White Hosta Blossom.....

The Hostas that my wife planted have done very nicely this Summer, in spite of the punishing heat and humid weather that was endless here in Windsor. The pristine whiteness of this blossom just made it glow in the morning sun, as I enjoyed my coffee on the back deck, so, I had to go get my camera and grab a shot or two. With being locked down, except for necessities, it makes it somewhat difficult to have much variety in images these days. I could do more travelling about, but there seems to be a certain hostility in the land, even among drivers, so I just prefer to stay home. So it looks like I will be shooting the flowers in the back yard for a while yet. Maybe, I will set up some bird feeders this Fall, and hopefully get to photograph a few birds for a change. Last Winter, I gave in to the squirrels, and didn't bother with the feeders, as they just constantly raid them , making it slim picking for the birds.....but that's the way life is I guess...

Evening Light on Hollyhocks.....

This image was taken about 3 hours ago as I sat on the front veranda railing. The setting evening sun was providing nice back lighting to the flower, and my truck provided the dark background. Cropping and editing was done in Corel, as was the frame also. Hope you enjoy it a little....Cheers, and stay safe....

Porcelain Bouquet.....

It is a rainy day today, and while I am awaiting my batch of bread to proof, I decided to play around a bit with this little image that I shot last evening while the hockey game was on TV. It is a little porcelain bouquet of flowers that my old mentor Jack Shepherd had given to my wife at one of the old Photo 74 meetings for some little contest that was a part of a banquet evening the group was holding. Anyway, last evening I for whatever reason took it from the cabinet, and set it on the corner of the Coffee Table, and shooting at f2.8 the floor/background was nicely out of focus. Jack used to say that if a picture is worth shooting, it is worth framing, and it is not a picture until it has a frame on it....who am I to argue? Hope you enjoy a little.....

P.S. Camera: Sony a77Mk2
       Lens: Minolta 80 ~ 200 f2.8 APO G

Terri's Swallowtail.....

This little butterfly probably had its origins with our next door neighbor, who likes to harvest the butterfly eggs and place them in a shelter she has built and watch them progress through the different stages until it emerges as a full fledged butterfly. That sort of patience I do not have. Anyway, this Swallowtail was soaking up the sun on our rhubarb patch, and I happened to have the camera handy, so decided to give it a quick shot. It goes without saying that I am not much of a nature photographer, but admire nice images of nature.....thanks for the specimen "Madame Butterfly", keep releasing these lovely Swallowtails and Monarchs......

Hollyhock Watercolour.....

This little cluster of Hollyhocks growing up through the pea gravel at the corner of our house seemed like something that might have some possibilities for a picture to me. The gray background is provided by a car parked a foot or so behind the blossoms. It was a rather gloomy evening, with no sun, so I got the LED's out and in a couple of minutes, took a few shots of them. The watercolour effect was from having the camera set to Watercolour Mode, and the canvas and frame effects were from my Corel editing software. Come to think of it, I just might do an 8 x 10 print of this one for some small space around the house. Hope you enjoy it a little also.....

Roses of Sharon at Dusk.....

This is another image from my foray into the back yard at dusk last evening. The lighting was provided by a couple of my LED's on light stands. Again, not a work of art, but I enjoy the contrast that this set up provided, as it is a bit of a deviation from the normal daylight shot. It is also my first efforts at processing an image in Adobe Lightroom 5, and I seem to be rather late to the party on that. For whatever reason, I never got around to trying Lightroom before, so I figured it is about time to learn something new, and get with the program.....it will take a while to get comfortable with the software, as I have also been dabbling with Capture One Pro 9 for my RAW editing. It allows me to shoot tethered to the computer, but my better half thinks I am already tethered to the computer enough as it is.....Hope you enjoy this little fun image a bit.

Clematis by Wren House.....

'Tis a hot one in Windsor today. In this kind of heat, you only get a couple of hours in the evening before dark to get anything done outside. For the most part, the heat might be somewhat bearable, but when you add on the humidity, 33C feels like around 45C, then you run a risk of heat stroke if you exert yourself too much. It is easier to stay inside with the A/C running, but the whole Summer is slipping by, and I have so much I wanted to get done. Anyway, last evening, I braved the mosquitoes, and spent an hour in the back yard taking a few shots of whatever was on offer. This little shot of my wife's white Clematis is climbing up the fence beside a little bird house that a couple of weeks ago, was home to a little House Wren family. For what ever reason, probably the heat, they seem to have vacated their residence, for somewhere else. This little image is far from a work of art, as is most of my endeavours, but I liked the mood of it anyway. Hope you will enjoy it a little.....