lloydslensphotographyllc

In The Echoes Of A Moment

black and white photography, Thoughts and Musing, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “A Moment’s Echoes 100321” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The gentle breeze makes the water shimmer slightly as it collects the airborn seeds of the reeds and thistles. A few chirps of the birds can be heard from hidden perches as the sun progresses Westward through it’s ordained arch. The thistles line up perfectly for me as I snapped the shutter. Visually they resemble what to me looks like an echo in time. Each stalk could be the same one at different points in its own existence.

I’ve always been blessed with a great long-term memory. If I’m relaxed enough and there’s no distraction I can vividly recall things like the buttons on a person’s shirt while they ate breakfast. But the details like what day it was or why I was at that specific place at that specific time I’m not sure of. But I digress. Like the thistle line in the photo the further back I go the fuzzier the memory is. Scientists say that bad experiences are the easiest to remember because “primitive man” needed that mechanism to survive. And on the surface that makes sense. If a person was out picking berries and ran into a saber tooth cat and survived then he would definitely need to remember where that cat lives. But in my own experience the most vivid memories are the good ones. Sitting on my grandfather’s lap and learning to count to 10 with grains of salt that I’d knocked over would be one. The birth of my younger brother is also a vivid memory. I even remember ‘Tippy” which was my first dog when I was about four years old. It’s not really that bad things never happened but that they didn’t last. Eventually they became the fuzzy part because I chose to focus on the good things and make them more important.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

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Lloyds Lens Photography web link — Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

Touching The Wind In Fall

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Quiet Moment 93021” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

I turned the music off as the big blue truck eased to a halt along the country lane. The small cluster of Fall wildflowers had caught my eye and I liked the way the creek looked in the background. The breeze has changed its scent from the rich floral tones of Spring through Summer to the earthy aroma of Autumn. The change is subtle but it’s there. The evenings are cool and the mornings are crisp. The afternoon drifts by like leaves floating in the streams as the sleepy sun hangs his head a little lower each day. In the 21st century quiet time is a treasure more precious than gold. So the opportunity to step out and touch the wind as it passes should not be overlooked. 3 elements connect to all. The Light, the water and the wind. Touching the wind is in some ways traveling the world. The wind sweeps the prairies, climbs mountains, crosses oceans and changes the desert. It brings the chill of the North into the South and cools the sun’s former rages. And when the colors are at their peak its the wind that clears the canvas. Lastly, it’s sound of the wind that stills the voices of the outside world. So take a few moments and enjoy the breeze. Sit by a quiet stream or pond and center your life.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Forage Friday #126 Kudzu

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Kudzu 100221a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Please remember that Forage Friday is presented as trivia and not to be mistaken for medical advice.

They call it the “vine that ate the south” but tonight I’m going to show that the south just might be able to extract a little revenge. Now because invasive species is a bit of a sensitive topic in some circles I want to be clear that I am definitely not advocating for anyone to introduce this pest into their landscape. To do so is definitely going to cause harm and us most likely illegal. However, if you’re already fighting this monster then there are definitely some uses for it.

Kudzu was actually brought to North America on purpose in 1876 as an ornamental, for erosion control and as a foraging crop. The government of the first half of the 20th century was actually paying people to plant Kudzu because it was hard to establish. There was even a Kudzu Club of America by 1943 that was founded by a journalist named Channing Cope. But by the 1950s the invasion was well underway and damage to large stands of forest was causing losses to the timber industry. The full account is really worth looking into.

Kudzu was actually a well appreciated resource in Asia. The stem of the vine was used for paper and textiles. The stem isn’t really edible and neither are the seeds but almost every other part of the plant is.

The vines can be woody and they are covered in little hairs which in the words of Green Dean gives it some “texture issues.” But the leaves themselves can be used like Spinach, cooked like colards and finely chopped to be added to a variety of dishes.

The flowers smell like grapes! They’re often candied by crystallizing them with sugar or used in jelly or syrup.

There are different varieties. I believe that the variety I have here is Pueraria thomsonii and produces an edible tuber. In very mature stands of kudzu that tuberous root can be up to 300 pounds. The root is very starchy and can be made into a gluten free flour for baking. On a side note here, James A Duke of the Peterson Field Guides states that kudzu root doesn’t mix well with alcohol and even suggests that it might be used to treat alcoholism through gastric distress. He believes that the experience is so uncomfortable that it makes the consumption of alcohol too unpleasant to desire.

The Chinese agree with Dr. Duke. They’ve used it to treat alcoholism for thousands of years. They also use kudzu for treating diabetes, menopause, neck and eye pain as well as the common cold. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center seems to indicate that strong anti-inflammatory components in kudzu are the secret to it’s medicinal values. I’ve included the link above because there are some situations where kudzu can do more harm than good so please take a look at the warnings they offer.

Image Titled “Kudzu 100221b” showing the overall growth patterns.

Before closing I do want to restate that this plant should never be propagated. In spite of being a member of the bean family and being really good at fixing nitrogen in the soil the environmental damage it does is just not worth the risk. Especially when it’s already so plentiful. It’s so invasive that even just accidentally dropping a piece of the vine in the wrong spot could result in the loss of a piece of habitat.

That’s it for tonight’s #foragefriday. Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Every Time I See A Grasshopper I Think Of My Grandfather

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Grasshopper 92021a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Bright afternoon sun floods the marsh and illuminates the grasshoppers that make flying leaps as I approach. I’m amazed at how many there are. As a child I would watch them flying through the hay fields and run to get my grandfather to bring his .22 caliber pistol and do trick shots for us. I have little doubt that if today’s smartphone and internet technology had been available to us in the 70s that my grandfather would have had some viral videos with his marksmanship. Now for those who are not fortunate enough to live in a very rural area you have to understand that there was absolutely nothing within the range of a stray bullet. Just several hundred yards of empty fields backed by dense forest and hills. My grandfather would stand on the edge of the pastures while we pitched small sticks flush them out. When one took wing he’d knock it out of the air with a bullet. Sometimes he’d shoot it off of a tall spike of grass or walk into the grass like he was hunting quail and flush them himself. He almost never missed. Later when I was old enough to have a BB gun I tried to duplicate his skills and got good enough to hit the grasshoppers that clung to the tall grass similar to tonight’s Feature Image but I can only remember hitting one that was in flight. Now every time I see a grasshopper I’m taken back to the 70s and the time we had bonding and just being to country boys with a field full of grasshoppers and no particular agenda for the afternoon.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Another Note In Autumn’s Song

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Monarch Butterfly 92821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Ever so joyfully she sails from plant to plant and dances in the breeze. She’s shy and reclusive but her beautiful wings overcome her bashful nature. With the determined stroke of his brush the master artist created a work of living stained glass and set the world ablaze with those wings that know the music in autumn’s gentle flow. And in each note he bade her to deliver joy and happiness to the heart of those who stand beneath the amber glow of the sun and count themselves as blessed to have been created by the same hands.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw