.
Linda, I agree. Thanks so much.
It looks absolutely superb, Sally.
I have, but yet never used Camera+. Is Camera+ your preferred app?
Dina, lovely to hear from you. Yes, Camera+ and Snapseed are my top two apps. Enjoy your week. Thanks.
You created quite a contrast between light and dark here, Sally. I enjoy dried flowers, whether in homes or in nature. The latter is part of the beauty of fall and winter, the “dead” seasons.
janet
Janet, there is much to appreciate in these seasons. Enjoy your week ahead. Thanks.
This composition has real glamour, Sally: makes me think of wandering the chambers of old Venetian palaces.
I appreciate your thoughtful comment. See you soon.