Wow! It's been quite a while since I've shared a round-up of joyful reads, hasn't it? Now that I've cut back to one post per week (so much more manageable for my life right now), I just haven't had the chance. The good news is that I've been saving up all kinds of lovely little gems for you, so here's an extra-large offering:
If I had to choose just one symbol of summertime, it would be our Rose of Sharon bushes, which burst forth in a festive show of pink blossoms around mid-July and keep up their boisterous celebration until the first chills of September.
They are gorgeous, each and every blossom. They keep me busy behind the camera. It's impossible for me to go out the front door and not be beckoned towards them. They're intoxicating, and the bees agree.
The blossoms are havens for little creatures, gathering places to meet in secret, between the pretty petals.
It's in the very last days of summertime that these Rose of Sharon bushes surround us as if to say, "Surrender!" They climb up our window panes to peek inside, climbing so high that we think they'll reach right up to the tops of the windows, on their way to the rooftop.
"To every thing there is a season...
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted..."
-- Ecclesiastes 3, King James Version
And so it goes: The Rose of Sharon begins to fade. The vibrant and voluptuous pink blossoms turn to a soft purple; they wither and fall, taking their last curtain call.
Even in their withering, there's a delicate beauty.
Usually, just as this slow descent begins, a gardener comes 'round to trim down the bushes with a noisy electric hedge-trimmer.
This year, I couldn't bear to think of that harsh sound of shearing, piercing the peacefulness of these final afternoons of summer.
So I lugged out our ladder and began to clip the last of the fading blooms myself, quietly snipping with garden shears, amassing a pile for the composter.
My daughter gathered up the still-vibrant stems and carried them inside, like fragile dolls.
I told her she could arrange her own bouquets around the house. She was thrilled at the prospect and set right to work.
She took the task very seriously. I recognized in her my own determination to get the details right, to create a pretty picture, something to hold onto.
And through it all, my camera recorded these final moments of summer, knowing all too well they wouldn't last.
Summer went much too fast, didn't it? It seems we say it every year.
I just celebrated one of those "big" birthdays--you know, one with a zero at the end of it.
Thankfully, I still feel like I'm 32 (I think I've felt 32 since senior year of high school!), so it wasn't all that traumatic. It was exactly my kind of birthday because I spent it doing all kinds of my favorite things, without even one dreary chore or one ounce of guilt mixed in. Just pure, simple pleasures. If that sounds like your kind of birthday, too, help yourself to this recipe for celebrating. (Feel free to make your own substitutions, according to taste.)
1. Head outdoors first thing in the morning, camera in hand. (If you know me, you already know I'm fascinated by bugs, so it was an extra bonus for me to capture a company of ants having a meeting deep within the petals of a Rose of Sharon blossom.)
2. When somebody (for instance, your eight-year-old daughter) asks you what you'd like for your birthday, answer "Just a hug, please." Melt with love when she brings you a surprise homemade breakfast of three pieces of toast cut out into the letters H-U-G, decorated with wild blueberry preserves (my favorite!) and fresh blueberries. (Seriously, how cute is that?!)
3. After breakfast, read a good book on the porch. (A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield is chock-full of wisdom for living a more meaningful and mindful life. I'm underlining like crazy!)
4. If you're not much of a cake person, have ice cream cones instead. Preferably, with lots of sprinkles (or jimmies, or shots, or whatever you call those little candy toppings in your neck of the woods).
6. Take one of your favorite people with you to one of those little shops where you can paint your own pottery while chatting and listening to more good music.
7. End the day eating dinner with your favorite people in the world, (which is hopefully your family), preferably at a Mexican restaurant (which always feels like a fiesta). Get just a little bit tipsy on frozen strawberry margaritas, so that you can't take a proper photograph of the event. Pretend you were aiming for "an artsy shot" instead.
8. Tuck into bed, completely grateful for the day and all of the simple but wonderful things it held out to you.
How 'bout you? How do you celebrate your big birthdays? I'd love to hear!
I returned from a week in Connecticut and dove right into teaching a new session of my Art of Photography e-course. (Yet another lovely group of students, thank heavens--and knock on wood! I'm enjoying them immensely.) Before I get back into the full swing of blogging, I thought I'd treat you to the AMAZING work of my students from the most recent session of my nature photography course, How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You.
