Sunday, August 14, 2011

Light 'Play' and Gentle Breezes

I'm feeling 'garden-y' ((?) probably couldn't find that in Wikipedia) and Zen this morning.  The heat & humidity broke today, so all the windows are open and there is an amazing breeze blowing through the house.  Paging through a new issue of Garden Gate, as I sat in my 3-Season room I noticed the 'light play' on the plants in the "Shade Garden" from the morning sun.


Garden Blogger, Cat - The Whimsical Gardener has a keen eye for the art of the garden, through her photography.  I look at my garden in a whole different way now - as a photo op and perhaps some personal artwork in my home.  My favorite plant progress shots are taken at sunset (as a self-described NON-morning person, 'sunrise' shots will be few and far between).  The other evening the Cottage Garden was bathed in sunset.  Here are a few shots I was able to capture:

Sunset on the Sweet Autumn Clematis
(by my 'Budding Photographer)
'Morning Light' Maiden Grass and Perennial Hollyhock
(at Sunset)
Yellow Daylily Bloom in Sunset shadows
Arabian Nights Dahlia bloom
(Must plant more Dahlias next year!)
I'm entranced by the beauty of this garden in sunset!  
So now that my 'anchor' gardens are in place and I have a sense of closure on what's done so far - I'm back in the garden plant books and pouring through garden magazines for the next phase of planning and planting.  Many of you provided a great recommendations for my 'wishlist' in 2012 and there are a few plants I fell in love with (like Lavender) as I perused my favorite garden 'haunts'.

Borrowed from the creative talent at Microsoft Clipart
I have also had a chance to surf the Blogosphere a bit and catch up with many of your blogs.  Summer has been 'spotty' for getting online, so I am incredibly behind.  In my 'virtual' travels, I try to leave you a comment - so you know I've been by.  It still blows me away how much talent is shared in this format.  Recently Tufa Girl and Toni -Signature Gardens were doing separate whorl-wind driving tours (the real kind) and introduced me (and their readers) to Karen at Quarry Garden Stained Glass.  Many of you may already know about this talent, but if you are new to the blog as I was - stop by!  "Wow" doesn't even cover it.

Time to wrap up.  It's a busy day in our house-hold as we pack up one of the "chitlins" (my kids) for another year at college.  (Geez, I must have fallen into that 'space-time contium' again?  Somehow school is starting up, which means Summer as quickly coming to an end...)

Since my post was all about gentle breezes and "light play", here is a little 'non-garden' shot to finish out this post:
Sunset at the Pier - Gulf Shores, FL
Sunshine wishes...

18 comments:

  1. Your single flower photos in the sunset look like studio shots. Nicely done. I love how sunset light looks through grasses, also. Cat - The Whimsical Gardener is quite the photography inspiration isn't she? I am so glad you are enjoying Karen and her Quarry Gardens. It was an amazing visit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the sunset at the pier photo...breathtaking! I, too, am inspired by the talent out there in the blogosphere. It is always comforting to know there are those to share a kinship.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like all your photos and the special attention to the lighting. It is not always easy to capture good lighting and you did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I often mourn my inability to capture light in photographs. Often I'll see something that has a special look, but when I look back at the photo it's just bland.

    You've captured it so well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for the wonderful compliments, gosh, I'm blushing. I am also definitely not a morning person, but people who are tell me I'm missing a lot. Your sunset photos are gorgeous, the play of light in grasses is always mesmerizing and you've captured it perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shyrlene, I too have been way behind with reading and I would love to see the garden as Cat does. Your sunset shots are wonderful. I do love to see the sun rise and set on the flowers ....wonderful!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tufa Girl - thanks for the props! The photo results make the crazy, "stand on your head" positions I get myself into (in order to take the shot) worth it! BIG thanks on the intro to Karen & the Quarry Gardens! :)

    Sage Butterfly - thank you! That pier was the coolest, and sunset on the Gulf of Mexico every night, for a week, was not too hard to take.

    GWGT - thanks for the feedback! 'Sunset in the garden' is a whole new world. I feel like a kid in a candy shop!

    IG - so good to have you drop by!! You are too kind!

    Karen - your gardens speak to your talents AND tenacity! Your property is huge and yet everything is so well planned and planted. Thanks for the kind words on my photos, they are a labor of love! (thank goodness disc storage is cheap)

    Donna - Thanks! You are my hero, able to appreciate sunrise and sunset. (It takes 30 minutes for my eyes to focus in the morning.) :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shyrlene you are so sweet. I can't tell you how it warms my heart that my photos inspire you. Your sunset shots are beautifully captured and reveal the magic of the hour. The light is so harsh here right now that I haven't taken many photos. May need to wake up earlier to catch sunrise! Thanks again for the shout-out! Oh, btw, the bunnies are eating anything they can find with moisture. It's definitely the bunnies buffet out there in the garden!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The photos are gorgeous - what a lovely post!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cat - we are in awe of your photographic talents (among many skills)! Your kind words on my photos mean so much. Every day I watch the weather in TX and think of you, Tufa Girl and Toni. I just can't even comprehend 2 months of consecutive +100F days. I pray for weather relief for you all.

    Heather - you made my day! Thanks so much! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Morning and evening light just takes our gardens to another level, doesn't it? Not sure I can ever truly capture all that I "see" with my camera, because you can't always capture emotions in a photo. Glad you got to take these photos in moderate temps :-) Thanks for your concern about our weather in TX. This too shall pass...someday. And so glad you found Karen's blog in WI. I'm telling you, if you ever get up that way, you HAVE to see it with your owns eyes. Amazing does not touch it! And speaking of amazing, I'm so with you on Cat's photography!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely - I'm with you, dawn shots are not on the agenda, morning in Autumn and Winter perhaps, but the evening sun is our friend!

    ReplyDelete
  13. You *are* having a busy summer. I'm glad the heat finally broke for your part of the world. It hasn't here, but the mornings are somewhat better which makes me glad. Thanks for chiming in on my Tale of Woe the other day. Fall is on its way.~~Dee

    ReplyDelete
  14. I also am a sunset person, rarely sunrise, though I know that is a wonderful time of day. I love your light play shots. Gulf Shores is one of my favorite places!

    p.s. As you can see, I too am having a hard time keeping up with blogging... too much overtime at work!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those photos are great! I wish my dahlia look like that.
    I look forward to seeing how the rest of your project goes.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Beautiful sunset shots - you've captured the wonderful warm glow! Thanks for stopping by at Garden Sense!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Those are some really nice shots. Thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails