My Mother’s Favorite

Posted on June 29, 2012 by artsifrtsy

What’s so special about dogwoods? I grew up in Las Vegas and I remember my mother making a sprig of wood pulp dogwoods when I was a kid. It sat on the top of our TV. She always told me how lovely they were – her favorite flower. Me, I thought they were boring. Just a white flower with 4 petals, nothing special. That lonely sprig in a vase on the TV did little to convince me that they merited the awe in my mother’s voice as she recalled her childhood among them in the woods of Virginia. Just another thing my mom and I disagreed on.

About 10 years ago I relocated to the Ozarks. The first spring was amazing to me – the variety of wildflowers, the shades of green, the wildlife, the water – and the dogwoods.

A canopy of delicate blossoms afloat in the understory of the forest – serenely suspended between heaven and earth. Glorious – and another thing my mom was right about.

Wish I had the chance to share these with her.

This one’s for you mom – miss you…

Saturday in the Park – hotter than the 4th of July

Posted on June 25, 2012 by artsifrtsy

This weekend the real heat of summer settled over the Ozarks. We hit triple digits and in this humidity that an be brutal. I met a friend at a local lake – she was introducing some friends to kayaking. I knew I couldn’t take the heat on the water so I stayed on the docks and played with some newer gear.

This is a shot of the docks taken with my Lensbaby set up, shown at the top of the blog. It’s a tilt-shift system – meaning that you tilt the lens so that it is no longer parallel to the sensor, this gives you a slice of focus that is tilted away from the sensor. This look is used a lot in those photos that look like dioramas or miniatures. I think that look is cool and I’ll probably try it at some point but for now I am interested in experimenting with the shift. I’m not interested in sacrificing composition for a novelty effect.

These shots let you see how the focus is off center – the second one really shows how the focus is tilted when you look at the license plate.

This is a stack of John boats and canoes on the shore. I made the grass near the canoe my focus, letting everything blur towards the edges.

Of course I cannot go anywhere without trying to practice capturing images of flying things and the Lensbaby is just not the tool for that –

Song sparrow

Resting dragonfly

Nectar filled blooms

I’m always game to try new things photographically – it pushes you to master a new skill set. I’m just a noob when it comes to tilt-shift, but I’m intrigued and curious about the potential. I think that’s a good thing for an artist.

As I hit the road for the drive home though, the tilt-shift is packed away – my long zoom is in place in case I get a shot at Bambi.

Katydids or didn’ts

Posted on June 24, 2012 by artsifrtsy

I saw this fella on the hood of my Jeep a couple of weeks ago. He hung on through my 15 mile commute, he seemed to be there for a couple of days – at least I thought it was the same guy, they all look alike to me.

Then suddenly he was gone. Early last week he (or his twin) was back, clinging to the windshield for dear life – but with new and improved wings.

After posing for a few shots he took off and I followed him up and over the jeep soft top.

At this point he changed directions and came at me.

He jumped onto my hand – which freaked me out a bit so I brushed him onto the ground. Immediately I felt bad, after all I was his ride. I thought I would pick him up an put him back on the Jeep. Bad idea – he made the loudest noise! I ditched him there in the parking lot.

Random Stream of Consciousness – with pictures.

Posted on June 22, 2012 by artsifrtsy

Random musings in no particular order…

Have you noticed how many people post photos of their bare feet on Facebook? Odd. Feet are typically not your most attractive feature and if you post it as your profile photo every time you comment, post, or even play Words with Friends your friends are confronted with your funny looking feet. This is as close to bare feet that you will see from me online. My boss thinks they look like “bear feet”. I took this photo because I thought it was silly to wear leather five fingers while standing on a fake fur rug.

Squeegee

This is one of my Jack Russell Terriers – Squeegee. She rarely lets me take her photo. I was trying out a new zoom one day and got this shot of her. I cropped in on her eye and saw my reflection as well as my whole front yard I her eyes. Spooky.

Weeds

I often walk around looking for something to take photos of. Sometimes I find weeds. I think dandelions are fascinating. The daisies are coming up through cracks in the sidewalk. I love their symmetry. I think the leftover stem of the dandelion looks like a primitive golf ball.

Sparkles

I have been putting together a kit for shooting macro for a couple of years now. I know that you probably expect to see bugs eyes or flower centers when you think “macro” – I like to use my gear for getting close to just about anything. The second shot is my Mom’s class ring. I shot this with an antique bellows – when you shoot tight with shiny things in the background you get those cool circles – in all honesty, I was more interested in making those circles that the objects I was shooting.

Feathers

Feathers are amazing. Luminous, textured, shaping. We all know what a chicken looks like with no feathers. Birds are not so majestic naked. Sometimes I think people would look better with feathers. Kind of smooths things out.

Characters

Characters – Eureka Springs is full of them. We have lots of parades and festivals – these are events that characters just cannot resist. The woman in the clown make-up is a staple of this scene. I could probably pass her on the street without her makeup and never know her even though I have taken dozens of shots of her. The last shot is my pal Judy, we like to take shots of each other taking shots of each other.

Velcro

This is Velcro, she’s a 14 year old Rat Terrier mix. I rescued her about 8 years ago. She likes to dig – a lot. When I first brought her home I twisted my ankle in one of her many holes while walking across the lawn, so had some top soil trucked in to level things out. It took less than a month before she destroyed the lawn again. I have re-leveled the lawn at least a dozen times. I am at the point that I have decided to let her dig to her hearts content until she crosses the Rainbow Bridge. Then I’ll fix the lawn. The upside? No grubs, no moles, no wasps.

Baby animals

I read once that all mammals experience a serotonin release when they look at other baby mammals. I think that’s true and I think it answers the question as to why we would willingly bring home an animal that will poop in our house and eat our favorite shoes. Baby animals are like crack. They make us feel good. I’m hoping that this good feeling makes for a good place to sign off. Look closely into the kittens eyes. You’ll feel great.

Oh Deer!

Posted on June 19, 2012 by artsifrtsy

Pssst! Hey you – you in the red Jeep…..can I get a lift?

I need to get over to Holiday Island – got a tee time in 30 minutes!

C’mon, by the time I get over there on foot I’ll be beat – be a pal.

The golf course it the best – lots of free parking!

Air Conditioned comfort in the clubhouse!

Lots of cart rentals available!

See how close to the pin you can get on the 9th hole!

After your round you can dance in the clubhouse til dawn!

Waddaya waitin’ for – let’s go!

Pink Sky at Night – an Ozark Delight

Posted on June 18, 2012 by artsifrtsy

These longer days give me lots of time to shoot in the evenings. Friday I was out on a country road and looked to the west to see the sky looking like it was on fire. I focused on the field grass just in front of the fence to capture this image.

It was about 8:00 so I knew I had a short window to drive to a spot with a good vantage point – a downside of living in the Ozarks is that the hills and hollows can block sunrises and sets from view. I went to an overlook built by the local Rotary – I looks out across all of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I got there as the sky really started to explode with color.

Long Zoom – The 1886 Crescent Hotel at sunset.

Kit Zoom – with ambient light from the street lamp.

My portrait prime – last useable shot of the night.

As I headed out the color lingered, too dark to capture – but lighting my way home. I live in paradise.

Butterfly – Flutter By

Posted on June 15, 2012 by artsifrtsy

I always learn something when I spend time with Mary Jane.

If you’ve read any of my blog you’ll know she’s my nearly 99-year-old neighbor. She has a place a little less than a mile from me on our country road.

She loves her garden. She spends hours caring for it. It doesn’t look like your typical garden. The first time I saw it I thought it was an acre of weeds. I offered to mow it for her and she told me that she didn’t trust me to leave the good parts. She prefers to trim her garden with some folding hand shears while sitting on an overturned milk crate.

The truth is that Mary Jane has an exhaustive knowledge of Ozark plant life. She knows what you can eat, what soothes your skin, what makes a good tea, and what can kill you. She knows what will have a beautiful blossom and what will attract or repel insects. Every year she moves in and out of the greenery with her shears, thinning and opening the space.

When something special happens in the her garden, Mary Jane will give me a call and I will come over with my camera. One of our rites of spring is the arrival of the swallowtails to feed on the sweet rocket. She will cut enough away to make a path to walk through and it makes shooting easy.

One Saturday in April I got the call. I packed my long zoom and my macro lens and headed out. I started with the log zoom. I could easily get within 10 feet and my bird lens was just the ticket. The swallowtails were so busy feeding that you could just find a spot and focus while waiting for a one to light.

