Sitting with a hurricane, seeking out the sun

Our weather has been absolutely gorgeous allowing me to work in the yard and be out back with our dog without humidity and insects attacking me. This morning while outside, a few hurricane flowers attracted me to get down to their level and observe. I had my camera with me, took the 50mm off, and held it against the camera body with the mount pointing out creating a 'macro' lens. Immersing myself into and around the hurricane, I enjoyed the light and color effects through the lens.  The sun had not yet hit them, but I still moved around to grab whatever rays came through.

Viewing in the camera, then after downloading for processing, my heart swelled.  My tenderness somehow sought the company of the hurricanes during this session.  The images carry that heart watermark of sorts, and really open up possibilities and invitations.

Note:  Font exploration today for the 'IKATO' sometimes appearing in my photos.  I went vertical and 'Microsoft Yi Baiti'.  I like it because I'm looking for simple in representing myself for contact.



#hurricane, #flowers, #seek, #sun, #macro #lightforafriend

bouquet of irises

Buy yourself a bouquet of irises, and watch them bloom in the rain. `~ Me

The other day I bumped into a friend at Trader Joe's on my way out of shopping.  She had a bouquet of irises, and I knew that on my way in I had said to myself to remember to buy one.  I added it to my basket, and walked out with them in hand.  My friend and I talked a bit outside before heading to our cars.

During the week, I kept them inside my house on our round dining table, but today I was prompted to take them out into the rich, wet green of our backyard.  I placed the vase on the deck edge, and the blooms looked gorgeous against the green in the falling rain.

I have different shots, but this composition serves the iris group best.  I most appreciate the connection shared with my friend also enjoying the process of her blooms.  Special.

Soothe

I found the soft colors and textures of the sky and fallen camellia petals very soothing during an evening walk.  If only they could be woven into a blanket just right...

Backyard walking inventory 3.17.15

While outside this morning, I soaked up the eruption of green and life that's happening in our backyard.  With cell in hand, (retro iPhone 4s...yes, I'm advancing) I snapped a few during a little walking tour.

Pretty roses

These lovelies were spotted in an outdoor store front display during a city street sidewalk stroll...during gorgeous weather!

Smell that pink!

After a day of teaching and zooming off to take my girls to their afternoon activity, moments of quiet refuel me.  I hadn't been taking the time to still myself lately, but on this given day my body and mind made me stop.  I sat in the car for about 20 minutes or so allowing myself to do nothing but sit.  The late afternoon was so lovely that I finally got out for a little walk, and found myself gravitating towards and strolling through blooming Japanese magnolias.  So, so fragrant and welcoming, and once again I allowed myself just to be, looking up at the blue sky with them enjoying their beauty and floral expressions.  Not having my DSLR was fine, but I couldn't resist taking a few pics with my cellphone.  I really enjoyed myself and appreciated.  I topped off the experience with a treat at a local restaurant - an Abita Andygator beer with 1/2 dozen raw oysters.  Ah...required rejuvenation of spirit.

Purple secret

Where no one goes, a collection of gorgeous purple irises bloom.  It was so lovely to cross paths with them during a walk home from work today.  I usually expect to see the intentional garden patch, possibly planted by the property owner years ago, before exiting into the farm fields.  Today the deep purple blooms surprised me with a "Wow!"  Despite being in a hurry, I still took a few minutes to get closer to their layers and curves, colors and form.  They captivate me, and prove their ranking as my favorite flower.

I so wished for my close up lenses to get a good one of this glowing green visitor.  How often will you get such compatibility of image elements?

Classic Fleur De Lis

Ritual

I will stop, look and watch, even standing on my tippy toes, to watch the sun give us her last glimmer of light.  Whether through a clearing of trees or the florals covering the view, I take pause to participate in the daily ritual shared between Earth and Sun.  

In these images I know the place, time, weather and mood when I turned to face the dimming light.  It was beautiful with the blooming Japanese Magnolias, and I loved the changing pink hues and silhouettes against the golden sky.  

I'm reminded of something I learned in a Native American Studies class in college that always left me exercising my brain and spirit.  Each sunrise, each sunset was celebrated as the original.  Rituals created a time space and oneness with nature, a sense of respect to the sacredness of the act.  What if I was able to tap into their ways and consciously practice such a life?  Maybe in that moment of stopping to feel the setting sun, I receive a gift of knowing a tiny part.

Fields of Cosmos

Fields of Cosmos
Showa Kinen Park
October 25, 2012

Our visit to this park was fantastic, and we so enjoyed our walk through endless Cosmos flowers in the late afternoon sun.  Seeing so many in one location definitely had its transformational properties.  I loved getting lost in the pretty colors and light.  :)

His bike was red

Nathan Crowson was hit and killed by a drunk driver while riding his bike on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge at 8:45 PM on January 21, 2012. He died instantly, and Danny Morris, the friend he rode with, was in an induced coma in critical condition as of this afternoon.  Nathan was an experienced cyclist and commuted to work on bike for years.  He was known as a friend, good father, and talented artist.

