Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I Take Pictures

When I was a kid I asked for a camera for a birthday and I must have received one because I remember playing with it.  I have no idea what kind of camera it was but it took the standard Kodak film (probably 35 mm, right?).  Depending upon the film, you'd either get 24 or 36 pictures.  And when you took them you just looked through the view finder and trusted that what you were looking at would eventually show up on the film.

It was expensive.  First you had to pay a couple bucks for the film.  Then you had to pay a few bucks to have it developed.  Most of the time you got about 3 or 4 pictures that were worth taping to your wall or to the inside of your locker.  

Photography has certainly changed, but my success rates with taking pictures hasn't necessarily kept pace.  I'm more of a writer than a photographer.  I would like to take better pictures and hopefully some day I will have extra time to devote to that pursuit.  But for now, the quality of my pictures is pretty much dictated by luck and whatever random acts of kindness mother nature bestows upon me.

Having said that, I'd like to share a few photos that I've taken recently that I am more or less happy with.  These are the few that I wouldn't have thrown away if I'd paid for them to be developed.

This first one was taken yesterday evening.  Sometimes I take pictures of my garden just so I can refer back to them later on and remember what was in bloom at that time of year.  This one will remind me that the container-grown carrots still weren't ready to harvest, that the tulips were still hanging on, and that my four-legged buddy was looking old and sleepy.


I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to title a photo, but if I had to, I might call this "Happily Accidental" because I really thought I had dug up the iris rhizomes and tulip bulbs.  Apparently I missed a few.  I think I'll just let them stay as long as they insist on making things look good in spite of my efforts to eradicate them.


I find Japanese maples to be impossible to photograph well.  If you back up far enough to get the whole tree it seems like you miss some of the finer details that make them so special.  But if you get too close and focus on the leaves, you miss the awesome structure of the branches.  But the leaves are easier to photograph, especially this time of year, so here are some of my favorites of the moment:

Beni Schichihenge
Red Dragon by my iron chair
Katsura leaves
Otto's Dissectum
Murasaki Kiyohime
And here are a couple pictures that, when I look at, I find myself saying, "Man, flowers can be really cool."  



That's all for now.  Thanks for indulging my little photo essay.  

14 comments:

  1. Those are some beautiful photos. Love your Japanese Maples, you have some nice ones.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Thanks, Cher. I'm a little obsessed with my Japanese maples these days so it's fun to share them.

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  2. Note to self: Find room for one more maple....Murasaki Kiyohime. Wow that is beautiful.

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    1. Toni, you won't regret it and, perhaps the best thing about it, is that it is a dwarf so finding room for it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. It absolutely needs afternoon shade though.

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  3. Love your maples. And your irises and tulips look beautiful. Isn't it wonderful that we have digital cameras now - no paying for film, no waiting for it to be processed. Can you imagine how few pictures would be on blogs if we had to pay money for pictures of our flowers!!? :)

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    1. Right? Besides the cost of developing film, imagine the work that would have to go into it. You'd have to go to the store to buy the film, take it in to be processed, go back and pick it up, take it home and scan it, and then post it . . . I'm pretty sure I'd have a pictureless blog if that were the case.

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  4. Very pretty! I love Japanese maples. I wish I had a bigger lot with some more shade to grow more of them!

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    1. Indie - you and me both. My lot is just over 1/5th of an acre and that includes the part the house takes up and most of my backyard gets full sun right now. Consequently, about 80% of my Japanese maples have to be kept in pots on the north side of my house. I'm really out of room now but I keep buying them anyway.

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  5. I thought I commented here, but am having difficulty leaving comments - a WP issue. You are a great writer with very engaging stories. Don't sell yourself short on your photography either. I love that last shot. I started with film photography and darkroom work and do not miss it one bit. OK, maybe the darkroom work a little. You could get creative in there.

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    1. Thank you for the compliments, Donna. I always thought working the darkroom would be a pretty fun part of the hobby. Seems like it would be a nice creative outlet.

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  6. I think you did a fine job with all of the photos -- even with the Japanese maples. I especially like the one with the iron chair. The colors work well together! Looking forward to more photos.

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    1. Thanks Kevin. I liked that shot too. I was trying to be artsy with it. :)

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  7. Love the shot with the Maple backing the iron chair...great mix of textures! I've found that the things that helps me get better at photography are to take pictures as often as I can....and to look at other people's photos for inspiration :-)

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    1. Thanks Scott. I'm glad you like that photo and I appreciate the tips. Thanks to the internet I get to see a lot of great photos that others have taken but the hard part is turning that inspiration into something I can mimic. I'm going to keep at it though.

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