Whenever I share these exhibitions of student work, I feel like I need to point out that these are not professional photographers--which I think you'll find even more impressive after you look through these gorgeous images. I'm sorry that I couldn't include every student's work from the course--this was my largest class yet (I'm so very grateful for that!) and I don't want to crash your computers by loading lots and lots of images!
Okay, ready to have your socks knocked off? Drumroll, please...
Flower and Butterfly by Sam Wolf, Abington, Pennsylvania
Old Barn by Jean Jagodzinski, North St. Paul, Minnesota
Find Your Peaceful Place by Pat Bourke, Victoria, British Columbia
Bee in White Flowers by Amanda Robichaud, Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Purple Blooms in the Golden Hour by Tracy Van Houten, Pasadena, California
Butterfly and Blooms by Nancy Hadden, Forsyth, Georgia
Flower in the Style of Georgia O'Keefe by Sue Knopp, Colorado Springs
Yellow Blooms by Amy Jo Kellington, Fremont, California
Well, were your socks knocked off? Mine certainly were! Thank you so much to my wonderful students--first, for being such a pleasure to have "in class" and second, for allowing me to share your beautiful work here today. (You all rock!)
If you're interested in taking my online nature photography course the next time it runs, email me at JoyfullyGreen.com@gmail.com and I'll notify you when enrollment opens!
This is what the beginning of August looks like in my neck of the woods, here in northeastern New Jersey: Our Rose of Sharon bush is in full, crazy bloom, and the "donut peaches" are ripe and ready to eat. (I think these peaches are actually called "Saturn Peaches" but they look more like donuts to me!)
Bountiful blooms, ripe fruits...this is August at its best.
I'm a firm believer that the best souvenirs of your summer vacation won't be found in the gift shops (a.k.a., tourist traps). If you really want to capture sentimental memories of your travels, look no further than your own camera. After all, you're the one who knows what made your vacation special--the experiences that moved you, the places that made you smile. If you frame your favorite shots when you get home, you'll have the best souvenirs ever!
But how can you capture your vacation memories in pictures that are beautiful and unique enough to frame? I've got you covered with the following quick tips, illustrated with photos that I took last weekend, when good friends from New York City invited us to their "country house"--a summer rental near Rhinebeck, New York, built in the late 1700's, with gorgeous, untamed gardens all over the property.
Here are a few tips to make your vacation photos the best they can be:
1. Get closer. A LOT closer. Take your shots as close as you can get to the pretty things you see. It helps if you have a macro lens, but as with the flower shot at the top of this post, I didn't have a macro lens with me so I just moved in very near to the flowers and focused on them, not on the background. Creating a shallow depth of field like this will really make your subjects "pop."
2. Use natural light, even indoors. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know that I'm practically allergic to flash photography, and that applies to vacation shots, too. Nothing ruins the mood faster than an artificially lit scene. You won't always be able to avoid the flash at nighttime, when low light can make your shots blurry without the flash (although you can compensate for low light if you know how to shoot in manual mode). But in the daytime, shoot during the Golden Hours (about one hour after the sun rises and one hour before it sets) for the softest, prettiest light.
3. Get a view from the doorway. This is one of my favorite ways to remember the places I've visited. Capture the rooms as you saw them the moment you entered them. I don't mean that as soon as you enter the room, you should start clicking away. (Besides, you've probably got luggage to plunk down!) I just mean it's good to go back to the same view you originally saw and capture it, and a great way to do that is to take photos right on the threshold of rooms.
4.Get a view through the window. When I was inside chatting with my friend in the kitchen, I saw her sweet daughter outside, having a chat of her own with her Barbie doll. What did you see when looking outdoors?
5. Capture the quiet moments, not just the big events. While the amusement park trips and birthday bashes definitely should be on your roster of photos, be mindful of the downtime, too--those quiet, little moments in between the action. Often, those are the things we forget the fastest, so pictures will save the day--literally.
6. Get a close-up shot of the most delicious foods you ate while you were there. (And again, turn off the flash!)
7. Take a "solo photo walk." If you like to take a lot of snapshots--as in hundreds of snapshots (I'm with ya!)--set aside some time to do it on your own, when you won't be rushed along by the others in your group and you won't be inconveniencing them by stopping to compose all the shots. You'll be able to find more of those quiet moments (see #5), and I think it's always nice to get a little fresh air and time to yourself to explore.
Here's one more BIG thing to remember: Pack those extra batteries, chargers, and memory cards before you pack anything else. You never know when that little red light will pop up on your camera, telling you that your perfect shot isn't going to happen.
I hope your next vacation is picture-perfect in every way!