A tiger swallowtail feeding on mottled sweet rocket blossoms.

A tiger swallowtail with a spicebush swallowtail in the distance.

Spicebush swallowtail in the rocket.

The swallowtail is the only butterfly that flutters while it feeds, this can make it a challenge to photograph them.

After about a half hour shooting I noticed that Buffy, one of Mary Jane’s cats had followed me and was watching the scene. I decided to put away to zoom and see if I could get close to him. I took out the Macro – it can take a fair portrait.

I was glad that I had changed lenses when I spotted this guy. He let me get incredibly close.

The zebra swallowtail was not bothered by me in the least. He moved methodically from flower to flower.

I didn’t notice the ladybug on the right while I was shooting.

Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in catching the shot of the insect that I forget how really special the sweet rocket is. The structure of this flower is really beautiful.

Tiger, another of Mary Jane’s cats, couldn’t have been more bored with it all.

This sweet rocket butterfly garden lasted only a few days. Another of the Ozark’s micro seasons. I thought the swallowtails were gone until next year. About a week later I got another call from Mary Jane. It was about noon, but I was at work and couldn’t get there for a few hours. Once I got there I had about an hour to shoot before dusk. The swallowtails were back, this time at the mock orange bush, something Mary Jane planted to draw butterflies. She sees a garden as more than plants, it’s what the plants bring.

This night I had to use the long zoom. The mock orange was taller than me and these tiger swallowtails were easily spooked. Shooting upwards let me get some of the evening sky into some of the shots.

As the sun got lower the number of swallowtails really tapered off.

Towards the end of the evening the butterflies were in the interior of the mock orange.

As the sun set we stood in the garden and Mary Jane pointed out what she would thin next, what was coming up, and what was blooming now. If I’m completely honest, I still couldn’t see it, it looked like weeds to me. I don’t have the vision.

I looked back at the mock orange and asked Mary Jane if she knew where the butterflies went after sunset. She said they went to sleep.

Roadside Attractions

Posted on June 12, 2012 by artsifrtsy

I live off of a county road in the Ozarks, a couple of miles from the pavement, deep in the woods a few miles from town. Everyday when I drive to work I pack up my camera gear – I pull out my camera and zoom and place it on the passenger seat, leaving it ready to shoot in case I see something amazing. This seems to happen daily and I do my best to catch it. These shots are all along the route of my daily travels to and from work.

The shot above is Krishna, he’s our neighborhood peacock. He showed up about 3 years ago, we don’t know of he was dumped or if he was attracted to the area by a female at a neighbor’s house. We tried to find his owner for about a year. When the female died, Krishna became fascinated with the glass windows on an old Grange hall on the highway. He puffs up as he tries to impress his own image on the glass doors. Another neighbor has adopted him, but he still crosses the road every day to take on that handsome guy in the window. On this afternoon he was avoiding me so I got low and shot through the weeds.

This is a box turtle, the woods are full of them. I found this guy out on the road not far from the mailbox. When I see one in the road I like to stop if I can to set them on the other side of the road. These guys have no natural enemies except for automobiles. In the spring they are on the move and on any day you can encounter a dozen on the way into work. I read once that they travel on a path that is instinctive, a lot like salmon swimming up the correct stream to spawn. I found one in my wood shop one day last spring. I picked him up and took him outside and he ran right back into the shop to the same spot about 30 feet into the building. I put him back outside and pulled the door closed and he pushed against it for hours. I finally opened the door so he could go in, he was there a few days and moved on.

This is a European Starling in the parking lot at work. They invade the siding and soffits every spring to nest until their babies are ready to fly. This one would dive bomb you if you got too close. They are often seen as pests here in the states, and it’s really not their fault. They were introduced into Central Park in the late 1800’s by a literary group who thought that every bird mentioned by Shakespeare should live in the park. They are not native to the America’s but they thrive here. They like to kick other birds out of their nesting sites and hijack them for their own.

This is a cute little squirrel that I saw driving through town a few weeks ago. He’s cute because he is nowhere near my house. I think God made squirrels cute because they are so destructive. I have a pair of grey ones in my shop, I cannot get them out. They destroy everything they are evil, don’t be fooled. Evil, pure evil.

