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“If you want the beautiful moments to shine, you have to contrast that with dark and gruesome moments. That’s the way life is.” – Tony DiTerlizzi One of the many common blossom in this ‘purple phase’ of summer blooms is, of course, the Bull Thistle. Though, it could almost make it for the ‘pink phase’ as well. During my drives north, I have seen many Bull Thistles blooming and wondered what was… Read More
“Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.” – Debby Boone The next stage after the blooming of a flower, is the seed stage. I suppose I was surprised to see several of the Queen Anne’s Lace plants were already at this stage, so early in the season. I call this the “basket” stage. The flowers have been pollinated and the… Read More
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun. “ – Pablo Picasso The Yellow Coneflowers literally quiver in the slight breeze, their delicate petals, like small yellow rags, seem to barely hang on. Such is the scene in a local field, where Yellow Coneflowers are common. Even the gentle breeze of a hot summer day create movement in these flowers. It’s very nice… Read More
“A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo As I write this, thunder is booming and the rain is coming down in sheets. Only moments before, my wife cut one of our Annabelle Hydrangea blossoms, for fear of them being further damaged. You see, this year, with all the rain we’ve had, the blossoms are huge. By huge, I mean the size… Read More
“Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.” – Georges Bernanos Have you noticed the summer shift to purple and yellow? The pattern repeats. There is a gradual shift from pinks to purples and yellows. Thistles, bergamot, vervain for purples, yellow coneflower, sunflower, wood sorrel, and sunflower for yellow. It’s a definite shift in colours and the pollinators,… Read More
“Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that. “ – Jon Kabat-Zinn It’s allergy double jeopardy, a bee on ragweed. Strange, I used to have a real aversion to bees and wasps. Now that I am pursuing more macro images, I find myself surrounded by them, as I strain for that next… Read More
“With caps of regal purple, the delicate blossoms gently sway, on the tide of warm a summer breeze. The sweet aroma of nectar, wafts in the air, an elixir for butterflies, wasps, and bees.” – Ed Lehming In the meadow just up the street from my home, there is a patch of beautiful purple Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum sibericum), a hybrid of native wildflower, more common in warmer climes. However, I have the… Read More
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock What can I say? Wildflowers in a gentle summer breeze, what can be better? This group of Yellow Coneflowers, springing from a sea of Wild Bergamot on a clear,… Read More
“Lazy Summer Skies” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 31 of 2017 “When people look at clouds they do not see their real shape, which is no shape at all, or every shape, because they are constantly changing. They see whatever it is that their heart yearns for.” ― José Eduardo Agualusa An often overlooked texture is the sky above us, with its infinite variations, never the same… Read More
“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. “ – Henry David Thoreau There is no shortage of insect life on the Queen Anne’s Lace this summer. It seems to be especially popular to various bugs and beetles. Here, a Japanese Beetle tours the outer flowerettes, I’m assuming looking for a meal of nectar…. Read More
“Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.” – Jeremy Bentham A quick shot today of a honey bee stretching for the nectar of a milkweed blossom. Nikon D800 Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm 1/160 sec, f/16.0 ISO 200 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
The more often we see the things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less. – Joseph B. Wirthlin The quote above really resonates with… Read More
A soul mate’s purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master…” ― Elizabeth Gilbert I gazed at this Queen Anne’s Lace flower in amazement. I had never noticed the pink… Read More
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. “ – John Muir Simple beauty will suffice for me. In this case, a brightly coloured Box Elder beetle, one of many insects partaking in the bounty of nectar within this patch of Canada thistles I’m spending a lot of time with. Soon, they will fade and… Read More
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. “SV Blackjack” – Cabin Door This image is quite a departure from my regular ‘doors’ images. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see a Tall Ship Regatta stop in the small port town of Bath, Ontario. Bath, is a small… Read More
“The blues of summer, flowers and bright skies. Days of warmth and laughter, and lakefront evening sighs.” – Ed Lehming This seems to be season of the hoverfly. They are everywhere I look. Not that’s a bad thing, by any means, they are an interesting insect and quite colourful too. Though, I have yet to photograph one in flight. I found this pair while photographing a chicory blossom a few days ago…. Read More
