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“It’s spring, and beautiful tones of yellow, in all shapes and sizes, return once more to the forest floor.” – Ed Lehming Once more, spring starts and stalls. The warm days of April have been replaced by a particularly cool and wet May. But, there is no going back, a spring warm up is inevitable and the forest wildflowers continue to progress. The regular schedule this year is a bit messed up… Read More

“Nature never ceases to amaze me with her endless variety, slight changes in form and colour are a joy to witness.” – Ed Lehming One of the things, perhaps the main thing, that I love about my hikes is the seemingly endless variety that I see. A flower, like red trilliums (trillium erectum) has so many different shapes, from broad petals to more slender versions. Deep crimson blossoms to pale pinks. The… Read More
“The intricate details in nature are a thing to behold. The closer you look, the more wonderful those details become.” – Ed Lehming For me, trout lilies mean spring is in full swing. The ground and air have warmed enough that these wonderful little flowers open up; one or two scattered randomly at first and then a profusion of yellow splashes seemingly everywhere. The more I observe them the more subtle differences… Read More
“Along forest paths, bright wildflowers dance in the gentle breeze, and an ever changing dance of colours, fragrances, and textures.” – Ed Lehming This spring has been a joy for me, as I really enjoy the multitude of spring ephemerals. Those first few green leaves and bright flowers are such a welcoming sight after months of snow and dull days. What I have found most enjoyable is the experience of discovering new… Read More
“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” ― Wallace Stegner This image makes me grin. The pine trees appear to be awash or dancing in a sea of yellow created… Read More
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” ― Maud Hart Lovelace I noticed, as I wrote this post, that I have not posted an image since May 31st. That’s what happens when you step away from something for too long; the time gets filled with other things. The discipline of posting every day has been a very fulfilling experience for me…. Read More
“Shine brightly, so you can help those who have not found their path a way through the darkness.” ― Jeffrey Fry It would simply not feel like spring without Trout Lilies. These delicate little beauties are often slow to come to bloom, but not this year. Within days they went from delicate foliage to full bloom. Whole sections of the forest were filled with theses beautiful yellow flowers and it was hard to… Read More
“Unfamiliar disturbs us; familiar comforts us! But for the wise man, unusual is more precious than the usual because it offers us a new way, a new vision, a new idea, a new world!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan Quite often, I come across scenes that make me pause, because they are unusual or momentary. For me, those scenes are a break from the mundane, everyday scenes, and I relish them. Like this image… 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
“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
“Assuming what people want is about as controlled as using fireworks to start a fire.” ― Criss Jami With all the recent celebrations of Canada’s 150th year of Confederation and the 4th of July in America these past few days, fireworks have been a bit of a theme. Many people have posted images and written about their country’s celebrations. So, when I made this image of a small group of Yellow Hawkweed, with… Read More
“Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.” – James Thurber Here’s another companion from my orchid hike. A beautiful yellow dragonfly, sunning itself in the warm trailside sunshine. If someone could help me out with its identification, that would be appreciated. I’ve had varying luck photographing dragonflies, and this is my first shot of one using my 90mm macro lens. I’m quite… Read More
“Waiting for you is as delightful as waiting for sunset.” ― Kamand Kojouri Hey, will you look at that, a flower that is not pink for a change. The seasons are turning, and as my lovely peonies fade into memory, yellow has returned in full force. This flower, which we mistakenly named ‘moon flower’ when we first got it from my mother-in-law, who also called it that, because it opens at dusk…. Read More
“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… Read More
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche I came across yet another near-expired tulip. This one’s petals reminded me of a dancer ,with arms outstretched to the sky, spinning and dancing in the sun. It would appear a final flourish is in order. Nikon D800 Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm 2.0 sec, f/36.0 ISO… Read More
“Don’t be ashamed to weep; ’tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.” ― Brian Jacques When I see yellow flowers lately, I think of my late father-in-law Maurice. He was a… Read More
“The step that we are on is only a step to the next place, and no step regardless of how massive is ever a destination.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough It’s been cool here the past few days, and the daffodils are still blooming. A handful are still opening. So, I took that as an opportunity to create this image of the daffodil blossom in its various stages of opening. I’m finding this an interesting… Read More
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” ― Plato This turned out to a very simple image. I was given a few stems of forsythia to transplant in may garden and took the opportunity to make a few photos before they dropped their flowers. I recall having one of these early blooming shrubs in the backyard growing up and then they seemed to vanish for a while. But recently ,… Read More
“Spring dances with joy in every flower and in every bud letting us know that changes are beautiful and an inevitable law of life.” ― Debasish Mridha And the flowers keep blooming. Every day more colours, more varieties, right from the garden or in the woods. It’s so nice be able to have this variety available and to be able to create good photos of them. As I’ve said previously, we tend… Read More
“Life is a first impression. You get one shot at it. Make it everlasting.” ― J.R. Rim Another ‘first’ flower. This one was completely unexpected, which makes it all the more special. I had set out to make some more photos of the newly emerged bloodroot, which went quite well, despite wind gusts that interfered in my making the exposures as long as I prefer. As I finished photographing a nice cluster of bloodroot,… Read More
“Daffodils are an optimistic flower, and foolproof. You know what Shakespeare said: “Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty.” ― Tasha Tudor The spring flower collection would not be complete without daffodils. Though the ones in my garden are just emerging, there are plenty available in stores, ranging from the now popular minis to the full sized ‘traditional’ variety. This is one of the… Read More
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet, She wore her greenest gown; She turned to the south wind And curtsied up and down. She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: “Winter is dead.” ― A.A. Milne Early December of 2016 I bid a fond adieu to yellow, the colour yellow. It seemed at that point in time, the colour yellow was completely absent in my natural… Read More
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” ― Octavia E. Butler This is where it all started, my work with black backgrounds, and it has taken me till now to finally photograph these wheat stalks. I had envisioned doing this several months ago. I went out and… Read More
“The yellow glistens. It glistens with various yellows, Citrons, oranges and greens Flowering over the skin.” ― Wallace Stevens Good bye, for the season, yellow. Now that December has arrived, there are simply no more traces of bright, sunshine yellow. In autumn, the leaves progressed from crimson, to pinks, oranges and browns, and through it all, there was always a trace of yellow. Be it from birch, maple, or tamarack, there was… Read More
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” ― Lauren DeStefano One of the beautiful effects of autumn is the glow of sunlight through changing leaves. My son referred to it a few days a ago as “looking like stained glass”. There are times when the forest glows in surreal colours,… Read More
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L.M. Montgomery Sorry, a very short post today. It’s been a busy Thanksgiving weekend and I found myself with very little time to sit and write. Yet, I made a commitment to myself at the start of the year to do at least one post every day for the year. So, here it is…quickly assembled. Yet, I want to… Read More
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or… Read More
I think I like wildflowers best,” I explain. “They just grow wherever they want. No one has to plant them. And then their seeds blow in the wind and they find a new place to grow.” – Rebecca Donovan This image was made a few days ago with my portable background. A few have asked what that setup looks like. Here’s a typical shot, using the sow thistle above as an example:… Read More
“I don’t think there’s anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me that’s because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it…. Read More
“Wildflower; pick up your pretty little head, It will get easier, your dreams are not dead.” ― Nikki Rowe I hope I have these named correctly. I’m hoping my wildflower followers will correct me as required. It’s late summer and there is a noticeable shift in the plant life. The delicate pinks and purples are going to seed and yellows and orange are starting to make their showing. I’ll miss the abundance… Read More
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