“With the utmost love and attention the man who walks must study and observe every smallest living thing, be it a child, a dog, a fly, a butterfly, a sparrow, a worm, a flower, a man, a house, a tree, a hedge, a snail, a mouse, a cloud, a hill, a leaf, or no more than a poor discarded scrap of paper on which, perhaps, a dear good child at school has written his first clumsy letters. The highest and the lowest, the most serious and the most hilarious things are to him equally beloved, beautiful, and valuable.”
― Robert Walser
There is such beauty in even the most common of wildflowers, even this small member of the daisy family. I was going to title this First Fleabane of the season, since it is that, but I wanted to focus on commonplace beauty.
Over the past year or so of photography, my perspective on what beauty is has shifted dramatically. I’m now finding a richness in the more diminutive flowers, in dead or dying blossoms, the way light plays on a shrivelled leaf. Objects, that at first glance, don’t seem worthy of a second glance, or a more careful inspection.
I’ve become increasingly aware of how much of my world my brain filters out as ‘inconsequential’, causing me to pass it by. The more deliberate I become in observation, the more my world opens up to experiences I have missed in the past. Even at this, I’m still left baffled at what I’m missing. Through photography, I’m able to freeze that moment and really take the time to fully experience an image and my hope is that those moments are resonating with my readers.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/2500 sec, f/5.0 ISO 100
High Resolution Image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered…the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls…bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory”
― Marcel Proust
Peony, for me the queen of fragrance and memory.
As I stepped outside today, following a brief rain shower, the perfume of this peony struck my senses, causing me to smile as I recalled fond memories of the glorious gardens of so many dear to me, many no longer with us. It stopped me in my tracks, as I surveyed the garden, seeking the source. Yesterday, the peonies were just buds, filled with promise, but not ready to open. My eyes found the source, a single blossom, dew covered, and shining in the sun, the most intense pink petals fully and unexpectedly opened to the sun.
The memories are wonderful and intense. I recall gardening with my adopted grandmother, Margarete, as she tended a large bed of pink and white peonies, my maternal grandmother, Lola, also an avid gardener, with her own collection, handed down from her mother and cherished. Finally, my mother-in-law, Lois, who moved to a smaller residence a few years ago, leaving me her collection of peonies, not to be left behind. They filled every spare space in my gardens and I would have it no other way. They too have a history, having come from her mother and grandmother. Such seems to be the way of the peony. I’m sure each plant has fragrance and memory deeply intertwined.
As I sit and write this, the sweet aroma still in my mind, I can see each of them, out in their gardens, a smile of recollection on their faces as they reflect on their own memories and their cherished peonies.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.0 sec, f/32.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Firsts are best because they are beginnings.”
― Jenny Han
The firsts keep coming. This time the first Clematis blossom, from our front flower bed. The first bloom has usually occurred around prom/graduation time, and has been prominent in many photos of our kids as they prepared for these events.
Graduations and proms are becoming not so distant memories and now the first flower is simply there for us to enjoy and evoke memories.
I’m sure as our children move through their lives, there will be many more firsts, some matching the blooming of a certain flowers and others, not. Nonetheless, I celebrate firsts much more than lasts. Though those too, are inevitable.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/80 sec, f/10.0 ISO 100
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Was it the case that colours dimmed as the eye grew elderly? Or was it rather that in youth your excitement about the world transferred itself onto everything you saw and made it brighter?”
― Julian Barnes
This blossom seems so appropriate as the late spring colour transition continues, with pinks becoming more purple and the introduction of oranges and reds.
I had photographed this blossom a few days ago and set it in a vase to preserve it. The flower continued to mature with the once purple flowers yielding to a magenta centre, which has continued to expand.
There’s something magical about the texture of this blossom that keeps me coming back. From first noticing the individual blossoms in the cluster to the delicate anthers and filaments. There’s just so much to see in this flower. It reminds me of a fireworks burst, with all the colours.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
3.0 sec, f/36.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day count!”
― Steve Maraboli
As I sat, yesterday morning, sipping a coffee, on my back deck. I looked over my now lush garden. The rains have stopped, the temperatures are climbing and I can savour these moments, if only on weekends.
One of my columbine plants, is enormous, probably the result of several plants growing in a single location. Even at that, it towers almost a full meter in height, three times the height of its neighbours, and it is thick with blossoms.
