Happy Halloween

 I played with some Halloween Still Life photos.

Sunflowers Oct 18 2025

 The end of the season has come.  I brought home a few to play with too.

Almost Pink sunflower

Flower Still Life

I enjoyed playing with still life after buying flowers at the local farms.  Sunflowers are challenging because they wilt very quickly and the flowers face downward.  Lavender was easier, and it lasts a long time.

Sunflowers photographed from below to see the disk florets in the middle. (I had to look that one up!

Lavender

Sunflowers in Vases

 I photographed a few flowers in vases using a technique called Focus Stacking, creating multiple shots at with different focus points combined to make a sharper image.  It is easier with certain cameras that have a special feature.  Nikon calls it focus shifting instead.  I still need to learn more about light placement to make the photos prettier.  I do prefer vases that aren't shiny or reflective.  I tried to play with my collection of vases to make nice color combinations.

I liked red, yellow, and green even though they aren't contrasting or analogous colors.  It looked like Autumn.

 

Yellow and purple are contrasting colors

All red shades and green is the opposite of red.

Sunflowers 2024

I visited Goldpetal Farm on a lovely late summer day to stay until sunset.  I thought it was an unusually nice one, mostly orange with a little pink.  Early on, I even got to see a sundog in the sky.  (It was very tricky to edit it so that it could be seen with the flower beside it). I enjoyed the fresh air and peacefulness and had fun cutting a few flowers in many colors to photograph later. (white, red, almost pink, orange and yellow sunflowers, plus a few zinnias)  The many bees were busy pollinating, but they ignored me completely, as I navigated a few paths in the mild sunshine.  There were a few pretty cast iron benches scattered around the cutting garden, making it nice for a nearby photographer to take pretty portraits.  The only thing I had missing, was someone else to carry around my bucket of flowers while I played with my camera!  This time, I tried to use the extra flowers as a prop to add to a few photos.

Sundog Sunflower

Path to the barn with my bucket of flowers and the moon

An old Ford Convertible was just leaving as I arrived. Possibly a roadster.  I wish I had written it down.  They kindly stopped to pose for me.

Almost pink

My favorite shot for the evening, with the pretty bench and sunset

Happy Valentine's Day This Week

I have found hearts in all sorts of places, even unexpectedly.  Enjoy Valentine's Day with your friend, lover or just enjoy my photos taken in many different years, seasons, and places.

Sunflowers 3

 My third visit for 2023 was also colorful, with lots of amazing sunflower colors.

Sunflowers 1

The sunflowers at a nearby farm in St. Marys County were very colorful this year.   More to come!

 

                                                    Red Backlit

Lost!

Sunset with Magenta Filter