patricia emerson mitchell photography
the way I see the world
It is only 8:23 and it is already over 60° here in my corner of the world. Sigh.
Rain. I. Want. Rain.
Still, I will greet you with a flower, because it seems like the right thing to do. I made this yesterday. I appreciate it when a magnolia flower drops only some of its tepals (yes, I spelled that correctly!) so I can shoot the carpels and stamens more easily.
(I’m tempted to rework this in black and white: I suspect it would look quite good that way.)
Magnolia Center (I), 1.26.15
Bright Rose, 1.16.15
It’s been an interesting evening. I went to mat the photos I’d printed up for the Sierra Art Trails exhibit, and realized that I had to print on larger paper due to the mat opening size. Unfortunately my printer doesn’t do anything larger than 13 x 19, so I had to move to Dan’s larger printer. I purchased paper for his printer, but I sure wasn’t ready to move to it! It took time to adjust things: colors looked so very wrong on it with the first sample print. With Dan‘s expertise, though, we finally managed to get it to where I was happy. The photos were reprinted and it was time to move to the not-so-fun step. Matting and signing … both make me nervous. It is now near midnight and I’m finished with that. Tomorrow I will frame the three prints and send them off to their month-long home in Oakhurst.
When I received the acceptance letter from Sierra Art Trails it included a snippet about an hour-long performance event and if anyone was interested in participating we should contact them. I pondered for a time, but with Dan’s encouragement finally wrote and said I’d be happy to play oboe there. (Pondering took place because I’m never sure I should take my work to things like this, knowing it adds stress to the event.) I will probably do Pan from Britten’s Six Metamorphoses After Ovid. I might possible add Narcissus if they are up for two. They are short, after all. Both seem rather appropriate to the exhibit … at least I know I can manage to make them fit!
I had a lovely seven mile walk today. I’m sorry to write it was lovely, really, since I should be writing “I couldn’t walk because it was pouring,” or some such thing. I do hope I get to write that at least once this year. I certainly pray that I can write it a whole lot more than once.
But of course since I could go out I did, and I took the camera, as I always do.
A first shot is a first shot: sometimes it turns out to be printable, and sometimes not. I still like to post them no matter, though, just to give readers an idea of how I start out.
First Shot: Succulent, 1.26.15
Droplets on a Ranunculus Papaver nudicaule Petal, 1.23.15
I sure wish I could say what you see are raindrops, and I wish I could say they occurred recently.
Sadly, neither would be true.
This weather is more than a little frightening. We desperately need rain. I can go for walks without wearing winter clothing, much less rain gear.
Praying for rain ….
Still, I offer you this Ranunculus* (WordPress tells me ranunculus is misspelled. That isn’t true.) petal. Because I can.
*Update: Clearly I mislabeled these poppies. I don’t know where my head was, but I’ve corrected things now. I hope.
Pale Pink & White Camellia, 2.20.14
Whew! I’m nearing the end of February 2014 in my photo sorting. It’s so interesting to see things from nearly a year ago. Some leave me scratching my head — I simply can’t figure out why I thought the shot was at all interesting. Others have me puzzled over why I’ve let the shot sit unnoticed for so long.
This particular camellia was so delicate and I loved the pink edges.
Narcissus, 1.22.14
Abutilon (flowering maple), 1.23.15
A happy, and somewhat unsharp, Saturday to you! Latté is at the ready. Brain is not. Just a typical Saturday morning in my world.
Rose Petal Edge, 1.9.15
Red Ranunculus, 1.23.15
I don’t frequently shoot what I call “the all of it” photo, and I especially tend to avoid it when it comes to flora photography. I prefer getting up close and personal, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen my work.
Today on my walk, though, I took a step back with this plant. I wanted to get what I call a “record shot” so I could show the whole thing to anyone who is unfamiliar with it. These grow in abundance in our area, but unless you get up close you don’t necessarily see how amazing the flowers are: they are rather small and I really should remember to bring a ruler along sometime to get a precise measurement.
In any case here is an “all of it” shot (although I’m still rather close, to be honest):
Hardenbergia violacea (I), 1.23.15
Here is something a wee bit closer:
Hardenbergia violacea (II), 1.23.1
