The water lilies at the Italian Gardens are prolific this year. I like to go on a partly cloudy day to take advantage of the reflections. I usually use my Infrared camera here because the Lilies don’t open until after 8:30 am and it can be very bright by then. This day it was more … [Read more…]
My friend Marcia loves to hike. It is not a good idea to hike alone, so she invites other hikers to join her on a hike about once a week. Every year she has a 4th of July hike followed by a cook-out at her house. Marcia is not a photographer and likes to hike fairly … [Read more…]
I find it hard to not stop at the roadside to photograph the poppies. There is such a variety of shapes and a few surprising colors mixed in with all the bright orange. I am not the only one that enjoys the poppies. I found this cute Jumping Spider staring at me as I took the photo. Jumping Spiders … [Read more…]
I visited the poppies by the expressway again. There are many poppies past prime, but still many photographs to be had. I have a photographer friend, Courtland White, who finds faces in landscapes. It is called “Pareidolia,” the human tendency to perceive patterns, particularly faces, where none exists. He says that once you see the … [Read more…]
Clematis is a very strange name for a beautiful flower. The plural is tricky to say – Clematises. The Clematises in our yard come to us from a former owner of our house. They have been blooming reliably every spring for the 11 years that we have lived here. They are a lot of fun to … [Read more…]
I had never seen a Clary Sage blossom before I purchased a small plant at an herb festival. The plants are about 3 feet tall and have multiple blossoms. They have seeded themselves in my garden and now their population must be kept down. Since it is a biennial, it took 2 years for the Clary … [Read more…]
We had very bright weather at the Outer Banks of North Carolina that started an hour after sunrise. This made for a good chance to photograph the patterns cast by the fences used to protect the dunes from erosion. I had to look for an interesting pattern that didn’t have too many of the grasses that are … [Read more…]
The North Carolina Department of Transportation planted fields of Poppies and Lupines near 2 different exit ramps that are a 10 minute drive from our house. I love poppies with their hairy stems and abstract petals and patterns. Most of the poppies are orange with a few pink thrown in. There are a few wildflowers … [Read more…]
The Dogwood in the Asheville area had a rough spring. During blossoming the flowers were hit with several cold snaps. Many of the blossoms sustained some damage and there were fewer blossoms than last year. Damaged flowers are not as photogenic, but there are still may opportunities to be had, if the photographer has the patience to … [Read more…]
There is always much speculation in the spring amongst photographers, botanists, and hikers as to when to visit Big Creek in the Smokies — in late March or early April. It is one of the first areas for wildflowers to bloom near Asheville. It is about an hour’s drive west on I-40 to the first … [Read more…]