Mallards, Monet, and Soft Sun

This is a lovely time of year in the Fingerlakes region. The soft sun in the early morning illuminates the best of nature.  I went out this morning, following an evening rain. The water lilies were just opening up, the rain water was puddled on the leaves, and the ducks were navigating the vegetation in search of food.

With patience, I was able to photograph the Mallard pair as they exited the pond and headed for the gardens.  Handsome male!  The pair were not successful in raising a family due to other wildlife, but have remained residents of the pond for now.

The photos here include Echinacea, Water Lilies, resident Mallards, unknown flower, Foxglove, and Hibiscus.  I hope you enjoy today's share.

Tiles/Trivets/Back Splash

I have been experimenting with several designs to be printed on ceramic tiles by a local artisan.  Several of another batch of tiles are in the gift shop at the Cornell Plantations visitor center.  I will have many tiles with me at the Ithaca Artist Market on July 29th at the Ithaca Farmers' Market.

The tiles are heat resistant, satin in finish, and can be used under hot items or hung on the wall.  An excellent use of them would be for a decorative backsplash interspersed with white tiles. The tiles come in 4-6-8 inch squares.  Please contact me if this is of interest to you.

Cornell Reunion at the Cornell Plantations

On Friday, I spent three hours in the Young Garden of the Plantations. This garden focuses on the meaning of flowers, their cultural history, and how they are involved in our lives. The florist motto is "Say it With Flowers", which is an apt description of this garden.

In the garden, there are weather protected books that describe the characteristics and cultural importance of the major flower in bloom at the time.

I welcomed visitors and gave some background to the garden when appropriate. When I offered to photograph a Chinese family, they insisted I be pictured with the mother of the group.  It was a nice day and pleasant event.

Here are some pictures I took while "on duty".  I especially like the one of the Tulip Tree, which was in full bloom near the patio.  Other pictures are of the Lewis Center, the descriptive book in the garden, the elegant iris and the peonies.

Water Lilies and Lotus Leaves

It is always very exciting to see the emergence of the Lotus Leaves scattered around the pond. The first leaves to emerge are the flat ones that are similar to those of water lilies.  The real indication that there will soon be a lotus flower is the upright leaf.

Right now, there are many pink and yellow water lilies decorating the pond, with several small vertical lotus leaves emerging near them.  Hope you enjoy these images.

Magnificent Coral Peonies

My friends in Lansing have an exquisite selection of peonies, both regular and tree peonies.  My favorite is the coral peony that is magnificent in display each year.  Here are a couple shots from this week, one of which was an unadjusted image while the others were "played with" in Photoshop.

Macro photography of peonies

I set up a photographic arrangement inside with access to ambient sunlight, using both black and white screens for background.  This was one way to avoid the heavy winds this week that prevented outside photography.  I used a 60mm macro lens on my Canon Rebel camera. Let me know what you think of this approach.

June 1 Garden Flowers

After weeks of rain and a soggy backyard, the perennials are coming into bloom. Early!  Today, I took pictures of the pink and white peonies, the orange poppies, giant allium, and the blue and purple iris.  The pond is encircled by yellow iris that have spread by their own methods of distribution from the original plant.  On the surface of the pond are many first leaves of the lotus flowers, which look very similar to water lily leaves, but are too numerous to be the latter.

Hope you enjoy these images.