February 20, 2008

20. Rose #3

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This photo is similiar to yesterday's but the main rose is a little closer and the background roses, a little more out of focus.

Posted on February 20, 2008 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 19, 2008

19. Rose #2

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Another photograph of a rose.

Posted on February 19, 2008 12:36 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 18, 2008

18. Rose

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I bought Leanne a bouquet of roses and gave them to her on our way to Ottawa where they stayed in our hotel room. One morning while she was getting ready, I took a few minutes to photograph them.

This is one of those photos. It was lit by window light by the morning light coming in to our room filtered by sheer drapes.

Posted on February 18, 2008 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 7, 2008

07. Tongue

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Another orchid photo from my visit to the Niagara Falls Greenhouse with my father.

Posted on February 7, 2008 02:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 6, 2008

06. Orchid

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I was out with my father the other night at the Niagara Parks Floral Showcase (the greenhouse) where we took some photos of their many orchids.

Having shot orchids in the wild this was definitely not exciting, but the are still pretty nonetheless.

Some of my wild orchid shots:
Showy
Yellow Slipper
Spotted Tongue
Hat and Curls

Posted on February 6, 2008 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

November 13, 2007

13. Rose and Fern

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This is a two light setup of a rose I bought Leanne last week and some of the greenery that decorated the rose. For this photo I used one flash (about 1/16 power) to the right of the rose about 3 feet away to provide lighting on the rose. I used a second flash (also about 1/16 power) fired through the leaves of the fern directing the shadow on the background. This setup was about 6 feet away from the wall.

Neither light affected the other. The light on the flower did not spill over to the wall, and the light for the background shapes did not spill on to the flower. Using this simple setup and a variety of gobo's (which is what the fern acted as in this case) would provide unlimited possibilities for this one simple setup.

Posted on November 13, 2007 02:05 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

September 10, 2007

10. Dragonfly

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Though we though bug season was over, we lucked out and found this guy not too long ago. This is the same dragonfly I posted here.

I really like this image. I think it is the background that I like the most.

Posted on September 10, 2007 10:34 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

August 17, 2007

17. Orchid and Shadow

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I had been looking to buy one of this orchids for a while but just couldn't bring myself to spending $20-$40 on a plant that in all likelihood I will kill. A few months back a local grocery store had one for $2.00. It was badly in need of some TLC but I thought I'd take it anyway!

I placed it in my front window, called a friend who has spent a lot of time growing these and though she told me they do not really like direct light, suggested that I leave it where it was as it did bloom after I got it.

I then burned the leaves of the plant in the front sunlit window.

I've moved it to another location where it receives filtered light, Leanne fed it with some fertilizer we had around and even though the leave are very badly damaged, it threw another spike that you now see here.

I shot this with direct light from my Canon strobe specifically to capture the hard shadow on the wall. This is unlike most of the other flowers (like this and this) I have shot at home where I try to use large, diffuse light.

I used this technique once in the past to photograph a rose.

Posted on August 17, 2007 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 1, 2007

01. Hollyhock - Again

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This is the last Hollyhock photo I am posting, for now anyway. John and I had been driving down the road when I saw this stand of hollyhock being back lit from the sun. My original image of how I wanted to capture them flowers was not working out, so I settled for some macro photos of the flowers with the dew on them.

Posted on August 1, 2007 04:08 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 31, 2007

31. Morning Dew On Hollyhock #2

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Another photograph of a dewy hollyhock

Posted on July 31, 2007 04:02 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 30, 2007

30. Morning Dew On Hollyhock #1

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Morning dew on Hollyhock

Posted on July 30, 2007 03:58 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 29, 2007

29. Hollyhock

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Posted on July 29, 2007 03:56 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 27, 2007

27. Sunflower

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Posted on July 27, 2007 09:59 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

July 7, 2007

07. Hairstreak

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Posted on July 7, 2007 03:13 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 5, 2007

05. Dragonfly and Daisy

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Posted on July 5, 2007 09:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 3, 2007

03. Geranium

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Wild Geranium shot the past spring.

Posted on July 3, 2007 07:32 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 20, 2007

20. Wake Robin

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Posted on May 20, 2007 06:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 19, 2007

19. White Wake Robin

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This was shot at the Niagara Falls Botanical Gardens last weekend on an outing with the Niagara Falls Camera Club. Up until then I didn't know Wake Robins came in white.

Posted on May 19, 2007 10:25 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 12, 2007

12. Trillium Pair

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A pair of white Trillium's.

Posted on May 12, 2007 03:54 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

May 11, 2007

11. Early Trillium

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Posted on May 11, 2007 03:48 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 29, 2007

29. Lone Bloom and Rain Drops

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Posted on April 29, 2007 10:30 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 28, 2007

28. Daffodils

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Daffodils in Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls.

Posted on April 28, 2007 09:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 26, 2007

26. Unfurling

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According to Movable Type, today's image is my 800th posting. This is small fern by the looks of it I shot last weekend.

Posted on April 26, 2007 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 25, 2007

25. Hepatica #2

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This is another photo of Hepatica similiar to yesterday's.

Posted on April 25, 2007 11:36 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

April 5, 2007

05. Crocus and Snow

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We had a light snow fall last night that blanketed one of my last blooming crocus plants in the yard. I took a few minutes to document the snowfall.

Posted on April 5, 2007 04:02 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

March 17, 2007

17. Tulip

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My last shot of my now dying tulips. I wish I had composed this photo better than I had.

Posted on March 17, 2007 11:13 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

March 10, 2007

10. Tulip #3

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Another tulip photograph. The tulip is opening nicely so I might get some more shots of it later today.

Happy birthday Mom.

Posted on March 10, 2007 09:37 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

March 9, 2007

09. Tulip

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I like both the softness and texture of this photo. Again, another picture of the tulip I bought last week.

Posted on March 9, 2007 08:09 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink

March 8, 2007

08. Spring Tulip

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The small flower pots I bought last week have started to bloom. I was shocked that the tulips actually bloomed, there are 3 bulbs crammed into a four inch pot. As you can see in this photo, the tulip is just starting to bloom.

Posted on March 8, 2007 09:43 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 19, 2007

19. Gerbera

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The past few photos were shot in my living room using either window light through sheer curtains or as the sun dropped, a small light box for illumination. I used my 24 x 36 diffuser with the light box for a soft light and colour balanced my white balanced setting to the flourescent tubes.

On the other side of the flower I used a 22" reflector, rotating between silver or soft gold to add some light back into the dark side of the flower.

This photo of a Gerbera was a long 30 second exposure using the lightbox for a light source, f 25 for maximum depth of field and ISO 100 for the least amount of noise.

Posted on February 19, 2007 06:00 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

February 18, 2007

18. Gerbera

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Posted on February 18, 2007 01:33 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 17, 2007

17. Dying

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Posted on February 17, 2007 01:31 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

February 16, 2007

16. A Rose by Any Other Name

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One of the most common ways to photograph a rose. Probably with good reason.

Posted on February 16, 2007 03:50 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink

February 14, 2007

14. Valentine's Day Roses

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Happy Valentine's Day Leanne.

Posted on February 14, 2007 06:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

January 31, 2007

31. Morning Mayfly

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This photo of a mayfly was shot 18 months ago (July 31, 2005). I came across this photo while reviewing some of my older work which happened to be the subject of my latest tip.

You can read it here.

Posted on January 31, 2007 12:49 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

January 20, 2007

20. Showy

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My second competition image for this month. This is a Showy 's LadySlipper.

Posted on January 20, 2007 11:40 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

January 19, 2007

19. Yellow Slipper

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Yellow lady slipper. This is one of my competition images.

Posted on January 19, 2007 01:14 AM | Comments (4) | Permalink

December 29, 2006

29. Black Eyed Susans

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Black eyed susans, in camera effect, from the archives.

Posted on December 29, 2006 11:52 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

October 11, 2006

11. Crab Spider

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This is a different crab spider than the one I previously showed. They are both on the same flower, birdsfoot cingfoil though in a different location.

Posted on October 11, 2006 11:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

September 15, 2006

15. Crab Spider

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Posted on September 15, 2006 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

September 14, 2006

14. Indian Paintbrush

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Indian Paintbrush on the Bruce

Posted on September 14, 2006 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

September 11, 2006

11. Striped Coral Root

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Striped Coral Root shot in the Bruce Penninsula this summer.

Posted on September 11, 2006 01:56 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

August 23, 2006

23. Ring and Rose

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This is the second shot I did for Leanne of her engagement ring and a rose.

Posted on August 23, 2006 10:49 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 22, 2006

22. For Leanne

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Leanne asked me to take this photo for her. She has been watching a lot of wedding websites looking for photo ideas for our wedding and this was something she liked.

Posted on August 22, 2006 11:32 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 3, 2006

03. Bee

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Posted on August 3, 2006 11:56 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 1, 2006

01. Beetle on Butter and Eggs

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This spotted ladybug was not my intended focal point for this photo, but once I got closer to the flowers, decided she should be in there.

Posted on August 1, 2006 08:30 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

July 17, 2006

17. Crab Spider and Fly

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This shot of a crab spider and fly was taken a few weeks ago. I originally set up to shoot the bird-footed cingfoil (trefoil?) and after my first shot notice a blur in the photo. Zooming in to identify the blur I noticed the crab spider. I photographed the pair for a little while after that.

Posted on July 17, 2006 12:00 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink

July 16, 2006

16. Five

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Posted on July 16, 2006 09:15 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

July 2, 2006

02. Resting

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This Cabbage White is resting calmly on clover, basking before flying for the first time in the morning.

Posted on July 2, 2006 09:13 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

June 29, 2006

29. Spotted Tongue

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This is the second of three yellow lady slipper photographs I am posting. Tomorrow's will be the last before I move on to other subjects, even though I so many other photgraphs I could post.

Posted on June 29, 2006 09:06 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

June 28, 2006

28. Hat and Curls

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This orchid seems to be wearing a hat and curly locks.

Posted on June 28, 2006 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

June 24, 2006

24. Ram's Head

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This was found purely by chance and was likely one of the last of the flowering Ram's Head orchids. We found it under the low lying branch of a cedar tree. It was not really accessible, and sensitivity of the area surrounding it, shot it where it was, from where we were. Really not ideal conditions, but you make do with what you have.

Posted on June 24, 2006 11:32 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

June 21, 2006

21. Yellow Lady Slipper

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The yellow lady slipper is one of the orchids we took our trip to photograph. The yellow lady slipper is fairly common where we were. Last year, we found one stemless yellow lady slipper here in the Niagara Region.

Posted on June 21, 2006 08:20 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

June 15, 2006

15. Showy (Queen's) Lady Slipper

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The Showy Lady's Slipper was just at the very beginning of it's blooming season and we were fortunate to find a small patch of them flowering. We did see others that had not even developed the buds yet. We photographed these on two occasions during our trip taking advantage of different lighting at different times of the day. The Showy is Canada's largest orchid and these were about 20" high.

I will post my original image I had planned for today, tomorrow, and then will post some of my shots from my trip in the days following.

Some blog stats so far:
500 Entries
514 Images (some days will post variations)
314 Comments
Visits from more than 96 countries
Most Posted in category: Nature
Least Posted in category: Dragonflies

Posted on June 15, 2006 06:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 31, 2006

31. Droplets

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Another macro photograph of morning dew resting on geranium.

Posted on May 31, 2006 01:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 30, 2006

30. Drops of Water

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Drops of dew on the petals of a wild geranium.

Posted on May 30, 2006 11:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 18, 2006

18. Columbine

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Columbine shot while on a walk this past Sunday. There were several plants in the area, but they were growing on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, and it was a 15 foot drop just on the other side. I would have liked to have been able to shoot a a few other angles. Maybe this weekend.

Posted on May 18, 2006 10:07 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 13, 2006

13. Jack in the Pulpit

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Jack in the Pulpit.

Posted on May 13, 2006 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 12, 2006

12. Geranium

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The geranium in flower.

Posted on May 12, 2006 08:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

May 11, 2006

11. Morning Bud

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Another macro photo of a wild geranium bud.

I can't believe for the second day in a row, I have left my post as a draft! Here it is though.

Posted on May 11, 2006 08:53 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

May 10, 2006

10. Geranium Bud

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Back to the wildflowers. This is a wild geranium bud. It was a frosty May morning, and as the frost melted created the great droplets of dew. I wish that I had photographed the frost on the leaves. There was some wild strawberry plants nearby as well that we covered in a beautiful frost.

Posted on May 10, 2006 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

May 7, 2006

07. Spring Buds

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While out with Scott and John last weekend, I shot these small beauties. Under the canopy of the growing forest, the light was fantastic, allowing for this wonderful, soft photo.

Posted on May 7, 2006 09:35 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

May 6, 2006

06. Trout Lily

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This is the bud of a trout lily. This wild flower will open up and resemble a day or easter lily, though I expect it would be smaller.

Posted on May 6, 2006 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 30, 2006

30. Tulip

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The same tulip as yesterday, only in a different angle.

On a differnt note, last night I attended the Niagara Falls Camera Club annual awards banquet. I received a number of awards, including the McGarry Photo award for Slide of the Year for my shot of an Eastern Tailed Blue butterfly. I also received honour awards in the slide of the year, colour print of the year and monochrome print of the year competitions as well as top in the Gold division for both slides and monochrome prints. Finally, I was installed as the new President of the Niagara Falls Camera Club.

Posted on April 30, 2006 06:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 29, 2006

29. Garden Tulip

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This is my first Tulip to blossom in my garden. The small joys of home ownership.

Posted on April 29, 2006 09:39 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

April 26, 2006

26. Dutchman's Breeches

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I was out Sunday with Scott and John in a light rain. Once we decided that conditions were favourable for shooting some spring wildflowers, we walked back to get our equipment. That is when is started to rain harder. We shot for a little bit anyway before it got really bad. This was about the best shot I could get off before things became too wet to continue without proper rain gear.

Posted on April 26, 2006 10:14 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

April 9, 2006

09. Flowers for Sale

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Flowers for sale along Queen Street in Toronto on a rainy day. Why does it always rain when I am in Toronto walking around hoping to shoot?

Posted on April 9, 2006 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 20, 2005

20. Rose

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I have not had much chance to shoot this week... pulling from the archives instead.

Yesterday marked another milestone, image 200!

Posted on August 20, 2005 08:39 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

August 18, 2005

18. Bee on Black Eyed Susan

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This is a photo I shot last year (I have been busy the week or so and haven't been out with my camera) that has done very well in competitions. I received a Diamond award for it in competition at the Niagara Falls Camera Club and and honour awards at the Rainbow Competition; a yearly competition between the Niagara Falls Camera Club (Niagara Falls, Ont) and Twin Cities Camera Club (Tonawanda, NY). It also received an honourable mention at this year's Niagara Frontier Regional Camera Clubs Annual Convention.

Remarkably, for this magnification, I was able to shoot this hand held.

Posted on August 18, 2005 06:00 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

August 17, 2005

17. Thistle

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The prickly weed we all know actually has a nice little flower on it.

Posted on August 17, 2005 06:03 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

August 12, 2005

12. Green butterfly

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When Leanne and I were in Letchworth, there were butterflies everywhere. Overlooking the Mt. Morris dam is a field of wild flowers that was teeming with them, bright yellows and greens, red and orange, black and white. I was able to get this shot in (a sulphur maybe?) but would love to have an early morning there for some really nice ones, like this, or this.

Posted on August 12, 2005 06:38 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink

June 20, 2005

20. Daisy

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When I was out at Mud Lake with Dave yesterday, I did not find what I was looking for, so I was left to shoot some abstractions, pattern shots and this daisy. Wildflowers are usually not pristine and as such, often have spots on them, pollen littering their petals or even broken petals. All in all, this was was fairly nice.

Posted on June 20, 2005 06:00 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

June 18, 2005

18. Golden Grasses

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I had every intention on shooting today, and even had a few things that I thought we make good subjects. But, as it turns out, I never even brought my camera out (though I had it with me). I am out in the morning again and hopefully will have better luck than I have been having the past few Sunday's.

This photo was shot last year, at sunset, at the School of Horticulture in Niagara Falls. The same place shot from earlier this week were taken.

June 15, 2005
June 16, 2005
June 17, 2005

Posted on June 18, 2005 10:36 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

June 17, 2005

17. Multiplicity

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This is a photo montage inspired by the works of Andre Gallant. This is a composite of 3 images in 7 layers. If you don't know what that means, then just enjoy the image. If you do, then don't anaylze it...

Posted on June 17, 2005 10:55 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

June 12, 2005

12. Goat's Beard

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I went out this morning looking for some more damselflies. We found many, but the conditions were not good for shooting them. We did find a few of these flowers that we shot, and also some daisies (rather common, but nice none the less).

Posted on June 12, 2005 01:31 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

June 5, 2005

05. Viola

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A Viola from my garden.

Posted on June 5, 2005 09:03 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

June 4, 2005

04. Ready To Fly

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A dandelion gone to seed. i hope this is the last one for this year so I can get the rest of my yard looking nice. Shot early this morning.

Posted on June 4, 2005 02:42 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink