Whatever Weds. Cattails

January 19, 2022January 18, 2022Posted in Nature, Nature Photography, Plants, Whatever WednesdayTagged Cattails, Fuji X-T3, In Blackwater Woods, Mary Oliver, Nature, Nature Photography, Poetry, Pond plants36 Comments

I like cattails even when they get all crazy and fluffy. I always think of it as organized chaos.

I’ve also always liked this bit of Mary Oliver’s poem regarding cattails,

“the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is

nameless now.”

From her poem- In Blackwater Woods.

Happy Hump Day! I hope your week is going well.

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 23.0.0

more to come…

Go outside!

April 21, 2017Posted in Black and White Photography, New York, Nikon, Photography, PoetryTagged Architecture, Boxes, Fire escapes, Go Outside, High Line, Manhattan, Miki Byrne, NYC, old and new, Poetry, Windows42 Comments

I’m looking forward to the week-end to get outside in nature with my camera. Here’s a poem that expresses what I’m feeling.

Go outside_DMZ3292

Be Outside. – Poem by Miki Byrne

Step outside the box.
Build fires and be Gypsies.
Let your little space feel huge
And yours alone.

Grow jungles where cats may prowl.
Sit under stars framed by man-made apexes.
Keep your fences mended
And the space within, your own Serengeti.

Refuse the closed doors and windows.
The air, the sky, the very night itself
Calls “Come out! ”
Do not have a city-dwellers fear of un-walled spaces.

But find in a garden small
Some of Eden’s traces.
A roof of inky softness, a flowers sweet aroma.
Be outside, leave the box. Come home.

Miki Byrne

I hope you all have a wonderful week-end and get outside your box for a little while.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & Nik Silver Efex Pro| NYC from the High line

Wordless Wednesday 15/52 “Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –” Gerard Manley Hopkins

April 12, 2017April 11, 2017Posted in Bees, Flowering Trees, Insects, Nikon, Photography, Poetry, Wordless WednesdayTagged Bees, California, Daffodil Hill, Flowering Trees, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Insects, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Poetry, Spring, Wordless Wednesday28 Comments

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring —

Nikon Df| Nikkor 105mm micro lens| Delkin Digital Film| PSCC 2017 & On1

More to come…

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017Posted in Bird Photography, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Poetry, Santa Clara County birdsTagged Birds, Birds of North America, Camellia, Chickadee, Hanford Lennox Gordon, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Poetry, Spring31 Comments

The Chickadees are back! This little one was flying down to the feeder to grab a peanut then fly back to a perch inside the safety of my Camellia bush.

Chickadee

I’ll leave you with a poem about a sweet Chickadee by Hanford Lennox Gordon

Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee!
That was the song that he sang to me–Sang
from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
My little brown bird,
The song that I heard
Was a happier song than the minstrels sing–
A paean of joy and a carol of spring;
And my heart leaped throbbing and sang with thee
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

My birdie looked wise
With his little black eyes,
As he peeked and peered from his perch at me
With a throbbing throat and a flutter of glee,
As if he would say–
Sing trouble away,
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

Only one note
From his silver throat;
Only one word
From my wise little bird;
But a sweeter note or a wiser word
From the tongue of mortal I never have heard,
Than my little philosopher sang to me
From his bending perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

Come foul or fair,
Come trouble and care–
No–never a sigh
Or a thought of despair!
For my little bird sings in my heart to me,
As he sang from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee dee:
Chickadee-dee, chickadee-dee;
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
~Hanford Lennox Gordon

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm @460mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1

Have a great week-end everyone!

More to come…

Early Spring!

February 9, 2016Posted in Bees, Flower Photography, Flowering Trees, Honey Bees, Nature, Nature Photography, Nikon DF, Photography, Poems of Robert Frost, Poerty, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Seasons of the Year, Spring, Trees, WinterTagged Bees, Flowering Trees, Nature, Nature Photography, Poetry, Robert Frost Poems, Seasons, Spring, Sweat Pea Vine, White blossoms27 Comments

I had a walk-around the neighborhood Sunday morning and found Spring everywhere.

The flowering trees are in bud, and beginning to blossom while others are in full bloom!

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost-

“Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.”~Robert Frost (from A Boy’s Will, 1915)

Flowering Tree in Full Bloom

The huge white flowering tree was a hive of activity in the canopy. The buzz of bees

was dizzying, and the warmth of the sun on my face when I looked up felt wonderful, healing, and nourishing.

The branches were heavy with blossoms,

Flowering Tree in full bloom

papery white, with lovely “look at me!” centers.

Blossoms on a Flowering Tree

Plus one more…

Nearly home I found a huge Sweat Pea vine spilling over a fence with dozens of busy bees.

Honey Bee and the Sweet Pea

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

A Single Drop

January 15, 2016Posted in Grasses, Macro, Macro Photography, Photography, Plants, Poetry, QuotesTagged blade of grass, Bokeh, Dew Drop, Fine Art, Fine Art Photography, Kahlil Gibran, Macro photography, Nature, Nikon, Poetry, Prose, Quotes, Rain drop18 Comments

“I have left my bed and walked upon the grass and the night dew has wet my feet and the hem of my garment. Here I stand under the blossoms of the almond tree, heeding the call of your spirit. ”
~Kahlil Gibran, Communion of Spirits, The Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran

Went I laid in the grass to photograph the dew and rain drops in the grass yesterday morning I thought of these lines from Kahlil Gibran’s prose Communion of Spirits.

Dew Drop

I hope you all have a sunny Friday and week-end both in your spirits and weather!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 105mm macro lens| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2015| Hand-held

More to come…

P52 17/52: Tiger

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015Posted in LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, Poerty, Project 52, ToysTagged Giles Andreae, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro photography, Poetry, Project 52, Tiger, Toys2 Comments

Beware of the terrible tiger,
You don’t always know when he’s near,
But his eyes shine like lights
In the blackest of nights,
And his growl makes you tremble with fear!
~Giles Andreae
From the Children’s book Rumble in the Jungle 1998

Nikon Df| Lensbaby Composer Pro w/Soft Focus Optic, 16mm Macro Converter, and Wide Angle Lens @ f/5.6|Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…

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Be Outside. – Poem by Miki Byrne

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