Thursday Thoughts – New in My Garden

/ Leya / 25 kommentarer

Every year there are some newcomers in my garden. I posted a bee in this one the other day, but thought I would do it some more justice and show the beauty of this salvia plant. Fast growing and loved by the pollinators. Among the Autumn yellows, it is radiant.

Tricyrtis, or toadlily, arrived this summer as well. In Sweden we have ”open gardens” to visit every summer, and sometimes they sell plants there as well. I wanted this beauty ever since I saw it the first time in an old friend’s garden. And last week the first flower unfolded. An intricate lady.

Mrs Wilmott’s Ghost is another newcomer – much longed for – but unfortunately it did not get any flowers this year. But this is what I hope to see next summer!

I mentioned before the red admirals (Vanessa) and how frequent they are this year – and difficult to photograph, but in the header I managed not to frighten them when they were feasting on the plums…

A more close-up view I got from one of them resting on the glasshouse. This year they have kept their colours well too – no hail or much rain. Indeed one of my favourite butterflies. Sorry to say, the buddleias will soon be over, but we have had a marvelous insect year and the butterflies are no exception. So grateful!

LAPC #213 – Here Comes the Sun

/ Leya / 91 kommentarer

Amy is back hosting, and she comes with the sun! Please visit her beautiful site for more inspiration!

I will pick some of my favourite suns over the years – as

According to the Beatles:

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright

I have mostly caught sunsets, I know, but to me they are the most spectacular ones. In the header – millions of suns in Spain, and the flowers for Ukraine to be free and shine again.

Iceland an early winter morning

A winter morning at home, Hovdala

– and a misty summer morning at Lake Grecken, Sweden

View from the sailing ship in Ecuador/Galapagos

Christmas Eve, Lake Taupo, NZ 2011

My beloved son enjoying the sunset at our summer house

This is my favourite image. Walking alone along the old gravel road with my first lagotto, Mille. The soft warmth of that summer night is still lingering in my memory whenever I look at this image.

An artsy one…at Wanås. A backdrop for one of our most famous artist’s summer show.

Iceland again – because I love this country so much… and already missing it again…

Welcome to share your images of “Here Comes the Sun”– from anytime of the day. Special thanks to Patti for last week’s “Motion” theme. Through her lens and techniques, we have learned the art of capturing motion. Thank you for sharing your fun, creative motion/movement photos!

Please link your post to Amy’s original and tag your post, so we can find you in the reader.

Next week, I, Leya/Ann-Christine, will be your host – until then, stay tuned, take care and be kind.

Thursday Thoughts – Summer is Still Here

/ Leya / 31 kommentarer

I sit in my garden every day, watching the butterflies feasting on Buddlejas and what is left of my plum cooking. The Red Admirals seem to love plums just as much as the ordinary flower table. Golden days now, when summer is drawing to its close.

The beautiful Scarce Copper though, is not to be seen anymore. I guess its season is earlier. I tried to catch some of the Admirals with my camera, but unfortunately – I will try again tomorrow.

LAPC #212 – Motion

/ Leya / 52 kommentarer

This week, Patti invites us to have fun with motion. Please visit her site and get inspiration and great examples on how to go about the challenge!

Personally I will tweak it a bit…letting me do the motion while the object is standing still.

In this first yellow one I have used a favourite technique – double exposure. The gentle flowers seem to be dancing a wild, energetic dance.

In these two slider pairs, I have used ICM – intentional camera movements. In a sense, ICM gives the same effect as (intentional) single-exposition motion blur: in the former the camera moves during exposure, in the second the target moves, but they have in common that there is relative motion between camera and target, resulting in streaking in the image.

In the first pair, I have moved my camera from an upward point downwards, rather fast, trying to create as straight lines as possible while the motif gets blurred. In the second pair, I have tried to move the camera faster still, making the image even more blurred, giving the sense of fast movement.

Generally exposures of 1/20 to 1/2 second give the best results and an optimum seems to be 1/8 of a second to retain the shape of the subject, but strip away surface detail. But much is trial and error!

Another motion effect can be achieved by changing the focal length of a zoom lens during the exposure. I find this even more difficult to get a satisfying result. But fun it is and the results surprising!

As I don’t use filters, I tried these effects in the late evening to get softer light.

Last week Anne Sandler challenged us to explore our photographic groove. A great challenge, Anne, and we found many interesting grooves to explore! Next week, Amy will lead the challenge. Visit her beautiful site next Saturday at noon EST to join the fun.

Just remember to link your post to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you in the Reader.

Until next time…, stay safe and be kind.