I don’t think I’d like to wander upon this tree in the dark, with flashlight in hand. Spooky looking, albeit nice to photograph. It’s a very old, weather beaten Southern Catalpa tree located on the grounds of an historic homestead in SW Virginia…thus protected…except from age.
My objective here was to get “up close” with some flowers I made photos of while walking through our neighborhood. None of them are ours…thanks neighbors! Looking for something different when using your camera is an excellent way to expand your capabilities.
There is a house near our home which I pass by during my exercise walks, outside of which the owner has placed several old “treasures” on display for people like me to see…and unknown to them in my case to photograph. The old child’s snow sled, an acorn-shaped bird house, and a wooden bench with nearby table comprise the display. It sits in front of a green-mold colored wooden fence, which could use a good power wash. But, if that were done it would ruin the mood set by the display…one which signifies “old” but still valued items the owner has an attachment toward…for why else would they be set outside for all to see. This is not at all unusual in small-town neighborhoods across America. Unfortunately, some home owners have much “looser” rules pertaining to what sorts of treasures are set outside their home for display…old furniture, appliances, cars, etc. Items most of use would call junk. But in the example shown here…all is well.
This is a much-photographed (now vacant) large home in Martinsville, Virginia. I have made many photos from various angles and never tire of doing so. Here are my latest close-up examples of the white brick patterns. The home is often referred to as the “wedding cake” home given the layers at the top.
I believe it’s important in photography to seek to capture different contrasts in many of your images. Here are two examples. First, the rusty fire extinguisher apparatus with contrasting green vines growing around, and the second with cut logs contrasted behind yellow and green vegetation. Your eye has to see this first, and that’s the key to success…if such is your objective.
I found an old building that had once been a gas station and is now vacant. However, there is still evidence that it was operating not too long ago…whether at a profit or not I do not know. The building itself was nothing special in terms of photographic impact, but there were a couple of items still hanging on the brick wall that caught my eye. Two of them are documented here. I take no responsibility for advertising smoking…I just liked the guy’s rugged face on the faded sign.
One of our more “yard friendly” neighbors is always putting some sort of ornament in her front yard. A couple of days ago while on my “health walk” I spotted this pink bird house, hung nicely off a limb on a pink flowered dogwood tree. I did not have my camera with me that day, but today on my walk I did. So…you get to see what I saw…a pink and thus far vacant bird house. Made for a nice photo.
After I made these two photos it came to me that they are really opposites. First, these images were made looking through the front window of an antique store, and they are clearly ceramic figures. The main difference is that the first one, the clown, may cause people to say “Yikes, what a scary face!” while the second one, the cowboy, most likely will be met with a much happier and warmer reception. Clowns frighten many people, while cowboys always seem friendly and manly. So, that’s my story…opposites. Short as it is.
Here are two views of a bunch of Grape Hyacinth flowers blooming underneath our post-mounted mailbox located curbside. The first view contrasts the flowers with the rock bed behind, while the second gets closer to highlight water droplets from the drizzle falling when I made the image. I like the second view best, but it’s sometimes interesting to put contrasting objects together in a composition. These little, early-Spring blooming flowers are only an inch high and they spread like crazy during the year. I am definitely ready for warmer weather! It was 75 degrees last Saturday and 39 today with cold drizzle falling. But, these flowers seem not to care!
People who see me making photos inside stores such as the local Food Lion may think I am strange when I stand in front of simple displays such as this one with my camera pressed to my eye, getting as close as I can to get the composition I want. They may also think I am some company executive documenting the skills of the store’s produce manager. I don’t always have my camera with me when shopping but I often take it along just to be prepared to capture some image that may be interesting to me and hopefully others. As an aside, Apples are one of the products I buy regularly because I have one a day…hopefully keeping the doctor away, as my dear mother used to advise me when I was young. I peel mine by the way…do you? OK, how about close up images made outdoors. Here’s one I took the other day.
Again, like indoors at the Food Lion some person who might have seen me making this close up of a single daffodil flower in our back yard (they are really blooming nicely this year) may have wondered what I was doing down on my knees crawling up close to the flowers so as to get this one single bloom in the composition. I learned awhile back that when taking photos of flowers it’s best to position your camera in such a way so as to have a different view not normally seen. For example, many just take their photo looking down on the flowers, as would be normal. Boring, perhaps.
So, there you go, close up images indoors and outdoors. It all can be fun, you choose!
