My garden, up close

My favourite time to be in the flower garden is early in the morning.  My favourite subject is the small spots that bring out the beauty of the garden that we rarely see unless we look closely.

 "If you take the time to really look at simple things you will come to realize that they really are beautiful."  Anon.

Sunsets

I rarely photograph the sunset.  When I first began this hobby, I snapped sunsets all the time - partly because I wasn't yet seeing all the photographic material around me, and partly because that's what everyone does.  Now, I don't shoot them as often because...that's what everyone does.  But, I noticed that during this past month, I have photographed the sunset on several occasions, so it seems like a good time to share them.

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.  

There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

Jawaharlal Nehru

Wild flowers

I enjoy walking.  The problem is that if I take along my camera, I end up shooting instead of walking.  Sometimes I just indulge myself and can easily spend hours shooting the wild flowers along the road.

 

I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph.

Leon Levinstein

Used book sale

I am a sucker for old books.   I love the smell and feel of them (unless they're moldy - then not so much).  I took my camera along to one such sale and found a few treasures.

I did not set this up - I smiled when I came across these old books set on top of a table of pop fiction.  It made me think, "The cream rises to the top."

 
These bindings are not old, but who can resist the classics?


 


"I have some friends, some honest friends, and honest friends are few; My pipe of briar, my open fire, a book that's not too new."

Robert W. Service

Spring has sprung

Sorry friends, I haven't posted here in a while.  It's not because I haven't been out with my camera.  Spring offers up so many lovely images and for me it's so much more fun and interesting to be out prowling around in my garden than being in the house, at my computer.  But here are just a few favourites from the past few weeks.

Moss

A visit to the greenhouse.

Sedum

 

 

 

 

Dandelion... Why are the nastiest weeds the most photogenic flower?

Lily of the valley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

         From A prayer in spring

               by Robert Frost

Sooke

Sooke Potholes Provincial Park lies just north of Victoria BC.  When driving into the park one definitely has the feeling of entering a wilder area.  The morning we visited the park was rather drab and when we climbed out of the car it began raining and it didn't stop until we left. Mother Nature was trying to tell us something perhaps.  As we stood watching the water rush through the gorge we decided the little detour was worth the trip.  The biggest challenge of this particular day was keeping the camera dry.

The beautiful arbutus trees are only found within a few miles of the west coast.  They are beautiful and the rain makes the bark even more distinctive. 

Unto this wood I came
As to a nest;
Dreaming that sylvan peace
Offered the harrowed ease--
Nature a soft release
From men's unrest.
          Thomas Hardy

Coastal trees

Hiking on Vancouver Island can be sensory overload.  Not only does one see all the amazing vistas along the ocean, but the wind is wild against your skin, and the smell of the salt spray lingers in the air; the taste of it on the skin.  It's easy to become mesmerized and want to photograph the waves, the pounding surf, and the ships on the horizon.  But I find myself overcome by the details all around me, especially the work of the wind.  No matter where I am on earth, I am always amazed at how the wind can change a landscape, and in turn, how the landscape adapts to it.

  

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."   (William Arthur Ward)

By the sea 3

I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song
and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

from Sea Fever (v.1)

by John Masefield

By the sea 2

I must go down to the seas again,
     for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call
     that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day
     with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

from Sea Fever (v.2)

by John Masefield

By the Sea

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

from Sea Fever (v.3)

by John Masefield