"houseplants, too..." (haiga)

I've shared this haiga already on my dreams and poetry blog. But since it uses a photo (and haiku) of mine and shows something else I occasionally do with my pictures, thought I'd post it here, as well.

In case you don't know, a haiga is (very simply put) a haiku on an image. Classic Japanese haiga are haiku on brush paintings. I've always thought that the grace of Japanese ideograms makes a lovely complement to brush paintings. Maybe someday (in another life LOL!) I'll work at re-vivifying my own (of course English language) calligraphy skills and use them instead of the blockish fonts available in the Paint program. I'd also kept thinking I'd make a black and white line drawing to go with this haiku. But did not seem to be getting to it, and then I stumbled across this photo and with some cropping it seemed just right for the mood.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

NEW NEIGHBOR & WEDDING BELLES

"New Neighbor" is a new photo and is also more than just a new agapanthus blossom. It's the first to show up in this particular garden area on our grounds, The Promenade. There are a lot of them around the corner near our pool, and elsewhere. But this is the first on The Promenade and must have been a "gift" left behind by a bird. :-) One for which I'm grateful. It's always fun to watch these flowers go from a tight spear-head like bud, to the phase in the above photo, and then to the full blossom.

Here's a three year old photo of some in full bloom that grow near the entrance to our garage:

If I've been correctly informed, the larger agapanthus blossoms are called "Lily of the Nile" and the smaller, "Peter Pan." They come in pale blue (what the one in the photo at top will be when fully open) and white, and I've also seen agapanthus in an absolutely luscious deep purple.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

GRAFFITI BRUSH & DARK BLOSSOMING

"Graffiti Brush" above was great fun to have emerge at last. I'd reversed the colors, trying to further bring out the alien look these opening sea onion blossoms always have (at least to me). But it just sort of sat there on my screen as if to say "Now what?" Then I fooled around even more with the colors, getting away from the usual purples and blues that show up when I reverse photos of the greenery around here and, yes, it had arrived. Then it was just a matter of cropping. (You can see another shot of this same sea onion blossom, colors reversed but unchanged, here.)

The below "Dark Blossoming" is another one in which I reversed the colors and then further changed the results just a bit to bring out the variety of colors in the agapanthus bud:

You may notice that bit of spider silk from the right bottom of the bud down to the bottom edge of the picture. I tried all sorts of things to bring that out more (IMHO it works with the darkness of the aganpanthus here) or to fade it out completely. But had to settle at last for it being barely there. I'd paint it out by mouse in the Paint program but that is such a frustratingly painstaking chore for a hand that isn't quite as dextrous as it used to be. I probably should start a category for photos to work on once I get my drawing pad up (and find it actually works and that I can work with it). But that has to wait for a new computer system that can handle yet another program on it.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

RADIANCE

Yup, you've seen a lot of flower centers on this blog. Can't help it. They're one of my favorite sorts of photos to take. And even if I take a picture of a full flower I frequently find myself more drawn to what's going on in the very center so wind up cropping the photo. In this new one I love that wee bit of reflection of the golden stamens on the petal just above them to the right. (I'm assuming it's a reflection; maybe it's pollen dusted off by busy bees or a color fluke by the camera?) I also just enjoy the curves and shapes of the petals. Sometimes these rose centers give me a sense of very soft silk being blown around, but this one looks more like taffeta. There's something a wee bit crisp about it. If "Radiance" were the only type of photo I were producing these days I might get worried I'm stuck in a rut. But I'm not stuck, just voluntarily returning in order to enjoy wandering through it. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

THE NATURE OF DREAMING

Not sure why "The Nature of Dreaming" gets me, but it does. From the moment it popped onto my screen when I reversed the original colors I've been really happy with it. I think it might be that intertwining of and oontrast between the natural and the architectural. Something I've been intrigued by from my first pictures over three years ago. Not to mention its sort of dreamy aspect, given my intense pursuit of writing dream-based poetry almost daily (see my other blog, Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm, link in sidebar).

Other than reversing the colors and a 1% tilt to line up all those straight edges better, I've done nothing to it. Not even any cropping. That's defintely another reason I feel so tickled by this photo. I often feel really discouraged by how much I have to do to photos post-production to make them work at all. Part of that is due to issues I don't have control over, such as having to take distant shots -- knowing I'll crop later -- because of inaccessibility (my arthritis doesn't permit much clambering), or not very satisfactory results from my limited little camera. So to have one picture arrive on my screen basically whole and finished ... well, what a delight. Hope these occasional happenings aren't just accidents. I.e., that they indicate I'm learning how to frame a shot "in the field" after all, in spite of the many challenges doing so often presents me with.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****