Rain beads on a bent leaf.
It has been cold, and wet, and dark. Sometimes, between rains, the heavy dew, and the rain, and the subdued light bring a beauty of their own to the world. This morning, between showers, I stepped outside to see what diamonds there were to be discovered.
Beads rest on a curved bridge of iris leaf in the garden.
A fiery sunset, a very transitory scene, ended our day.
Heading upstairs I glanced out the western window and was stopped in my tracks. The sky was glowing in shades of red with incandescent rounded clouds. I headed back down, grabbed my camera, and rushed out the door. I shot a few exposures –mostly compositional variations– and stopped. In the few minutes from the time I spotted the phenomenon to the time I finished shooting, the light had changed, the colors were fading. I put away my camera and headed back upstairs, glancing out the window to the west once again. No more than three or four minutes had passed from that first trip up the stairs and the vision was gone. Flat gray clouds floated above the trees. The evanescence of light.
A lonely fern grows from cracks in the rock wall of Chippewa Creek.
She Who Must Be Obeyed sent me out on this cloudy and cool Sunday afternoon to buy crackers. We’ve been looking for our favorite brand –Wheatsworth– for some time now and we last found them at our favorite store: Heinen’s, Brecksville. No dice. The Teenagers were running the service desk today so I don’t know if the store no longer stocks them. I purchased a few other items and took a little walk. The shopping center is improbably perched on a piece of land that leads down into an amazing natural space: Chippewa Creek’s valley, carved from solid rock. I’d brought my little G11 camera “just in case” and was glad I did. I spent way more time photographing the rocks, mosses, ferns, and foliage than I’d spent shopping for crackers. I felt way better after having done so. Looking at one picture in particular was an experience: the rock face and its colors, striations, water stains, lichens, slime, plants, roots, and tumbled appearance… it’s crazy and beautiful.
A tumbled mess of rock, colors, plants, stains, and colors makes this rock face along Chippewa Creek crazy beautiful.
The Moon is sinking in the western sky, about to disappear behind trees and into distant clouds.
As I descended the stairs Friday morning I glanced out the window to see a beautiful scene: the Moon, a day past Full, was setting in the west. Luna was set in a dark but brightening sky, framed by trees still in leaf. I grabbed my camera, cranked open the window, and recorded a few shots. Then I hurredly dressed and headed off for the office. Heading east the brilliant glory of the morning’s sunrise struck me in my eyes and soul. Amazing! I pulled into the first parking lot that afforded any view at all –conditions such as these are so very fleeting– jumped out of the car and produced my “travel” camera. A fine way to start a day: a beautiful moonset and sunrise.
A spectacular sunrise begins a day of changing weather.
Red flowers clustered at the top of a plant spike open for the first time in the evening sun.
She Who Must Be Obeyed doesn’t know what the plant is. She doesn’t remember purchasing it or planting it. For weeks, however, we have been watching what was a beautiful foliage plant sprout from the earth. As it rose the green beauty unfurled leaf after heavily veined leaf. Rain and dew beaded gorgeously on the waxy leaves. Over about the last week something different began to emerge. Our burgeoning stranger sent up a spike from within a roll of leaf, the spike marked by red edges. A flower? In the last few days it became apparent it wasn’t to be a single flower but a cluster of red blooms. Today the buds began to open and tonight the sun lit them wonderfully. We had evening fireworks at our back door.
The Moon and Jupiter shine through holes in the clouds the night of September 22.
The Moon is reaching an especially bright Full phase. Nearby, shining through a hole in the moonlit clouds, planet Jupiter floats at opposition. This is the sight that greeted me as I left the office tonight and walked to my car. I quickly pulled my little camera from its case and, handheld, captured the scene as best I could; a dream sky.
Later: I happened across a beautiful and appropriate haiku at My Haiku World.
First color of autumn trees stands brilliantly illuminated against dark, clouded sky.
I may not have the most beautiful or interesting commuter route to follow in my daily routine but it does have much to offer. This morning I was treated to trees, many of them with early fall color, brilliantly illuminated by morning sun against a dark, cloudy sky. I stopped in the outskirts of Stongsville to snap a few photos on my way to work. This evening, traveling home via the Cleveland Metropark’s Parkway, I caught a glimpse of a Great Egret I’ve been wanting to photograph. It seemed closer to the shore of Wallace Lake than normal. I swung into a parking space and hiked a short distance to the waters’ edge. My Canon PowerShot G11 is a terrific little camera but didn’t have enough telephoto power to capture the image I wanted but I got something. In fact, I noticed in the distance behind the big white bird, there was also a big gray bird… a Great Blue Heron. I moved closer but, each in its turn, the birds flew off before I could get in good range. Not bad: beautiful scenes at the start and finish!
A Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron have neighboring fishing spots at waters' edge in Wallace Lake.
We took the day off today to allow for travel time to a Recognition Dinner event this evening. We were busy as bees this morning with office work –sad, really, it was a beautiful morning– but relaxed a little more this afternoon. I decided to attempt some photos of a foliage plant, a “volunteer” of unknown species, that has been thriving at our back door. Those photos had mixed success. As I was about to pick up my tripod and head back indoors, I turned and noticed a couple of very large bees giving our bright yellow marigolds a going over. What the heck… I’ve got the camera with me, complete with macro lens, and bright light to work with; let’s shoot some bees!
A bee works to extract nectar and pollen from a marigold bloom.
I was pretty happy with the shots in general. The afternoon sunlight allowed for shutter speeds well over 1/1,000 second and that really helped when shooting handheld — bees and flowers move and focus shifts fast! Looking at the images on the computer screen I noticed details I hadn’t noticed before, especially in the bees’ wings. So I enlarged and cropped that area on one shot. I’m delighted. I could make that bee photo two feet wide and it would still look good.
Cropped image showing details in bee's wing.
I packed it in and said good afternoon to my buzzy little friends. Soon it will be time to get dressed and head out. I’m hoping for a nice evening. I’m also hoping my voice will hold out: I’ve had another bout of laryngitis and, though better today, my voice is still strained.
The End
Bee good!
This shockingly orange fungus was seen growing from the side of a fallen branch or log on the forest floor.
The morning was dark and dreary. We had a delicious homemade waffle breakfast and headed out for a bit of miscellaneous shopping. The day began to clear with puffy clouds and blue skies drawing us out so after lunch we headed to the Brecksville Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks System. One of the more beautiful areas, the northern trail runs along a deep, rocky river valley amidst ancient tall trees. The forest floor is littered with fallen branches, fern forests, and understory growth… and plenty of opportunities for nature photography. Unfortunately, I don’t yet carry a tripod with me on these walks. Fortunately, a few of my efforts turned out well despite the darkness and hand-holding my camera. Among the last shots of the day: a shockingly orange fungus growing from the side of a dark, moss-covered, rotting tree branch. Amazing sometimes what you’ll see on a walk in the woods.
Planet Venus floats high above as Earth's Moon sinks into the sunset.
We were just getting home from dinner and shopping when I saw a beautiful sight in the darkening western sky: the young crescent Moon with diamond-like planet Venus floating in the velvet darkness above. I quickly grabbed my camera bag and tripod and headed back out for high ground to capture the scene before it disappeared. Technically, it was a 2.58-day waxing crescent Moon, about nine percent illuminated. Aesthetically, it was a lovely end to the day.
A young crescent Moon sinks into the fading colors of the sunset on a beautiful September evening.
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