I visited his Ghost Bike memorial set up at the location where he died.  There's a white bike covered in mementos, flowers, notes.  Spray-painted red flowers on the base of nearby poles.  A stenciled heart in the road near the bike.  A little stuffed animal sits behind the large votive candle, and a note his 5 year old daughter wrote laid on the ground near the front wheel.  The little girl attends my Unitarian church, and that was my initial connection to this accident after learning about it through a Facebook post on my church's page.  Then it unraveled so much more in me that I felt compelled to visit, to photograph, and share the story with others.

When I first moved to Baton Rouge 7 years ago with my husband and then 2 year old daughter, I met a woman and her also two year old at a local children's activity.  We became friends, and one day she shared with me the horrible story of losing her husband in a cycling accident on a River Road, an area known for cyclist training sessions.  A driver drove into the team and killed him and a teen rider.  Their son was born soon after and named after the father.  It's a heartbreaking story, and that feeling returned once I learned about Nathan and the daughter he leaves behind.

Her story, Nathan's, Danny's along with the thousands of cyclists in Baton Rouge who struggle everyday to ride safely, need to be shared and talked about to move ourselves and the city to action to improve the roads for pedestrians and riders.  We're designed to transport cars, and that's about it.  Drivers brains are wired to rule the road and get to where they have to go, not share the road with others who choose a different means of getting around.  It's very frustrating, to say the least, to be living in a city, the capital city no less, where such a physical and mental structure exists.

You find hope though when you meet someone like Matt Love.  He came out from a nearby office while I was visiting the memorial.  He asked what I was doing, and I told him that I wanted to blog about what happened in hopes that people will learn and want to improve the city's conditions for cyclists.  It ends up that he was a cyclist himself, and we talked a bit about the accident and city's situation.  We shared similar concerns, but his from the experience as a cyclist.  I found out that he actually rides quite a distance everyday to work, and that he's found a way to avoid busy roads.  It ends up that he crosses the farm property that I visit nearly everyday, and while that's something I smiled about, that's also what has to change for cyclists like Matt.

I also learned about a few advocacy organizations from him. http://ghostbikes.org/, BRASS - Baton Rouge Advocates for Safer Streets and The Baton Rouge Bike Club, as well as an informational letter written by the bike club's president, Tom Clement.  I'll definitely visit the sites, and I recommend a read of his well written letter here.  You'll be floored by our city's statistics when it comes to safety for cyclists, and hopefully moved to get involved and become proactive in moving progress along.  

Thank you, Matt Love, for stepping out there to speak with me and spend a bit of time.  I really appreciate it.

And Nathan's bike.  It was red.  Something that seems so trivial in light of the tragedy, but I learned about it while checking out the Critical Mass bike ride info tonight (which I will write about, too).  For some reason I found his bike color and the photo of the red flowers stencil resonated with me the most.  Maybe it's just that something in me knowing him a bit more and wanting to do something to help.  

Remnant Florals

Camera in one hand, Sparkle and flowers in other

This is just the way it is when heading out on a little trek.  If it's not the flowers or the dog, it's a cute little person tugging onto my person.  And so the challenge and the fun in carrying the camera, too, to grab some images because that's just what I do.  I wonder, too, if my imagery changes much when I have more time and two hands to work the camera.  There's something to be said for constraints of some form in pushing things to happen.

The weather was so tremendously beautiful and out of character on Saturday night that we couldn't help to head out as a family for a walk with Sparkle.  Usually there are groans and hesitations because of the humidity and the mosquitoes that go along with it, but this time we were racing to catch the end of day sun.  We found ourselves at the old Ford property venturing through the gate and around the lawn mower cut path.  It was a wonderful experience, and we'll be sure to continue fully embracing it while the weather is out of the ordinary.

 

'Praying' flowers

These rain lilies bloom for a very short time in the early morning hours.  Their opening is amazing and beautiful.

                             

Iris

Saving the "sour" flowers

This little shoot turned into another case of first being taken in by the colors only to find myself appreciating the monochrome images more. 

We have the softest earth underneath the Live Oak that sits in our front yard.  Out of it a mixture of grasses and the tiniest of flowers has grown, making it quite beautiful with the surrounding azaleas.  While cutting the grass, I just had to stop and save hundreds of these "sour" flowers from their doom.  (They're edible and very tangy)

I was feeling supernova sensory in the midst of the sights, textures, and smells, and wondered after the fact about the chances that someone viewing the images would share those feelings.  It would be a "Like Water for Chocolate" phenomenom but in the context of photography.  What people experience or don't experience when viewing my photos can be surprising, but it's all so cool when we connect.

Flowering pear tree blossoms with bee

We have a flowering pear tree that sits over our driveway, and every Spring it comes alive with fragrance, blooms, and bees.  When stepping outside the buzz of the bees was always with you.  Looking above all you saw was the coverage of the blue sky with thousands of little white blossoms and the movement of the bees. 

January florals

Night Live Oak with Azaleas

 

I love the Live Oak in our front yard.  It's the "keeper of our house" in the dark, and our sun shield and shelter during the day.  Here it's so lovely surrounded by azaleas late day.  The street lamp provides a nice silhouette late in the evening.

Close-up experimental

AKA "Flowers, Feet and Bubbles".  This was a fun session with my older daughter who was 4 at the time.  I stacked on my favorite Bower +1, +2, and +4 glass and played around with varying distances to my subject.