Trying Something New

After I most certainly did not win the Washington Gardener photo contest with my submissions, I talked to a photographer friend about what makes a good photograph. For now, I have my Fujifilm F60fd--it has some good automatic settings, but there's no manual focus, so taking photographs of something other than what is at the centre of the viewfinder is difficult. My friend suggested focusing on an object of interest and then moving the camera so the object is still in focus, but not in the centre. That's what I'm going for with most of these photos. It takes a little more effort to get them in focus, but it's hard not to pull back or rock forward when you're adjusting left, right, up, or down. Until I can afford a nice camera with a lens or two that can take good macro shots... Well, this is what I have!


I have previously photographed these tulips on the same block as my apartment. This time, however, it wasn't with my camera phone!


My more artistic shot. The stamens look almost as if they are legs with little anther-booties on them. Like tiny synchronized swimmers diving into a colourful black hole head-first.


This is just some yellow-flowering bush-type thing.


This Corylus avellana is a beautiful specimen near Mt. Pleasant Street and Park Road, where I catch the bus to go to Dungeons & Dragons on the weekend. It was only slightly damaged by the Snowpocalypses. I want one of these!


Walking under it while it is in bloom is like stepping into a fairytale world for just a second.


These Scilla siberica on the left seem almost to be floating, keeping an eye on the ones in the background who are doing gods know what. Something bad, probably. Rebellious Siberian squills!


This fallen tree may be down, but it's not out! It's still growing, and although the focal point may be the burst of leaves and flowers in the centre of the photograph, the mossy trunk provides a secondary focus, seeming to wrap around and protect the tender new growth in the picture.


I just thought this was pretty.


A magnolia bursting from hibernation, aided by the heat of the bright setting sun.


"No, don't mind me, I'm just an innocent little hellebore," says Helen as she quickly stuffs the bload-stained rag into her back pocket. The cops, however, are not fooled, and she is thrown behind bars for the premeditated slaughter of her husband's mistress, Daffy Dill. They're pretty bars, however, and her inmates enjoy her company, brief though it will be.