I found this guy on my porch one night. His eye is so amazing. It’s like layers in a painting. I used a flashlight to get him lit like this. My dogs like to push on these guys so they jump. They will follow them all over the lawn on a spring night.

This morning as I turned out of the driveway I saw a couple of deer crossing the road ahead of me. He stepped through the brush about. 20 feet away. I slowed down and opened the window and he froze. We watched each other for several seconds. I notice that if a deer is not running, just crossing, they often stop to check you out. After 15-20 seconds he made a puffing sound and took off into the woods. I see deer like this almost daily. Lots of fawns right now too.

This robin was on a limb over the road. I have photographed robins in 6 states this spring so far. They are pretty calm birds and are large enough to get a good focus. Now that I am looking for birds I see these guys everywhere. I shot this one from the driver’s seat of my Jeep.

I saw this water turtle I a couple of weeks ago while running errands in town. There is a small lake on a loop and I spotted him on a log floating. I was about 30 feet from him so I stopped the car and stepped closer. He let me get off a couple of shots and he dove out of site.

I’m fascinated with cardinals, this isn’t a very good shot. I’m working on it though. They are very skiddish so they are tough to catch. This one is at a local amphitheater – his mate was in the woods fit above him. I have some at my house and have put out some feeders hoping to attract them and get them more comfortable with me, I hope to get a couple of good shots before summer is over.

Swallow tails are a fixture in the Ozarks in the spring. This one was on the side of the road in the sun. I’m amazed by their color and the texture of their wings.

These are just a few of the things I encounter every day. What did you see on your commute today?

Thistles and Cones

Posted on June 9, 2012 by artsifrtsy

There may be 4 seasons on the calendar, but here in the Ozarks our days and weeks are filled with micro seasons, one following another. It’s a part of the rhythms of this place – redbuds, rains, dogwoods, whippoorwills, tiger lilies, fawns – that’s just three weeks in April and May.

Right now one of my favorite seasons is drawing to a close – thistles and coneflowers – both grow wild along roadsides. Both can be a rich pink, both reach skyward, and both wither leaving just a round silhouette that lingers for a few weeks.

The coneflower is actually echinacea. This one is a part of a group that grows near the bottom of my hill. This group mostly have very thin petals.

There is a thistle patch right across the parking lot from my office. The city cut a drainage ditch and the turning of the earth has created an amazing garden of volunteers.

The patch is shot here seems to grow in groups of two or three. The soil on the roadside is rocky and steep, still they thrive.

Last year we had some very heavy spring rains and a hillside below a spring gave way – the trees on the hill were destroyed. The city planted some wild grasses to stabilize the slope, it looks like the thistles have volunteered to assist in the process.

On the steepest hillsides the cone’s petals dangle and sway with the wind.

Both flowers have a distinctive radial geometry to their centers.

This one makes me think of an umbrella frame.

This one reminds me of a lampshade.

The center of both flowers dominate their shapes.

My 99 year-old neighbor, Mary Jane, introduced me to thistles a few years back. She asked me to go on a hike with her down into a hollow one Saturday. I thought we were going to see a waterfall. We got to the bottom and she sent me up the other side to a vantage point. I scouted a path for her, thinking we must be headed to an amazing place. She took the lead and we ended up in a completely desolate path on the side of a mountain. It was a spot that the local electric coop had treated with herbicide – cheaper to use poison than to employ some guys with chainsaws anyway, we had climbed to this place with a purpose. She took off her pack and handed me a stack of envelopes. Each was full of wild thistle seeds. We scattered them and hiked home. When we got back to Mary Jane’s place she took me out to a spot in the woods behind her house – we could see the spot where we had just been clearly in the distance. That hike was not about a waterfall, it was about resurrecting the ground that progress had destroyed. Mary Jane could no longer bare to look at its deadness so we planted thistles. Years later they thrive.

The thistles are fading, that can only mean that the season of air conditioning cannot be far behind.

Chip Munk-ee Business

Posted on June 4, 2012 by artsifrtsy

They are startlingly cute, fast as lightning, and cunning little thieves. While I was in Michigan last week practicing shooting birds (with a camera), I saw dozens of chipmunks racing around below the feeders – the one above fearlessly raced across the top of my foot to get to the bounty of sunflower seeds and suet.

Cheeks so full he is weighted down by them and must rest his weary bones on the metal rail before cramming another 50 seeds and moving on.