Star Light, Star Bright: Starry Nights in Fairy Land

[best appreciated at full size against black]

I took this picture next to a vernal pool in the Upper Table Rock. My original idea was to get a nice macro of these impossibly tiny flower buds. The buds measure probably about 1/8" tall and just 1/16" in diameter! Because the flowers are so close to the ground, it was very difficult to get a upward angle, but after basically standing on my head, I managed to get this! Then, when I got the images on my computer, I saw the crazy bokeh, which I really liked, but the background was busy and distracting. Just for fun, I used "Auto Levels" in Photoshop's Level tool. This generally looks horrible, but I always like to see what Photoshop comes up with because I've been happily surprised in the past. Once again, I got a surprise, and suddenly my rather problematic picture turned into something special.

Here are two bud clusters standing together and appreciating the beautiful night sky. The buds on the left look off in the distance, counting the stars and appreciating this fairy land's own aurora boralis. The cluster on the right stare up in awe at the monolithic stem, which curves up into the heavens with a green glow. If you listen carefully, you might just hear them whistpering this rhyme..."Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."

This image was taken in March, 2012.