We have to know our place in the ecosystem of which we are a part, and this means living ‘consciously’: being aware of nature and how it affects us and how we, in turn, affect nature.” ― Sebastian Pole I am so pleased lately to see so many bees. For the past few years they have been scarce, especially honeybees. There are many pollinators out there, but honeybees have been exceptionally rare around… Read More
“If it comes, let it come. If it goes, it’s ok, let it go. Let things come and go. Don’t let anything disturb your peace. Stay calm and carry on.” ― Germany Kent “Nodding in the Garden” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 30 of 2017 I had no particular reason for making this image, other than it was peaceful. That’s often the way of it; I have… Read More
“When you overlook the small blessings in your life, chances are that no amount of blessings would ever make you happy.” ― Edmond Mbiaka I thought today I’d go out and capture a very simple image of a flower, which sadly, flourishes in my gardens. I have no idea where it came from, but I do know it loves to call my gardens home, despite me constantly weeding it out. The plant is… Read More
“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” ― Anaïs Nin An unknown butterfly on an unknown flower. It really bothers me not to be able to identify the subject matter of my photos, but I can’t figure out what either is. The purple flowers grow in a small cluster in a single location. I’m wondering if it’s an escapee from somebody’s garden…. Read More
“Everyone is busy, yet we all have access to the same amount of time.” ― Chris Guillebeau The prevalent activity around here lately is bees and blooms. It’s so nice to see bees after a few years where bees, particularly honeybees, seemed to be quite scarce around here. I returned to my patch of Canada Thistle and simply stood for a while, watching all the activity, including the numerous species of pollinators. From… Read More
“Be music always. Keep changing the keys, tones, pitch, and volume of each of the songs you create along your life’s journey and play on.” ― Suzy Kassem Today marks just about a year since I started into my studio based floral photographs. What started in my mind, as I drove past ripe wheat fields, as a vision of photographing some of the wheat under controlled lighting, quickly changed gears when those images… Read More
“What will remain is neither you nor me but what we shared among each other.” ― Santosh Kalwar Every now and then, an unexpected image just ‘happens’. Yesterday, as I went for a lunchtime walk to the meadow north of my house I came across these three hoverflies positioned perfectly on a cinquefoil blossom. I could not have asked for a more cooperative group of insects, as they sat there, seemingly unbothered by… Read More
“Red Clover Detail” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 29 of 2017 It’s been many weeks since I posted a texture image but thought that this close up of a clover blossom was a good candidate. What looks like a single pink-purple flower from a distance is in fact a series of delicate striped flowers. Even the leaves have fine hairs adding another bonus texture. Nikon D800… Read More
“You can ponder perpetual motion, Fix your mind on a crystal day, Always time for a good conversation, There’s an ear for what you say Come on the risin’ wind, We’re goin’ up around the bend. “ – Creedence Clearwater Revival As I considered this image, the words to the Creedance Clearwater Revival song came into my head and I could not shake them and thus, the title came to be. It… Read More
“Not everyone takes action to harvest the experiences of the seasons of life in order to enjoy their bounty.” ― Andrea Goeglein This image is quite similar to yesterday’s Bee and Thistle image, but the thistle here is white and the pollinator is a hover fly. I made the photo a few minutes after the bee image, and in a different patch of thistle. I was quite surprised to see white Canada Thistle and… Read More
“Mindfulness is not the path of chasing. It is the path of beautification. When flowers blossom, the fragrance spreads, and the bees come.” ― Amit Ray I stood among this patch of Canada Thistle, enjoying the activity of bees, bugs, and beetles, noting just how much activity there was. One could stand for only a few minutes and see the incredible diversity of life drawn to a single species of flower in bloom…. Read More
A small black gem, floating on gossamer wings. Flitting and fluttering, till the summer’s end. – Ed Lehming A member of the damselfly family, this ebony jewelwing floated from branch to branch around me for several minutes before finally settling on a leaf. It required a slow and cautious approach to get within shooting range and I only managed a few shots before it took to the sky once more. I really… Read More
“Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald This one just struck me as funny. So often I see birds landing on plants that can barely hold them, but I would not have expected it from a fly. After all, fly weight is an expression for very light, is it not? After running short of material, I went for… Read More
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. “Private Parking – Bath Ontario” This door caught my attention, as do the many unusual doors I pass on a daily basis. This one struck me as funny. The door is the entrance to what looks to have been a small residence or… Read More
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