I’ve been slowly sorting through and editing all the pictures I took that day – To say I took a lot is putting it mildly, I’ve got macro shots, shots of Lizzie Gardens and The Cathedral and Cathedral Close.  I’ve almost finished all the editing, just got 5 or 6 shots left I want to work on.  However the set I named “Iced Rosemary“ is amongst my favourites and very much a standalone set in it’s own right. They were taken just down the road from where I live using my macro lens on the K7 Pentax DSLR.

The sun was just perfect and the brilliance of the snow and the glow of the reflections in the ice droplets had me totally enthralled for quite sometime.  I’m sure I got a few weird looks as people passed me by on the street, but what price the perfect capture?

I have edited and uploaded the best of the iced rosemary shots to flickr and they can be viewed in the set conveniently named “Iced Rosemary“. However, here are a few of my absolute favourites and a little explanation as to why.

Ice drop - Copyright R.Weal 2010

I was fascinated by the way the iced droplet distorted the reflection in this capture.  I also liked the contrasting textures of the wood, leaves and ice.

Winter reflected - Copyright R.Weal 2010

One of the many droplets that were starting to melt under the winter sun allowing me to capture a perfect reflection of the garden in which the rosemary resides.  It took a few attempts to get a shot in focus with the right amount of light, but it was well worth the effort.

Frozen Drips - Copyright R.Weal 2010

Part of me toyed with the idea of calling this one “reptilian rosemary” due to the pronounced textures of the rosemary sprig through the magnification of the ice.  In the end I decided not to call it that, hoping that people would see the texture and make up their own minds about it.

Ice Drop on Rosemary - Copyright R.Weal 2010

I really liked the overall tone and composition of this shot.  The blurred snow in the background and the detail of the individual ice crystals within the snow in the foreground.  The smoothness of the rosemary sprigs, the roughness of the wood and the frosted glass effect of the ice droplet.  It all added up to a beautiful shot in my eyes.

Wealie x

Multicoloured - Copyright R.Weal 2010

Today is the 10th of October 2010, or as it appears in the two digit date format 10/10/10! As humans we are always looking for special meaning and significance in dates like these.  Many people are drawn to mark these dates in some way, assigning significance and meaning where perhaps there would not have been any.

For me though, today was a pretty normal Sunday. I slept in, took a nice hot leisurely bath, finished the book I’d been reading, did a very little bit of tidying up, sorted a bit of washing and then decided to sit down and watch a classic flick from my childhood whilst Ben was out.

Glowingly Colourful Vine - Copyright R.Weal 2010

After the film finished, I settled down to think of today’s blog topic and soon realised that it was 10/10/10 whilst checking out some flickr buddies latest photographic uploads.

There are a few flickr groups that have been set up dedicated to pictures and videos taken today on 10/10/10.  The pictures are of a wide variety of subjects and it’s interesting to take a look through the group photo pools to see what inspired other people all over the world on 10/10/10.

For me I decided this was a good opportunity to go out an photograph the vine on the front wall of the alley that leads down to my house.  Luckily it’s been a lovely sunny autumn afternoon and the vine is now a lovely mixture of reds, golds and green.

I noticed how the vine had changed from it’s verdant green to a rainbow of red, gold yellow and green yesterday and thought then that I really should get out and photograph it before the spectacular display was over.

If you have taken a picture or video today why not upload it to one or all of the flickr groups?

If you’ve never seen it or want to remember, below is a clip of my favourite song -”The Beautiful Briny Sea”, from the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  I hope you enjoy it and that it brings the same smile to your lips today that it did mine.

Here’s hoping you had a great 10/10/10. This is Wealie signing off, just “bobbing along, singing a song, on the bottom of the beautiful briny, shimmery shiny, beautiful briny sea!”

x

Webbed Berries - Copyright R.Weal 2009

It’s official, Autumn is back in the UK, with last Tuesday, 21 September being the official first day of Autumn.  To celebrate the changing of the natural colours from a green Britain to one of reds and golds I decided to finally edit some pictures I took last year at around this time.

The set is called Autumn 2009 and there are a couple of my favourite shots from the set in this post.  I’ve also put a poem in that I wrote in response to one of the great pictures of my flickr contact Brentjp99, the poem is called “Stolen Summer Sun” and it was inspired by the photo Senescence.  If you get a chance, take a moment to check out Brent’s photostream, you will not be disappointed.

Yellow Buds - Copyright R.Weal 2009

I hope you enjoy the pictures and my poem.  Make sure you take a moment to get out into nature this autumn.  It doesn’t last long and as the winter months draw in, the colours in the landscape will be few and far between until the spring arrives.

If you do get out and about, don’t forget to take your camera and capture nature changing right before your eyes.  And if you get a chance publish your pics to flickr and I’ll drop by and have a look see!

Enjoy the autumn!

Wealie

STOLEN SUMMER SUN

Autumn’s come and someone has stolen the summer sun
Who are then, these canny thieves?
None other than the conniving deciduous tree leaves
Fat and green from the boon of the spring rain
These crafty leaves plot and whisper their latest criminal campaign
Softly caressing, swishing and pressing, a perfectly crafted tease
A plaintive calling as the sun was falling, so effortlessly pleased
Throughout long summer months
Devouring the sun’s rays in little bite sized chunks
Like lovers lips locked stealing the other’s breath
Calling on the Autumn’s birth and the Summer’s death
Green leaves no more, but crisp gilded golden tones
They laud their treasure over the Evergreens’ disgruntled groans
Basking in their stolen sunlit glow
They think not of tomorrow, just go with the flow
But as they frolic, sing and dance
They do not understand how much they’ve really chanced
For in the end crime cannot pay
Especially when lady Winter, is on her way…..

Ruth Weal – 10 July 2007 6.30 pm
Inspired by the picture “Senescence” by Brentjp99

Copyright R.Weal 2007 ©

Here in Britain they shoot up around February to March and you can see a variety of shades of purple, white and yellow blooms.  They’re very prevalent in the UK as they are a popular perennial that people plant in gardens and places of interest, but occasionally you see them in a more wild setting and they are just as beautiful.

It was a very sunny day when I took this picture and I love the shadows and sheen from the reflections, it all seems to enhance the natural beauty and delicacy of the blooms.

Just goes to show that death does not have to be ugly.  Life and death are intrinsically linked, we experience them every day.  For all that it seems we might wish to put an end to death itself, without it, the winter would never end, we would never know the first bloom of spring, the warmth of summer, nor the beautiful colours of autumn.

Life is a bargain, for new life to be born, the old must make way and die.  Take a moment when you are out next to thank the life making way for you and value the time that you have here on earth.