A Flower for Every Season
The outstanding characteristic of bleeding hearts is in my opinion, the shape of the flowers. As the plants' common name suggests, bleeding hearts bear heart-shaped flowers, from which a little "drop of blood" dangles at the bottom. On the type with pink flowers, the sides of the drop are streaked with pink during this early period; after the bloom fully opens, the drops are just white. They are truly among the most whimsical plants in our garden.
What are your favorite flowers? While these are in my top 5, my #1 favorite will bloom in June. Any ideas?
Technical data for those who want to know: Nikon D800 Iso 320 f/2.0 @1/1000
Adirondack Spring
Springtime in the Adirondacks is so magical. I love the combination of evergreens, still waters and blue skies. It is definitely one of my favorite seasons of year, as well as summer, autumn and winter. wink emoticon Each year, I make several trips north to unwind and soak in the wondrous beauty of the Adirondack Park. My spring trip is always the same weekend but whether or not the season cooperates is another story. This year, the weather couldn't have been better but it was clear that the slow arrival of spring would mean very little foliage or plant life. So that automatically presents a photographic challenge. Autumn is easy. The leafs change color and everywhere you look is spectacular beauty. But how do you find the beauty in between seasons? How can you step outside of your particular way of seeing to see things differently? That's a challenge I put before myself every time. While I appreciate my "brand" and enjoy having my style recognizable, I also want to make sure that I'm not limiting my ability to see things anew. It's really an exciting challenge and throughout the weekend I was really having a blast finding the gold otherwise hidden. Here's a sampling:
Grizzle Ocean is a rather small pond and only 1.1 miles from the South end of Putnam Pond in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness. Busy beavers make dramatic changes to the wilderness over time and thereby create a very diverse landscape. Fallen deciduous trees are juxtaposed against thriving evergreens. Sunlight carefully illuminates a fallen birch against a forest background resting in soft shadows. Calm waters offer beautiful reflections and bring a sense of peace to the world and within. If you would like to view all the images or see these individually, please follow this link.
The Sweetest Days of Summer
Children and Grandchildren! Nothing fills our hearts more than time spent together. Enjoy this video of my beautiful granddaughter!
From the school at Pont Leocan, Haiti
My second mission trip to Haiti to build a school and once again, it's the children that captured my heart. It's amazing to me to be in an environment where I am not only in the minority but in an odd way, a side show. The children crowd around wanting to be photographed and even more, wanting to hold my hand or hug me. I almost feel as if I'm on exhibit but the genuine affection they convey quickly puts me at ease. The most difficult time I had was trying to focus my camera and as you'll see, sometimes, it didn't work out. All of the children in Haiti are required to wear a uniform in order to attend school. Unfortunately, many of the families cannot afford them. In spite of the difficulties, the children still exude bright, loving smiles!