I got up to take a better look at all the blossoms and noticed that the morning mist still clung thickly to the petals, like little jewels, adding further drama to the scene. Not wanting to miss this moment, as the lifespan of the blossoms is quite brief, I grabbed my camera and made a quick image to preserve this image to share today.
It reminds me of what a privilege it really is to be alive,as said so well in the quote I chose today.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/40 sec, f/10.0 ISO 100
High Resolution Image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.”
― Edna St. Vincent Millay
Before they fade with the heat, I thought I’d make a quick image of this anemone blossom. Which, like all the studio close-ups, reveals wonderful details and complex structures. This blossom, a bit ‘mature’ has dropped a lot of pollen on the petals already. I’m not sure what pollinates them, but have not seen any bees pay them much attention.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.6 sec, f/36.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“This might be the most important question for every creator and maker in the world: how do you make something new if most people just like what they know? Is it possible to surprise with familiarity?”
― Derek Thompson
With a gradual warming and ample moisture, fungi are now beginning to emerge from cracks and crevices in rotting logs. I’m not skilled at early fungus identification, but I imagine these ‘fingers’ will soon develop into a more recognizable form.
They are also very good at concealing their presence. Even though my eyes are always scanning for something unique, it was not till I noticed this small grouping that I realized that there were hundreds of similar colonies growing close by.
Most looked simply like slender, fleshy fingers, this larger group seems to be a bit more advanced. I’ll have to keep an eye on them and see what develops.
I also found this an interesting composition, showing the developing fungus with a splash of colour from the adjacent mosses.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/8 sec, f/16.0 ISO 400
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Humans do artificial things
But nature always hits back naturally !!!”
― Akshay Shinde
I decided to give this one the studio treatment, to show all the complex textures apart from the ‘clump’ growing in my front garden.
The Wood Anemone is a native plant and through a natural process, ended up growing my gardens. I enjoyed watching it flower a few years ago, till it started taking over the entire flower bed. The next year, I waited for the bloom and then pulled them all out, their time in my garden being past. Yet, nature is not to be daunted, and the few root fragments that I missed took hold once more and I have two large clumps flowering away.
I’ve resigned to pulling just a single clump out this year, leaving the other for another season. At the very least, the beautiful white flowers are a pleasure to look at and have now provided me more photography material.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.5 sec, f/32.0 ISO 400
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”
― Samuel Johnson
I’m revisiting this interesting flower one more time. When I first discovered it, I was not sure what it was, so I took several photos, hoping to identify it when I got home from my hike.
Sometimes, a surprise awaits, as in this image, which shows the Avens flower very nicely but also includes a guest, in the form of a black beetle merrily eating away at one of the leaves.
It surprises me every time, that I do not notice these little subtleties, while focussing on my primary subject. Of course, since I did not notice it, I also did not try to bring it into focus, which I why it’s a bit soft.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/30 sec, f/10.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“All life is bound to a simple truth… that time goes on, that in each person’s life begins a tale, a tale that will either end in memory or in legend.”
― M.J. Chrisman
Here I am revisiting the dried flowers that I have kept from earlier in the spring. The textures and colours still fascinate me. Is this a weird thing, this enjoyment of the ‘expired’ flowers?
I have enough now to create a collection, and I am considering naming the series “Best Before”. For me, it’s really a study of flowers in an unconventional way. There is a certain beauty, which I have alluded to in previous posts. There is a delicacy, inherent with something that has dried out. The fine connecting tissues are weak and brittle, so handling them is a bit of an art in itself. Light transmits through them, as well as reflecting from them, creating interesting effects.
Consideration has also been give to really tight shots, where the flower itself is not recognizable, just the lines, textures, and colour, which has a certain curious appeal to me as I am editing, but I inevitably zoom back out to the whole once more.
So, this post is more of a series of thoughts than anything of substance, my way of processing my technique and considering next steps.
By the way, if you are curious, this daffodil was one of a grouping I shared earlier.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.6 sec, f/36.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“When life is not coming up roses
Look to the weeds
and find the beauty hidden within them.”
― L.F.Young
Another season is just about over for these pretty plants, whose colour ranges from white to dark purple.
I posted another image, a few days back, of the flowers, blooming in my garden. The post was also shared by me on an amateur botany page, where it received comments about being non-native, invasive, and a weed. All these points are true, to some degree. It is absolutely non-native, coming from Eurasia as a garden flower in the 17th century, along with other common wildflowers like dandelion, plantain, violets, and clover, to name a few. Is it invasive?
By the standard definition, an invasive species is one that can escape cultivation, that can crowd out other plants and that is not native to the ecosystem in which it is growing. It certainly can do that. In fact, I have found it difficult to cultivate, as it goes wherever it pleases. Currently, there is a large,flourishing colony, on the other side of my fence. So, by the above definition, it has ‘escaped’, it does crowd other native plants and, as I mentioned earlier, it’s not native.
Is it a ‘weed’? Like the well-known garden quote by Ella Wilcox, “A weed is but an unloved flower.” So, if I love them, are they weeds? The jury is out on that, depending on who you consult.
For me, the Dame’s Rocket adds a splash of early colour to my gardens, and the field behind it.
As for the studio image, like so many flowers lately, I’m enjoying the ability to take time to really appreciate the flower and all its complexities, and the isolated, studio images let me do just that. By the looks of this one, there are still a few days of bloom ahead.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.5 sec, f/32.0 ISO 400
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”
― Gérard de Nerval
I had to go back to this location again and get just one more image of the bunchberries, before they fade into summer and memories. There are certain plants that have a subconscious draw on me. Bunchberry is one of those. perhaps it’s my love of dogwoods, a family of plants to which these also belong. Miniature dogwoods! It’s the only dogwood that grows in Ontario that is not a tree or shrub.
I’m really not sure what draws me to dogwoods. Perhaps its the symmetry of the flowers or the deep textures of the leaves? In any case, I’ve enjoyed finding this small grove, just off the trails and enjoyed having the opportunity to photograph them just after a gentle rain last weekend, along with many other native wildflowers.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/20 sec, f/10.0 ISO 800
High Resolution Image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.”
― Roger Miller
Another rainy day image, though the rain has finally moved on. It was so cool and wet this day that the Goat’s Beard blossoms remained partially closed. This one had a special appeal to me because of the raindrops that cling to it, a reminder that it was, in fact, raining that day, lest I forget.
Though I find myself grumbling about all the rainy days, it did make for some nice images. The dull skies allowed me to expose for longer, creating a bit more saturation and the rain gives everything a clean, lustrous appearance. This effect is especially noticeable in wildflowers, which just seem fresher when damp than they do on dry, sunny days.
As one who really does not mind getting wet, this all works out, provided I’m not caught in a downpour, and even those, have their magical moments.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/500 sec, f/11.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
This week’s submission to Norm 2.0‘s Thursday Doors.
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world.
“Abandoned”
This image is a far departure from my usual images of stately, ornate doors, yet they are still doors and I found them quite intriguing.
As I was out hiking earlier this year, I came across an abandoned maple sap evaporator, sitting in the middle of a mature forest. It seemed so out-of-place that I had to make a photo of it to show to friends and thought Thursday Doors might be another place to share it.
For those unfamiliar with maple syrup production, the ‘sap’, which is a sweet, watery liquid produced by Sugar Maple trees, is gathered, either in buckets attached to the trees or, for more modern facilities, via a ‘pipeline’ of plastic hoses, and boiled down in an ‘evaporator’, like this one (but not full of holes). A large fire is kept going under the evaporator to boil off most of the water in the maple sap. The remaining syrup, is then further boiled in a smaller finishing tank. At the end of the process, the maple syrup, is about 1/40th the volume of the original sap. So, it takes a lot of sap to produce even a small amount of syrup. This boiling process occurs late February to early March, just as days begin to warm and the sap rises into the tree, which requires cold nights and days above freezing. The cycle usually runs for just over a week.
So, I look at this image and can imagine someone, in days gone by, harvesting the sap and boiling it here in the forest. The tank would likely have been covered or enclosed in a large ‘sugar shack’ to protect the producer from the elements and keep foreign matter from surrounding trees from falling into the evaporator.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/50 sec, f/10.0 ISO 200
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Love softens the hardest edges of life’s tumult.”
― Bryant McGill
Along the dirt road that leads to one of my favourite hiking trails, are huge clumps of lilacs. There are many varieties, ranging from deep purples to the purest of whites. Their fragrance fills the air, even in the rain.
They certainly aren’t native to the location, likely planted as ornamental shrubs by the property owners many years ago. And, their beauty continues to please those who pass by to this day.