Pssssssst!Early Bird enrollment for the next session of my online photography course,The Art of Photography: How to Take Your Pictures to the Next Level,ends on Friday, 7/31/15 (12:00 midnight EST). Save $15 by enrolling earlyand join me in August to create some inspiring pictures of your own!
Although it's supposed to be lazy-hazy summertime, it seems that I'm in the midst of another "good-busy" patch.
I'm wrapping up teaching my nature photography course this week. This is the fourth time I've run it, and my heart is practically bursting with gratitude to have had yet another group of enthusiastic, perfectly lovely students. The worry-wart in me keeps waiting for some ridiculously horrid person to sign up for one of my courses, but so far, everybody has been just so...nice!
(Oh, dear... Did I just jinx it by writing that? Luckily, I'm the least superstitious person I know.)
In the midst of winding up the course, I'm also heading to BlogHer15 for the weekend to pick up a photography award. (Still can't really believe it, and I don't think I will truly believe it until I have the actual award in my hot little hands. Maybe they've made a mistake?!)
As I type this, I'm gazing out the window at some crazy weeds, having their way with our garden. How about we just pretend for now that I'm cultivating a classic English garden and all of the curling tendrils and brazen outgrowths are there on purpose? (Yes, let's go with that plan.)
I have to admit, the weeds have a certain charm. Some of them are downright photogenic. Let's just call them "wildflowers." (There, I feel better about them already.)
I find, oftentimes, that a little chaos--just a little, not too much!--can sweeten the days. And these summer days are sweet and fleeting.
Before I dive into this weekend's round-up, I'd like to say a quick but heartfelt "thank you!" to everybody who already signed up for my July nature photography course. It's my biggest group yet, hailing from four countries, three continents, thirteen states, and still counting! (Feeling grateful and relieved--whenever I open enrollment for an e-course, I can't help feeling a twinge of panic!)
Now, here are just a few of my favorite finds this week--enjoy and kindly share them:
I gave up Nutella because palm oil is destroying rainforests and the animals who live there. But here's some VERY good news from Chocolate Covered Katie: A recipe for homemade Nutella. (P.S. It's dairy-free and vegan!)
Join me in July: My online photography course, How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You begins in less than four weeks! No fancy camera is necessary (you can even use your smart phone). Ready to take better pictures? Let's go!
I wait all year for the lilacs to bloom. The scent of lilacs after a rainfall must be how heaven smells, I think. While I prefer the purple variety, I'll gladly take the pink ones, too. Can anyone resist the soft, sweet scent of lilacs in June?
Join me in July! My online photography course, How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You begins in just four weeks! No fancy camera is necessary (you can even use your smart phone). Ready to take better pictures? Let's go!
It wasn't until I hit my 40's that I realized, with some relief, that I'm actually an introvert. Or more specifically, as I joke to my husband, "a highly functioning introvert." Because many people who know me wouldn't describe me as a "typical" introvert.
I was the cheerleading captain as a high school sophomore (I cringe to admit that; it all seems so silly now), but I dumped it the next year for the drama club, where I could hang around with the other artsy kids at school, taking the stage in small roles instead of being front-and-center at football games.
The fact of the matter is that I feel most at peace spending good chunks of time on my own, in relative silence, contemplating the world through a camera lens.
Viewing the world through the eyes of an introvert has helped me to recognize the introverts and extroverts of the flower world, too.
June began with a LOT of rain around here, so everything is blooming like crazy! Of course, the roses, the peonies, and the irises get the most ooooohs and aaaaaahs, so naturally, I take lots of shots of them.
But it's often the "quieter" flowers that resonate the most with me. The less flashy ones. The ones you have to really study up-close to see their delicate petals.
I'm drawn to the tiny ruby-colored blooms on the Lemon Princess Spirea, perfectly counter-balanced by their neon-green leaves.
I've always had a soft spot for this little weedy wildflower pictured below, called Purple Crown Vetch. It's nestled next to what we used to call a "friendship rock" at camp when I was a kid. A friendship rock was any rock that had a continuous line all the way around it--an unending circle, like true friendship. You'd give one to only your very best friends to carry in their pockets, like secrets.
While the flowers of the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) are picture-perfect little Valentines, I also like modest clovers, with their heart-shaped leaves.
Like so many other "introvert" flowers that I admire, they seem to be peering through the shady cracks, trying to find their quiet corner of the world. A private place that suits them perfectly, with just the right amount of sun.
