Tag Archives: Chrysanthemum

Happy September!

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

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

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To be judged by Anne Geddes – please vote for my entries!

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

Chrysanthemum blue white 2

Entry 2: Chrysanthemum dreams

Chrysanthemum white wet

Entry 3: Blooming

Rose and buds 3

5 day Black and White Challenge

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

Gardenia single 2 bw

Photo 2: Hydrangea

Hydrangea white bw

Photo 3: Cardoon

Cardoon bw

Photo 4: Mum and quills

Quills blossoms lines BW

Photo 5: Gerbera

Gerbera white faded bw

Photos behind the SA flag collage

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

Protea red  V low res

Photo 2: White HydrangeasHydrangea white V low res

Photo 3: Blue ChrysanthemumChrysanthemum blue halo

Photo 4: Green applesApples Green V low res

Photo 5: Yellow GazaniasGazanias yellow  V low res

Photo 6: Shadow hand in black and whiteshadow hand light

Photo 7: The final SA Flag collage image

SA Flag collage low res

Pale Pink Chrysanthemum

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

Chrysanthemum pale pink 2 low res

Photo 2: Single Pale Pink Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum pale pink low res

Photo 3: Pale Pink Chrysanthemum peeking

Chrysanthemum pale pink 3 low res

Photo 4: Pale Pink Chrysanthemum up close

Chrysanthemum pale pink 4 low res

Playing with petals

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

Petal arrangement low res

Photo 2: Blue Tone White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals

Petal arrangement blue 2 low res

Photo 3:  Green Tone White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals

Petal arrangement green 2 low res

Photo 4: Outline White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals

Petal arrangement outline colour 1 low res

Photo 5: Cluster Outline White Clover with rose and Chrysanthemum petals

Petal arrangement outline colour low res

Blue Chrysanthemums

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

Chrysanthemum blue low res

Photo 2: Blue Chrysanthemum and White Gypsophila

Chrysanthemum blue 2 low res

Photo 3: Blue Chrysanthemum bud

Chrysanthemum blue bud low res

Photo 4: Rooi en Blou

Chrysanthemum blue red head low res

Photo 5: Blue Chrysanthemum bud on Red rose petal

Chrysanthemum blue red petal low res

Experiments with fallen blossoms

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

Blossoms and lines 2 BW  low res

Photo: Snowball Blossoms and White Chrysanthemum with bling

White Chrysanthemum with bracelet low res

Photo: Snowball Blossoms and Orange Chrysanthemum

Orange Chrysanthemum with blossoms low res

Photo: Quills, lines and Snowball Blossoms

Quills blossoms lines BW low res

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