These lilacs are also very hardy, blooming long after most of the lilacs in town have faded. As I was passing, I stopped to make a few quick shots, enjoying the colours, textures, and of course, the fragrance of the lush and plentiful blossoms.
Since I was shooting with my macro lens, and there was a bit of a breeze, the images came out a bit soft, which bothered me at first. But, the more I looked at them, the more I began to like the soft, dream-like appearance. Perhaps, a bit of softness is alright on occasion?
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“I simply can’t look into the heavens on a crisp starry night and somehow bring myself to believe that the gaping expanse that engulfs the whole of me is the product of chance happenstance. And neither can I believe that the gaping expanse that rests within me is anything less.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
The quote above has resonated with me for some time, and applies just as well as we view the macro universe. The incredible precision and ‘design’, if you will, of even a simple blossom like a chive, cannot be mere chance. The more I observe, the deeper I go, the more I’m struck with the incredible diversity of design, each with a specific purpose, unique to that plant, and the environment in which it exists.
I’ve always liked the flowers that chives produce but had not considered, until today, that they are not just fuzzy purple tufts, but rather, a complex group of individula flowers. This should not have come as a surprise, but it did.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.5 sec, f/32.0 ISO 400
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich
This little flower is aptly named. As I returned from my photo hike last weekend, I thought I had come across some real rare, hard to find flower. When I found it, and saw the name, I smiled. I smiled because of the most obvious name and that it was not rare at all, I had merely missed its blooming cycle for the past many years. Once seen, it’s hard to miss, as the bright flower gleams from the dark forest floor, like the celestial star it is named after.
Perhaps the damp, cool days of this past spring are a contributing factor to it still blooming. In any case, I’m glad to made its acquaintance. Even this photo makes it seem larger than it really is. Think about half the size it appears to be. It was also difficult to find a blossom that had not been flipped over and stuck to the leaves by teh rain, as the flower stalk itself is very thin and delicate.
Now that I have marked the location in my mind, I intend to return next year, hoping that they have increased in numbers, and that I catch the bloom at its peak.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/30 sec, f/10.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Life has pounded me down
and thrashed me around,
Time and time again,
But I always get right back up,
Because I still love life –
Just as the earth still loves
The rain.”
― Suzy Kassem
The continuing theme of the past few weeks, is ‘Saturated”, as evidenced by this dandelion seed head. Entire fields of dandelions looked like this, after days of non-stop rain and mist.
From my Sunday hiking experience, I think the only thing that likes this weather is mosquitoes, which rise from the grasses and ferns in clouds and fill my ears with their hungry hum, as I sit low to the ground to make photos of the current wildflower blossoms.
The next few days are supposed to warm up and be nice. That would be a great change, since I too, am saturated. Though, I expect teh mosquitoes will like this too.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/200 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
I’ve done something quite new. I have printed my photo “Dance in the Light”on aluminum. It brings the image to life. The play of light as you move around is almost magical.
I can’t get the video to load so am including a link to my FaceBook Page.
“A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones.”
― Abraham Lincoln
This one is a new plant for me. While hiking on Sunday, I caught a brief flash of burgundy a short distance off the trail, from the corner of my eye. As I looked from a distance, I could not make out what I was looking at. So, I decided to step off the trail to investigate.
My first step into the trail put me ankle-deep in water, which I was not aware of. I then proceeded carefully, stepping from log to log, approaching this cluster of unknown plants. It’s yet another of those, “How did I not notice theses before?”, moments. How did I not notice that the trail was also paralleled by water, beneath the undergrowth? Perhaps it has to do with the exceptional amount of rainfall we’ve had over the past several weeks. Perhaps, this water-loving plant only grows in particularly wet years?
Setting up my tripod enabled me to make several images of this wonderful and mysterious plant, though I was still challenged to get a good, sharp image, by an ever-present breeze, even at a fairly high ISO.
On my return home, I followed my routine of reviewing the images and trying to identify the plants. I could not find it at first, but after flipping through a few books and internet resources, I finally identified it as Water Avens, which now makes perfect sense to me, given that it was growing in water!
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/20 sec, f/10.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“When one tunes in into nature’s frequency, life becomes change, change becomes hope!”
― Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel
The honest truth, over the past few weeks, it’s been difficult to photograph anything that is not either dew covered, or rain-soaked. As my previous few posts have indicated, it has been WET here. To the point where I finally had a chance this past Sunday to take a brief hike in the local forests.
