Flowers can even make the mundane task of grocery shopping fun. I spotted this delectable bunch of fresh chrysanthemums and they just called out to me to be purchased for some photos!
Photo 1: Pink Chrysanthemums Calling
Photo 2: Pink and pretty
Photo 3: Chrysanthemum bouquet
September is worth celebrating! Not just because it’s my birthday month but my husband celebrates his a few days before mine too!
I found this poem by John Updike to be a lovely reflection of the feel of September where we are.
Wishing you all a fabulous September!
Photo 1: Mother cuts Chrysanthemums
September Poem by John Updike
The breezes taste
of apple peel.
The air is full
of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
burning brush,
new books, erasers,
chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
well-honeyed hum,
and Mother cuts
chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
with suds, the days
are polished with
a morning haze.
Photo 2: Yellow Chrysanthemum Buttons
There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of Anne Geddes. The wonderful creativity and unique niche of her photography is so distinctive.
FineArtAmerica is currently hosting a National TV photo contest that she will be judging. The winners of the competition will appear in their next TV commercial which is scheduled to begin airing in July 2015.
To make it through the first round your photos need to get at least 250 votes. There are thousands of entries and the last number I saw of shares of the competition were over 38 000! Some lovely people have already voted for my work and that was very heartwarming!
Competition is so tough but since this is the week of shipping for the #YourTurnChallenge I have submitted my three entries and I’m hoping for the best!
So if you like what you see – please vote for me! Clicking on the image will take you directly to the voting page.
Entry 1: Chrysanthemum
Entry 2: Chrysanthemum dreams
Entry 3: Blooming
A Facebook friend just nominated me for a 5 day Black and White challenge. From my artist page stats it appears that black and white photos of flowers are an acquired or particular taste as these tend to be my least popular. Unless I just still need to learn to take better black and white floral pics!
Photo 1: Gardenia
Photo 2: Hydrangea
Photo 3: Cardoon
Photo 4: Mum and quills
Photo 5: Gerbera
I recently posted a collage of photos making up the South African flag to celebrate Freedom Day and someone has asked me about the images I used – so here they are for those who are interested. I tried to use flowers that reminded me of SA so there are white hydrangeas, yellow gazanias and a red protea. The only blue flower image I had that is common in SA was the Chrysanthemum. Apple trees grew in the yard at my childhood home so I used them for the green. The black and white image of the hand in the black section is my son’s taken while we played with a torch during Earth hour while the rest of the house was in darkness. This process got me into the experiment with gradients as I needed to colour match the photos and the flag.
Photo 1: Red Protea
Photo 2: White Hydrangeas
Photo 3: Blue Chrysanthemum
Photo 4: Green apples
Photo 5: Yellow Gazanias
Photo 6: Shadow hand in black and white
Photo 7: The final SA Flag collage image
I am having so much fun getting to know my Canon EOS 40D. It’s a lot heavier than the Lumix but responds so well to my needs. Now to save for a nice macro lens!
Photo 1: Face of a Pale Pink Chrysanthemum
Photo 2: Single Pale Pink Chrysanthemum
Photo 3: Pale Pink Chrysanthemum peeking
Photo 4: Pale Pink Chrysanthemum up close
While I was outside trying to find a nice spot to take pics of my flowers I was surprised by this unexpected visitor. Must say that it moved rather quickly.
Photo 1: Ladybird on yellow Chrysanthemum
Photo 2: Chrysanthemum visitor
Photo 3: Yellow Chrysanthemum and Ladybird
Since there are so many photographs with flowers as their main subjects I have been thinking about ways to create unique images – so I started playing with petal arrangements. Then I started experimenting with colours on the petal arrangements – here are some of the results. Tell me what you think please.
Photo 1: White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals
Photo 2: Blue Tone White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals
Photo 3: Green Tone White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals
Photo 4: Outline White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals
Photo 5: Cluster Outline White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals
Although I enjoy flowers in their natural states it’s sometimes fun to see them in quirky or unusual ways such as these blue Chrysanthemums that I recently purchased as a table decoration. If you like you can even dye your flowers.
Photo 1: Blue Chrysanthemum
Photo 2: Blue Chrysanthemum and White Gypsophila
Photo 3: Blue Chrysanthemum bud
Photo 4: Rooi en Blou
Photo 5: Blue Chrysanthemum bud on Red rose petal
The viburnum opulus snowball growing in our yard is losing it’s blossoms fast and creating a shower of pretty white petals like confetti. Seeing them lying on the ground gave me an idea for a photo experiment and this is the result.
Photo: Snowball Blossoms and lines
Photo: Snowball Blossoms and White Chrysanthemum with bling
Photo: Snowball Blossoms and Orange Chrysanthemum
Photo: Quills, lines and Snowball Blossoms
