Don Sutherland's photos

Patterns from a Bromeliad (Billbergia ‘Hallelujah’) leaf at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—May 18, 2024. The leaf was processed with a change in coloring scheme to create the pattern. The actual leaf from which the image was developed is below:

Close-up of a tulip at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 27, 2024

Close-up of a Cosmos bipinnatos 'Apollo Lovesong' flower at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—June 8, 2024. Nineteenth Century American poet Anna Hubbard Mercur wrote of the Cosmos flower, “The world’s fair flower am I, Cosmos by name; From Paradise…I came…” At the beginning of summer, the Cosmos flower is among nature’s gifts that beautify the sun-soaked and sometimes steamy landscape. In the sun’s blazing heat, it is a refreshing gift to the eyes.

Northern Blue Flag Iris with a bee at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—May 25, 2024

View of Lower Manhattan from Pier 57 (New York City)—May 12, 2024. Little Island is in the foreground. Little Island is a public park that was created on the remnants of Pier 54. The park contains walkways, a children’s play area, overlooks for viewing, and an abundance of flowers. One World Trade Center (often referred to as the “Freedom Tower”) dominates the skyline in the distance.

Double late tulip Tulipa 'Inner Wheel' Rembrandt 9 at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 27, 2024

Three tulips (Tulipa ‘Little Beauty’) at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 28, 2024

Allium at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—May 18, 2024

Lily-flowering tulips light up the spring landscape in a blaze of orange at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 21, 2024

Aurora Borealis (Armonk, New York)—May 11, 2024. A powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) produced an intense geomagnetic storm that produced Auroral displays in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The displays reached areas where Auroras are rarely seen. Final data showed that the responsible solar storm was the second strongest since regular record keeping began in 1932 and only slightly weaker than a November 13, 1960 event. A great article on the event can be found in The Washington Post .

Tulips at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 27, 2024. Irish poet Oscar Wilde once observed, “A flower blossoms for its own joy.” He might well have continued about how generously flowers share their beauty to create a more colorful and joyful world.

Bleeding hearts at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 21, 2024

Jonquilla daffodils (Narcissus ‘Pipit’) at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 21, 2024

Detail of a poppy at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 21, 2024. Shirley Hibberd’s Familiar Garden Flowers wrote of poppies as follows: “No more interesting flower is to be found in the garden than the poppy, and a certain few kinds are extravagantly beautiful, though lamentably short-lived.” One of those “certain few kinds” of poppies is the “blazing red poppy” that, when present in large numbers, “suggests that we are riding through…seas of fire…”

Tulips at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 21, 2024. The soft images illustrate what American poet Ellen Clementine Howarth described as the "gentle April breath." The beauty of this pair of tulips is but one of the main courses of Spring's three-month long feast for the eyes. The original photo was processed to soften the detail and slightly fade the tulip’s colors allowing the pestle to stand out to symbolize the beating heart of spring.

Poet’s Narcissi at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York)—April 14, 2024. The Garden’s growing multitude of daffodils is now dancing in the spotlight of the strengthening spring sun to the tune of spring’s warm breezes, even as the first daffodils arrived much earlier. Narcissi have long served as a courageous Messenger of spring that, as Shakespeare observed, “come before the swallow dares.” They have also been described as holding onto their remarkable beauty throughout the duration of their lives. Toward that end, British writer Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote: And Narcissi, the fairest among them all, Who gaze on their eyes in the stream’s recess, Till they die of their own dear loveliness.

Spring scene at the New York Botanical Garden with the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory in the background (Bronx, New York)—April 14, 2024

Purkinje Effect during the 2024 total solar eclipse (Moose River/Jackman, Maine area)—April 8, 2024. Under this phenomenon, peak luminance shifts toward the blue end of the color spectrum. One can visibly see this shift at the Moon’s border. Slowly, surely, as we sat [on the summit of Pike’s Peak in Colorado] watching, the moon crept on. The light of the Sun grew pale and gray. All yellow rays seemed to fade out of it, and the face of nature and of man took on a ghastly pallor. Two or three minutes before the totality of the eclipse the whole landscape before us was bathed in this cold white light. Then the gloom began to shroud the mountain tops—peak after peak was lost in shadow, and when it reached the plain it seemed to become a solid, palpable body of darkness, rising up in a great wall—not creeping, but rushing on with might and power… The face of the Sun was veiled. The heavens were dark… —Mrs. Aubrey H. Smith’s description of the July 29, 1878 total solar eclipse More than a century later, my observation bore remarkable similarity to the above account. By 2 pm EDT, as the onset of the solar eclipse neared, all of the earlier high clouds that had made passage across the sky had vanished. The sky had become perfectly clear in all directions. A gusty breeze had increased in strength. At 2:18:55 pm, the Moon began cross the plane of the Sun and the eclipse got underway. The temperature began to fall and the wind picked up. Within a few minutes of Totality, the Sunlight grew noticeably dimmer. Totality commenced at 3:29:50 pm. It was as if one turned off a light at night, instantly plunging oneself into darkness. The gathered people immediately fell silent, creating the impression that the Sun’s light had been the source of their energy. The previously stiff breeze seemed to die off. The temperature grew noticeably cooler from the loss of solar insolation and rapid onset of strong radiational cooling. The air was stripped of its remaining warmth. Even as the crowd was connected in the experience, the reality that the Earth is little more than a speck in the seemingly endless ocean of an ever-expanding Universe became apparent. One was powerfully reminded that human society for all of its achievements and ambitions is still very small on a Cosmic scale. During the mid-afternoon darkness, celebratory fireworks were launched in the distance. Although out-of-sight, their sound reverberated across the landscape. As the total eclipse continued, it seemed that the passage of time itself had been suspended. One need not feel rushed to take in the celestial show. A giant prominence was visible near the bottom of the Moon’s shadow where its silhouette gave way to the white glow of the Sun’s corona. For 3 minutes and 26.7 seconds, the Moon eclipsed the entirety of the Sun. Once the Sun burst free from behind the retreating Moon’s shadow, the gathered people erupted in applause. The brief but dazzling astronomical performance would leave lifelong memories.