Even at that, it was still a bit dull, with the occasional break of sunlight. The combination of the two made it possible to get some nice photos of wildflowers, which I will be sharing over the next few days. While the dull clouds allowed for deep, saturated colours, slight breezes also meant I had to shoot at a slightly higher ISO than I like, to compensate for the movement of the flowers, which, though negligible to the naked eye, is magnified in macro imagery.
Despite having to make some modifications, the images of wildflowers at this time of year are very nice and the dew drops give them a serene feeling. Something most of us can use more of.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/13 sec, f/16.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
Pink and tiny,
you sparkle from the forest floor.
Sweet and delicate,
you lead to summer’s warmth,
from late spring rains and mist.
– Ed Lehming
This delicate pink flower, Herb Robert, is in fact, a native Geranium. While a far cry from the fancy hybridized varieties we see in gardens, this diminutive wildflower is still quite lovely.
I made this image during my recent forest hike, just after the rain had stopped, so everything has a nice fresh feel to it. The plants are quite low to the ground and since I did not want to lay right down to get a better angle, this one had to do.
My recurring thought during these forest walks is constantly, “Why did I not notice these before?”. I’ve spent most of my life enjoying the outdoors, yet seemed to have missed the finer details, which I am very happy for now. As I’ve mentioned before, I think being more deliberate about my photography has, by default, made me more observant, which I am ever more grateful for.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/160 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
High Resolution Image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“It is easier to tell a person what life is not, rather than to tell them what it is. A child understands weeds that grow from lack of attention, in a garden. However, it is hard to explain the wildflowers that one gardener calls weeds, and another considers beautiful ground cover.”
― Shannon L. Alder
As I mentioned yesterday, it’s been too long since I had the opportunity to go for a good hike, leaving time to enjoy and photograph the many wildflowers along the way. This Bunchberry is one of the many late spring wildflowers I encountered, in the wet and mosquito filled forest near my home.
I find myself ever vigilant for blossoms I have not yet encountered and some of the ones which are quite common. The bunchberry is not overly prevalent in this particular forest, isolated to a few patches just off the trail, so it was nice to find one, with a nearly pristine blossom.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/160 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“I wanted to unfurl my toes for a little while. I wanted silence, isolation and an invitation to exhale life’s complications. I heard nature’s melody and I harmonised with every single note. I needed the trees, their colours, and the sounds of wildlife breathing. I inhaled the essence of the forest and smiled as life coursed through my veins”
― Amelia Dashwood
After several extremely busy work weeks and weekends filled with family events, I finally had a chance to get on the local trails again. It seem like such a long time since I’ve hiked this trail. It also gave me a chance to check on the progress of a large group of orchids that I discovered last year.
I’m pleased to report that the population is growing and should be in bloom in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I was able to make some nice photos of the current bloomers, including this Clintonia borealis, also know as Blue Bead Lily, since the flowers each become a bright blue berry. They are beautiful, delicate flowers that grow in small clusters in certain spots along the trail.
As you can see from the photo, it had just stopped raining. The trails were near bog-like and mosquitoes rose in clouds from the damp underbrush. Ah, late spring in southern Ontario. If you think mosquitoes are a menace while hiking, you should try doing macro photography. Though I had the sense to spray myself with bug spray, the occasional mosquito still managed to fly into my eye or buzz annoyingly near my ears. I’m really looking forward to some warmer days, which will bring on the dragonflies and knock their population down a bit.
Till then, more damp days are in the forecast, ensuring the forest will be abuzz for some time.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/25 sec, f/11.0 ISO 100
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Mindfulness is not chasing the moment but sipping the nectar of the moment.”
― Amit Ray
I noticed an interesting trend in my last few images, colours seem to have progressed from whites to pinks. It’s pretty obvious when I review my media library. The colour shift through the seasons has captured my attention over the past few years. I’d say I’m becoming a lot more observant as I spend time really paying attention to my surroundings, that includes these colour patterns.
Despite my aversion to bees, and other stinging insects, I keep finding myself going back to the rhododendron, enjoying all the activity. Besides, the bees are far too busy gathering nectar to pay any attention to me.
