lloydslensphotographyllc

The Secret Of Now

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Simply Live” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The September sun smiles warmly into shady side of my Appalachian home. All too soon the fading light of September will give way to the October winds. The weekly task of mowing the lawn as already been replaced by mulching fallen leaves. The thought of enjoying the day before it is yesterday has been heavy on my mind. The last few weeks of summer seemed to pass by like the falling leaves in an October gale. I still have a few butterflies playing in the yard but soon they’ll be gone. It gives me a better appreciation for the value of now. Now is the point when preparation meets opportunity. Sometimes, all the preparation in the world can be done but we miss the opportunity. For example, the next image is the same butterfly, in more or less the same spot on the same day and shot by the same photographer with the same camera. But the opportunity wasn’t really there.

Lost Moments — The butterfly was just too fast to be captured by my lens.

When the moment is lost there are two things that you can do.

1. You can beat yourself up. ( Or more accurately, beat yourself down. ) This is really not productive. It makes you second guess everything and usually leads to the loss of the next moment and possibly even more moments depending on how much it impacts your confidence and motivation.

2. You can honestly evaluate what went wrong and make take corrective action. In the case of tonight’s feature image that meant making a few adjustments to the settings and paying more attention to the timing of snapping the shutter. The adjusted plan results in being better able to take advantage of the next opportunity.

Of course I was disappointed with the first shot. I’ll tell you secret. Most photographers will never show the ones that just didn’t turn out as planned. That doesn’t mean it never happened. But it’s important for me to encourage you to take the positive action of stepping back for moment and fixing what went wrong before trying again. This applies to so much more in life. When something doesn’t work out use the time before the next opportunity to make it better.

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

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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White Snakeroot In Morning Dew.

Color Photography

WARNING: Because I often blog about wild edible plants I need to make it clear that white Snakeroot is a deadly poison. — Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “White Snakeroot In Morning Dew” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

With the passing of the hot humid days in late summer I feel more like stepping out of air conditioning and catching a breath of fresh air. Just a Leisurely stroll through my property. I had spotted a hummingbird a few days ago and was kinda hoping that he’d decided to hang around for a while before heading South. He escaped my lens that afternoon and I was ready for a do-over. I was paused near the Jewelweed because I know that the hummingbirds live the sweet nectar as much as the bees do. Thats when I noticed the newcomer to my patch of wilderness. Small delicate white flowers with odd tubular structures growing in clusters. The canopy of my forest is still thick enough to hide the small songbirds that dart about from branch to branch but I can hear them chirping.

My attention is drawn back to the interestingly delicate flowers. They remind me of baby’s breath in an arrangement. They’re beautiful to look at but unlike most of the plants that I have on my blog these are deadly poison. The poison is how White Snakeroot earned it’s footnote in history. The toxin is able to contaminate not just the milk but also the meat of livestock that eats it. In the 1800s being poisoned by the contaminated milk was actually called milk sickness. According to Wikipedia the fatalities ran into the thousands and was the suspected cause of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Learning this fact does make me wonder how much Snakeroot has influenced pasteurization requirments.

In 1830 the toxicity was uncovered by Dr. Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby. It’s said that a Shawnee woman taught her all about the plant in addition to how it was used as a poultice on snakebite. ( I am not able to verify medicinal value for this one. I know from personal experience that the bite of a copperhead will heal on it’s own without treatment and therefore it’s very possible that Snakeroot was not the reason some people recovered.)

The risks of contaminated meat and dairy was not enough to prevent people from turning White Snakeroot into an ornamental plant. A particular strain of the plant has leaves that turn dark when exposed to direct sunlight and the cultivar is known as “Chocolate Snakeroot” and is still sold as a landscape plant today.

As for the wild variety that has come to my place I’ll probably just allow it to grow since I don’t have livestock to be poisoned. It does add some beautiful bloom to enjoy in the Fall.

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https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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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 message me on Facebook oruse 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.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤

One Of A Kind

Color Photography

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Pipevine Swallowtail 91119a” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The feeling of dew covered grass on bare feet will soon be memory. I strolled slowly along the edge of the forest looking to see what God would show me. I noticed that the Pipevine Swallowtail seemed just a little different from the others that frequently flutter and soar around my mountain. I raised the lens and took a few shots as she went about collecting nectar from the flowers. In the lens I found that she had a beautiful purplish tone in her wings. Perhaps it was just the low angle of the sun or the longer wavelengths of the Fall light but she was definitely showing a rare color. Maybe not extremely rare but certainly in the minority. The leading edge of the forewings even carries a bit of blue that’s only supposed to be on the hind wings.

Sometimes we look at ourselves in the mirror and see things that we consider to a defect. A mole or freckles being classic examples. But if we compare ourselves to the rest of creation we begin to understand that it’s those unique features that gives us our individual beauty.

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The Moment Of Change

black and white photography

The wind carries the familiar scent of newly fallen leaves. Change is literally in the air. As I stand in my yard with my eyes closed and accept the touch of the cool dry breeze I can hear the leaves tumbling through the branches. We’ve been in a drought at the end of Summer and a few trees are dropping their leaves early. My boxelder sports a heavy crop of winged seeds that will soon flutter in the wind like little helicopters. If I continue to strain my ears I can hear the squirrel playing in the fallen leaves and a woodpecker laughing at his antics. Last night I listened to the mountian tell it’s nightly story. The owls held congress and the question of who echoed in darkness. To which the bush crickets answered “Katy did”. The moment of change has come to the Appalachian Mountains. I have hope that the setting sun will paint my world with the beautiful colors of Fall.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

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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.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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 message me on Facebook oruse 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.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤

Summer’s Last Caress

Color Photography

The morning sun rises up in the Eastern Sky knowing that the time has come for him to rest. The season is changing and long days of working to warm the earth are nearly over. The summer has been long but it’s a labor of love to make the world bountiful. He sees the dandelions that were the first to reach for his light. This is the equinox and summer’s last dance. He stretches down with a beam to touch the face of the earth and savor the moment as if it were the end of a date in the age of innocence. From here he will make his slow egress into the night on December 21st. The sun will carry this moment and dream of the Springtime when the flowers rise to meet him once again.

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https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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Thank you again for your support of my page!❤