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July 31, 2006
Arboretum Project, Week 29
Say it isn't so! Two weeks' worth posted in less than 24 hours? It's a goddamn miracle! (Or else it's just far, far easier to edit with Photoshop than with the software I was using before.) Anyway, these are the pics I took last week. WooHoo! (Now I just have to edit and post yesterday's and I'll be All. Caught. Up.)
Panorama 7-23-06
Since week-ago Sunday was set up to be a scorcher (104° F), I opted to go early again. Much the better choice. Due both to the relative coolness of the hour and the uninhabitedness of the Arboretum. Plus, it turns out I like the lighting. (Figures, that I would like morning light, light for which I have to get out of bed. Grrrrrr.)
However.
Shooting in the early(ish) morning did once again require avoidance of the sprinklers. (But that's what I loved about the winter photography. It forced me to be creative in my choice of subjects. So are the sprinklers and the limitation they place on where I can go and what I can shoot.) So some of these shots may seem a bit like the ones from the week before. Same subjects, etc. They're better than last week's, though. At least, the seeming duplicates are. I've had an extra week to consider the subject, after all.
Canada Thistle II
Feather Pods
It Rocks
(The above title is not my fault. It's Dave's fault. If you must groan about it, groan at him.)
Waving Blue
Root Knob II
Roadside Flowers
Clematis Wall
Duckling Voyeur
These are the nine ducklings I photograped/saw for the first time last Sunday (7/16). They were patiently, quietly waiting at the center of this tiny pond for Mom (who I'd seen winging frantically up the draw) to come back. I find this innocence heartbreaking. So much potential for pain. (And you wonder why I'm not planning on having children.)
Fiesta II
Germ of Truth
Exploding Blossom
Cock Pheasants
About halfway down the valley, I heard a pheasant. Loud. I hoped I'd be able to see this one, because I so very rarely do, even though I hear them frequently when I'm shooting on Sundays. I moved past a stand of trees and saw not one but two cock pheasants. They were eating and yelling. I don't think they were yelling at each other, they seemed quite comfortable together. I think they were just yelling because it felt good to be alive.
I took lots of pics of them, but this was the best of the bunch. I was zoomed all the way in, and so excited I kept forgetting to hold my breath when I took the picture. And when I tried to be all stealthy and get closer, they left. One flew off, squawking the whole time, and the other just wandered into the safety of the wheatfield. It was incredibly cool to see them both, though.
Cattails
Dappled
I took the above pic trying to capture the quality of the light filtering through the trees. I can't decide whether I nailed it or not.
Ground Cover
The above photo is another attempt to represent something that caught my eye. I love the ferny groundcover plants, but they never look right when shot from above, so I took a chance on a rabbit's-eye-view.
Proud Display
Where Next?
Grazing
This was the first of two different rabbits I saw that day. The other was much closer and much smaller. But the pics weren't nearly as good as this one.
Heavy Head
Late-Midsummer Color
I am really enjoying experiencing the change of seasons in the way this project has demanded. The alterations from week to week are so subtle. Until I compare them to each other. If it weren't for the photographic evidence, I'd never notice.
Hidden Falls
Turning Wheat
Starburst
Split Rail Fence
Posted by sally at July 31, 2006 09:11 PM
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