If you look carefully, you will find a black ant in the shadows also participating in the feast. Though not shown in this image, some small snails were also enjoying the nectar as well.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/400 sec, f/10.0 ISO 100
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”
― Michael Pollan
Many years ago, my mother brought me some columbine seed from her home in Vernon, BC. She referred to them as Mountain Columbine, but they are actually Aquilegia vulgaris Nora Barlow. For me, the fact that they come from her garden, in the mountains of BC, made the name stick. They are so different to the garden varieties we have in our area and they grow very well here as perennials which seed themselves out. They produce what I call a ‘mobile’ garden, since they are seldom in the same location twice and have surprised me in how far afield they travel. I just found one plant on the opposite side of the house from last year’s crop.
They have also travelled back to BC, as my mother asked me if I had seeds to spare. Hers had been winter killed and she now had none in her garden. It’s nice to be able to send them back to the source, knowing our gardens have these same shared plants in them every year. A connection over the miles. Yes, a love of gardening and flowers seems to run i the family. My grandmother’s garden was a thing of wonder and many of her seeds have found their way to my garden, though mine is a far cry from the stunning flower beds she once had.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.0sec, f/36.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“They say you start weaving clearer, sharper memories after you’ve been to a place at least twice. Because then the reflection is more of validation. Let the rush come to you and let your senses be flushed the first time. There will be time for reflection after you’ve had your fill.”
― Psyche Roxas-Mendoza
For the past few days, I have been focussing my attention on the rhododendron in our backyard garden. It’s my first time with this beautiful flowering shrub and I’m enjoying watching it bloom.
What starts as cones at the tips of the branches soon changes to colourful clusters which burst into flower, one at a time. The blossom pictured above is an example of that process. One single flower, the first and fresh, has just opened. You can see the rest of the cluster just behind it. That cluster will open, one at a time over the next few days and remain in bloom for several days. As you can also see from a post yesterday, bees love these flowers and end up coated in pollen as they move from bloom to bloom.
From what I have read online, rhododendrons can be a challenge to maintain, as they require specific soil Ph, as well as moisture and the right amount of sunlight. I suppose this will become my ‘challenge’ plant. I’m hoping to keep it going for many years, it brings such brightness to our garden in a time when we eagerly await our summer bloomers, like peony, to brighten up our little oasis.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1 ISO 100
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Grace is neither gentleness nor fragility. Grace is treating yourself, others, and even inanimate objects with respect.”
– Kamand Kojouri
This is the image I was after when I made the image in my previous post. This is my first year planting rhododendrons and I’m not sure why I did not do it earlier. They are absolutely stunning to look at, and loaded with large beautiful blossoms, which seem to remain for a long time.
The blossoms are interesting close up, as in this image, where all the structures can be seen clearly. Coupled with watching a bee seeking nectar and literally fighting past the stiff stamens. That seems, as is often the case, to cause the bee to spend a longer period of time exposed to the flower’s pollen. If you look back at my prior image, you can see the bee is completely coated in pollen from these flowers.
Because the flowers grow in large clusters, I removed a single blossom to photograph in my studio, as efforts at using my mobile setup were thwarted by fairly windy conditions. Please spend a few moments with this blossom, there some really interesting structures to be enjoyed here.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.5sec, f/36.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
― Ray Bradbury
I went out this morning to photograph my rhododendrons, which are now in full bloom and was greeted by a hungry bee, who was busy flying from blossom to blossom, completely laden with pollen.
I’m usually a bit skittish around bees, yet having camera in hand seems to have turned that feeling off. I was fully engaged in making a few good images of the bee feeding. Of the entire series, this one appealed to me the most. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0 ISO 100
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”
― John Lubbock
This was, at one time, yet another ‘mystery’ plant that came from my mother-in-law’s garden when she moved. Many plants had finished blooming at the time she moved and I just stuck them into convenient locations and waited to see what emerged the following spring.
I almost weeded this one out, as it looks a lot like wide bladed grass when it leafs out. Then, suddenly, it’s filled with lovely white blossoms. I looked it up in one of my plant books, also discovering it’s yet another ‘non-native’ plant, imported from Eurasia and Africa as an early flowering garden plant. Of late, I’ve been sharing my photos on an amateur botany site and get some interesting reactions when I post ‘non-native’ plants. So, I think I will hold off on this one.
I made this image between frequent rain showers, which have been so prevalent the past few weeks, and the water droplets give it a nice effect.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/7.1 ISO 100
or more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
Ed Lehming Photography 
Recent Comments