leaves on glass

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stained glass of
rusty red and yellow
birch leaves on wet skylight

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Will they still be there when the frost comes?

spider’s web

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On this glorious sunny Sunday morning, all the more precious when sunshine has been so scarce this fall, I spotted a very delicate, very perfect silky spider’s web outside one window. I asked my husband, a much better photographer than I am, to try and capture this ephemeral creation, so barely noticeable and quickly disappearing with the sun’s southward movement. The photos disappointed but some photoshopping gave some interesting results, though still rather too delicate to show well on this other web.

I am quite envious of Dave’s photos of spider webs.

And that reminds me, I’m pleased and proud that one of my favourite images, Footprints in the Sand has been published on Qarrtsiluni. It’s a reworking of one that I posted here quite some time ago. If you are interested in submitting something for the current issue of this superb online literary and art magazine, the deadline is tomorrow.

spiny fruit

   
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This photo has become one of my favourites and is now my new desktop image. I wish you could see it much larger.

yesterday at 5:20 am

   
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Heavy clouds overhead, a giant’s puffy quilt
straight edge parallel to mountain range
strip of sky beneath and between
brightening with dawn, rose and gold
a German Romantic painting
   

the little moth

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As I sat down at my desk yesterday morning, my eye was distracted by some movement in the window next to me – a tiny pale moth fluttering between the screen and the closed casement window. It must have become trapped there the previous night when I closed the window against the cool night breeze.

I’m amazed to find so much detail captured by the camera, in spite of the screen in between lens and moth. Not such a plain Jane cousin of the butterfly after all. After posing quietly for the camera, it happily flew away when I opened the window.

Interesting how just using the camera resulted in such a lovely encounter, when otherwise I might have ignored the little moth. It stayed in my thoughts all day.

textures

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More photos from last Saturday’s walk

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I’m obsessed by textures, can you tell?

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070707

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So yesterday was the day of many weddings, a date considered to be lucky in its numbers, full of feng shui or whatever.

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For us it was a fairly normal Saturday. It was a little less hot and I felt more energetic, putting in a full day of much needed work in the garden. I’m sore all over from overdoing it, as I sometimes tend to do in my enthusiasm, but happy from all the fresh air and being in the garden. Husband worked on some outside home repairs and gave me the occasional hand, such as trimming some branches just out of my reach.

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But first we started the day with a walk to our local park, a mix of forest, open grassy areas and beach. My husband had recently purchased a smaller digital camera, one that is handy to pop in a pocket for these kinds of walks, just in case one sees something interesting. We love our digital SLR camera but it’s very heavy and bulky. We took turns capturing images as we familiarized ourselves with it. It took some getting used to as old habits interfered with new ways. In very bright areas, I was annoyed and frustrated by the LCD monitor acting like a mirror, making it hard to see what I was photographing.

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Looking at the downloaded images later, I was a bit disappointed in the colours especially the unnatural green and less depth of field that I’m used to in the SLR. It may be just a setting we need to select from the numerous choices. The different image sizes and formats are interesting.

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This morning, while sipping my pre-breakfast cup of hot lemon juice, I played around with some images, making a few into black and white and trying out effects in the iPhoto, then the final touches in PhotoShop. I did not crop any of these this time, just to see how the different sizes and formats look. The marvels of technology, eh – we take so much for granted already.

found art (1)

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a magical find in our backyard, under the magnolia tree…

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looking through the scanner lens, closer

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and closer, enthralled by the delicate weaving

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like that of the finest master weavers…

venation

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ephemeral

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just before sunrise…

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at sunrise…