A Sunday Afternoon in Spring

My front yard is stunning right now. Much of the yard is in vibrant bloom - a bright, cheerful chorus of life. I love walking through the grass, breathing in warm spring air kissed with a mix of floral fragrance.

And, as an artist, I couldn't let the experience slip quietly away. I had to capture a few of the perspectives and views I enjoy, knowing they'd make beautiful photographs.

These photos were taken with my portrait lens - what I really need is a macro lens (they capture small, fine detail), that's what kind of photos I keep trying to capture. Oh well, for now I'll just make due ;-)

Our golden chain tree - it's like a living painting.

 

We got a little rain on Sunday afternoon . . .

Our rhododendrons (or rhodies) are in full bloom as well - and this one has massive pale pink flowers! Each grouping is the size of a large bouquet.

I love the shadows that rain drops add to the delicate texture of the flower petals.

There's a bee in the flower in the middle(ish)!

I wasn't in the yard alone when I was photographing - I had my little toy poodle Mercedes with me! (she's a toy as in the dog breed, not as in the inanimate object hahaha) She noticed a robin's nest in one of the rhodies, which she's trying to show me.

We have a bleeding hearts bush that always gets HUGE and gorgeous. It absolutely thrives every year.

The blooming red rhodie - I tend to enjoy red flowers more in black and white.

Some water droplets on the leaves of our rose bush - way too early for any roses yet.

A pretty orange rhodie growing through the railing of the steps up to our front porch.

Happy Spring!! Here's hoping you're enjoying the season as much as I am.

~m.d.

The Colors of Fall

This morning I had a later start time at work (1:00pm, ugh, I have a weird work schedule), so I decided to get up early and make the most of my free morning. And by make the most of my morning, I mean I had decided go outside and take pictures.

Luck was on my side - we had our first frost of the season this morning and the sky was cold and clear. Which made for some beautiful photos!!

I've thrown in this post some other fall photos I took earlier in the month as well. Enjoy :-)

morning sunlight through the leaves of a the Japanese Maple

first frost of the season on a late-blooming rose

frost-kissed fallen Maple leaves

the beautiful colors of a Japanese Maple

frost sparkling in the sunlight

 

when snow falls, it changes how our entire world looks - I think when you're small, falling leaves have the same dramatic effect to the landscape

a little bit of frost makes blackberry bushes growing over an old board seem magical

what can I say. . . I love that Japanese Maple!

I wish the leaves were in a big thick pile so I could just jump in

I just love the green and purple-blues, with a kiss of yellow sunlight

the slender leaves on this tree were like flicking tongues of scarlet flame

I had to make this last one bigger, so you could appreciate the droplets of melted frost on that golden leaf

~md

Blackberries

(I know lately all I've been posting are my daily self portrait sketches. . .I'm doing so much more than that creatively, but I just haven't had time to put any finishing touches on my projects to share. Today, I found a spare minute to finish these - time to mix things up a bit!)

From yawning flower. . .

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 . . . to bulging berries.

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~ md

April Showers. . .

It's been raining all weekend long. But the flowers in my front yard are beginning to bloom - so I can't really complain, because it's going to be beautiful when the yard is full of colors.

The rain paused for a moment, so I grabbed my camera and rushed outside to snap a few flower-with-water-droplet photos with my newest lens (35mm fixed-length lens, which on my D90 is the same as a 50mm on a non-DX sensor camera). I want to buy a macro lens someday, but for now I'll use what I've got:

 

I'm glad these April showers won't make me wait until May to enjoy some flowers!

~md