366: Daily Archive Photo

Steve and I were invited to visit our friend's beautiful garden a few years ago and upon entering, I was transported into photographic bliss! Not only did she have countless flowers in immaculate condition, there were lovely ornamental greenery plants as well. This is a magnificent frond from one of her gorgeous ferns.

Now here is a flower that will hit you in the face with WOW!!! About a year and a half ago, Steve and I visited the Harry & David garden nearby in southern Medford. They are known for their roses so I wasn't prepared to see this magnificent stalk of flowers that was nearly as tall as I was! What a treat!

(+2 in notes) A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of two mushrooms that were joined by a droplet of rain. That same day I discovered some other special mushrooms as well. These two are obviously in love and don't care if anyone knows it! The pair of identical droplets on their stems just kills me!! :) (By the way, if you roll your mouse over the picture you'll see the other picture I posted a couple of weeks ago and also my 365 image from that day!)

This is a display of daffodils that were grown on my friend's property about an hour from our home. She and her husband live on a lavish estate and they planted countless irises and daffodils everywhere. The sight is remarkable and we were so happy to spend time taking pictures when these flowers were in bloom. Elizabeth picked these flowers and created this lovely display so that I could take a picture. Isn't it amazing to see the variety of shapes and colors? They are so lovely.

One day when I was walking along our ridgeline a couple of years ago, I turned to look at the trees around me when I noticed something odd. It was a pine tree sapling, obviously young, but it was higher from the ground than it ought to be. There was an oak tree in the way so I moved around it so I could discover how the sapling could grow so tall. But, when I moved around the oak tree, the sapling wasn't where I thought it would be...so I turned my head and...HOLY COW! The sapling was growing from a hole in the oak! And it was obviously doing quite well in its strange home! I have come back to see how it's been doing and it continues to grow from this odd spot, and apparently the oak tree is no worse off from the helping hand its giving the pine! Remarkable! This picture was a very interesting challenge to me. I wanted to show the sapling and the oak, but I wasn't able to get the very busy background sufficiently soft enough for my satisfaction. So I experimented with filters and textures. Nothing worked. Then I tried black and white. Nope. Finally I thought...WAIT! Let's try a bit of both! VIOLA! I found a way to highlight this lovely little sapling without losing it in the crazy dappled background!

Playing with a very shallow depth of field is so much fun, and is a great way to call attention to certain details. Here I'm showing the edges of the petals of an aster flower, while the rest of the flower falls away into blur. This flower was in a garden which was part of a walking tour that Steve and I went on a couple of years ago in Ashland.

The echinacea display at the gate to Pacifica Gardens was jaw-dropping and totally amazing to see! With so many colors and types in one small area, I was like a kid let loose in a candy shop! Thanks to this archive project, I've been able to visit all the pictures I took and process many more to share! This particular flower with its pair of upward-pointing petals, can be recognized in the image which would be my Pick of the Day for my 365 Project back in 2013. If you roll your mouse over this picture, you'll see that image in the upper left! :)

(+3 images in notes) Have you ever seen a tree that has peeling bark? There are many types of trees that do this, and I have always loved the way the outer bark just peels off in shavings. There are two common trees in our area which have peeling bark: the tall and magestic Madrone and the shorter and scrubbier Manzanita. They share the richly toned, skin-like trunks and branches, and they also have flowers which are fairly similar, though madrone flowers are white and manzanitas are pink. I captured thes blossoms at the top of the Upper Table Rock a few years ago.

This gorgeous young stallion is a rare breed called a Drum Horse, which is a blend of Clydesdale, Shire, and spotted cob. They were originally bred in Britain to be used in the royal parades, where they carried the massive drums in the procession. About 20 years ago, a spotlight began to shine on these gorgeous horses were made an official breed. With the explosion in popularity, it is now possible to find Drum Horses all over the world. In fact, within 3 miles of my home! Aptly named, BH Spectacular knows his name to be Toby, and I drive past his pasture almost every day. I've watched him grow from a young colt into the still-growing stallion of today, and he is more impressive with each passing season. I'm friends with his owner, Teresa Byersdorf, and it's been fun keeping up to date with how he's doing! He's four years old now and if you'd like to see what he looks like, Teresa has a Facebook page here: Bravehart Drum Horses and Weimaraner Dogs This picture was taken a couple of years ago at a horse show for Drum Horses and Gypsy Cobs. Toby did very well in his class, I believe he got 2nd place! :)

Last Saturday, Steve and I went to the Harry & David public garden with my workmate, Andy Spliethof, and his daughter. While we were there, they managed to get some super pictures of jumping spiders, and when I saw this image in my archives, I just had to share it! To show just how small this adorable spider is, that's a dog hair from our Border Collie next to it!

Here's a mushroom I photographed back in 2012, and I got lucky with some nice light too! I have mixed feelings about this picture. I remember being so upset because you will notice that the very front edge of this mushroom is not in focus. I took about 10 different pictures to make sure I had good focus and STILL, it's not crisp along that edge. I am crazy about the bokeh, but it could be a bit softer. It's not my best work, but I am proud to display it because it does have a special glow to it that has always made me stop in my tracks to look at this picture. I processed it just a few days after I took it, so I've had a long time to sit and think about this image. :D If you've read this far, I'd love to know--would you have trashed this picture or kept it. Not hurting my feelings if you vote for trash, since it's flawed. Does it matter that the front edge--which is so important to the success of this type of image--is not in focus?

Oh, I do love classic cars! They so often take my breath away, what fun to look at them! One of the cool things about where we live is the week-long classic car extravaganza that happens every June. The Medford Cruise Event has a different car show every day, and on the last day there is a many-hour, circuitous parade accompanied by oldies music to enjoy! This lovely emblem was on a 1964 pearly white Impala. What STYLE!! A little more about this emblem: The fact is that I do not love all classic cars, and I think the shape of Impalas is boxy and ugly--"WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!!!" In fact, to me, when I see that emblem, I cannot believe they put something so beautifully designed onto such a horrendous car! See for yourself: 1964 Chevy Impala ...I know that the lines of this car appeals to many, but I hate it! So the only thing I photographed was THE EMBLEM! :D

When I visited my friend Elaine's garden a few years ago, I was delighted to find both flowers and decorative plants to photograph. When I found this Sage plant, I was immediately taken by its beautifully fuzzy leaves and two-toned color. I experimented to try to get an interesting image and found success in a very shallow focus on the front leaves. What surprised me was the wonderful bokeh the fuzz provided! I feel a very strong urge to pet the leaves, and am so disappointed that my computer monitor isn't soft and fuzzy! :D Thanks Pam, for letting me know this is Sage! :) I asked Elaine and she confirmed it: SAGE! :D

(1 more in a note above) Looking throught my images, I saw this one and noticed that took it almost exactly four years ago! Yellow-Tinge Larkspur blooms in our lower forest, in between the oak trees. These flowers are a lovely splash of purple, rising above the forest floor. I think the buds are so odd looking, don't you?!

I know I posted a spider picture the other day, but I saw this one in my archives today and I can't resist! Would you just take a look at this adorable baby? He's doing his best to be YELLOW and I pretended not to see him while I took a picture of his cute little face! :) I am in love!! :) I found this cutie pie on a rose when I visited the Harry & David garden in Medford in 2014. Steve and I went for another outing a couple of Saturdays ago and we will be back soon. What a show!! :)

The raised-bed garden I worked on a couple of years ago was a great experience. I got to try growing flowers from seeds and had good luck with many that I tried. One of my best successes were the African Daisies, which grew profusely and surprised me with both yellow and orange flowers. What an incredible flower! (You can see another picture I got in a note above)

Using shallow depth of field is wonderful for creating a dreamy image, and it's surprising how busy the background may be, and yet, you can reduce the clutter to a lovely soft blur, which enhances your subject. Once I understood how DSLRs + a good macro lens can create such neat images, I finally couldn't be happy with my old super zoom anymore. This is a mushroom I found on our property on New Year's Eve on the very last day of my 365 project! If you move your mouse over the upper left of the image you'll see the picture I chose for my 365 Project!

These flowers are almost impossibly pretty. I had no idea they came in so many colors, but I was very well-informed by day's end after visiting my friend's property a few years ago. She and her husband planted hundreds of irises all over their property, mostly bearded, and in a rainbow of colors and combinations. I discovered that these flowers can be extremely challenging to photograph but I got many hours to practice. Here is a pair whose beauty cannot be accurately described, but I hope this image conveys some of the loveliness I saw when I found them!