Color Photography – Page 172 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Was Spring Actually Early?

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

On February 2nd Punxsutawney Phil promised an early Spring and was met with the cheers of a nation. I personally jumped for joy and halted my plans for groundhog stew. However, I may have been duped. We may have been duped. I have the sneaking suspension this devious rodent has no idea when Spring is coming. I can imagine this escapee from a Bill Murray film pacing inside his hole. “What am I going to tell them this time?” He asks himself. Finally he closes his eyes and spins the wheel at his desk. The needle lands on early Spring and the prediction is made. What brings me to think that we’re not having an early Spring? The Feature Image. This photo was taken on March 24 2019. It’s the little Bradford Pear in the parking lot of my day job. I have been watching it because I wanted to capture the first open bloom. One of the reasons that I do this is so I can track the metadata. The dates are important to me so that I can predict when the natural events in my area will give me a photo op. Photography is more than just documenting the way something looks. It’s about capturing the passage of time. So imagine how surprised I was to find out that this year’s bloom was about a week or so late!

Picture taken on March 16th 2018

As you can see in the photo above last year’s bloom was not only fully open on March 16th but also fully mature.

So what gives? Was it just the warmer weather last year? Well, yes and no. The warmer soil does have a little bit to do with it but short answer is that plants can see sunlight. (Sort of). It shouldn’t come as a shock that plants have photoreceptors. Chemical proteins that detect the presence of sunlight. They don’t really have a picture of the world like we do but they can tell what wavelengths of light that’s hitting their surface. Certain wavelengths trigger a response in the buds and they begin to grow and mature. The amount of light in combination with a wavelength just happens to coincide with the warmer weather. It all works together to get the timing right. But the original question remains. Was Spring early or late? In the grand scheme of things it was right on time. A few days in one direction or the other makes little difference. The real mystery is why the date that the wavelengths varies from one year to the next? Is the sun broken? No, the sun’s just fine. But it does experience it’s own weather and seasonal changes. That effects on what day the earth’s tilt, rotation and orbit brings us into alignment with those life sustaining rays. I’m sure that I’ve bypassed a lot of hard core science and complex calculations that would boggle the mind. When I think about all the factors that go into making the season change I began to appreciate the job that the poor Groundhog has. I don’t really blame him for resorting to random chance. And, I have those beautiful flowers to enjoy today. It would be a mistake to lose today’s joy by comparingit to yesterday’s happiness or tomorrow’s expectations.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

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

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

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/

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.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251

Lastly, 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 photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page! 😊

Every Frog Has His Day

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Gray Monday” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

Rainy days and Mondays are not to be desired or so it’s been said. Admittedly, I would have rather spent the day sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the birds singing while watching the ferry diddles play in the trees. But even the rainy day has it’s own joy if you look hard enough. Just beyond the trees and down the hill a piece is a ditch where the water pools. This is the frogs gather and sing for a mate in wet weather. It occurs to me that for a frog rainy days are one of life’s true joys. If it’s a warm sunny day a frog has to stay close to water and in the shadows to keep from drying out. But if it’s a warm rain a frog gets to come out and play. He spends his whole day making up songs that express his appreciation of the clouds. I can picture the scene in my mind. Mr Frog jumps out of the water and gazes skyward. A frog’s smile might be hard to detect but promise you that it’s there. He wiggles his webbed toes in the fresh mud. Then he takes a breath so deep that he blows up like a green balloon. Then he lets out a song like no song has ever been sung before. For a frog it’s the best Monday ever! One for the books! As the rain continues to fall gently the birds gather in the thick evergreen trees and the ferry diddles go to their dens. Everyone sits quietly waiting for rain to stop as they listen to frogs make beautiful music. Eventually I move from the window to the awning on the back of building and listen myself. Suddenly the gray sky doesn’t seem so bad. Monday isn’t so tough when your world is full of music.

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

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

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/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Thank you again for your support of my page! 😊

Bright Days In Spring

Color Photography

Hello Friends!Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Purity In Spring” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

The magnolia bloom continues open all along the Kanawha River. Some are past their prime already. They’ve been bruised by the recent rain and more is expected to arrive in the morning. But for a brief period when I needed it most the sky turned bright, the clouds rolled back a beauty returned to the gray world. The star magnolia was only the first to open. At this very moment the pink magnolia is beginning to catch up. The blooming seems to ripple out from Smithers. As I’ve travelled the Midland Trail between Gauley Bridge and Charleston I’ve seen the magnolia trees opening one by one. It’s almost like God set them up as dominoes so that we’d be able to enjoy them throughout the season. Not one little detail has been overlooked. The rain may be returning but for now I have delicate white flowers and and bright sky to enjoy.

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

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

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/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Thank you again for your support of my page! 😊

April Speckles

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Wild Geraniums And Moss” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

The soft rain ends with the breaking of the dawn light and the forest comes to life. The morning chorus includes Cardinals, Flycatchers, Catbirds, Gold Finches and more. By mid morning mottled light filters down to forest floor. It may be the best opportunity to get out and catch some fresh air before doing the day’s chores in spite of the wet conditions. I have on my old sandals. The ones that I don’t really mind if the get muddy as I step carefully around the edges of the yard. The little purple pops of color were the first thing to catch my eye as I moved from the kept area of the yard into the transition zone where the woods begins. Wild Geranium blooms in April just as the leaves start to come out. All along the edges of the roads the landscape is speckled with purple blooms. The impression is that God took his paintbrush full of purple and shook it out onto Little Elk Mountain. The soft morning light seems to linger right on this little cluster to make the bloom glow. For a moment my imagination asks if it’s possible that I have stumbled across a fairy village. I could almost see them huddled together with a turkey tail fungus for a front porch and the moss for a shag rug. I blinked for moment and they vanished like the morning mists. And it was in this moment that I knew it was time to rejoin the real world and complete my chores.

Before I close, I want to announce that tomorrow night I’ll begin the “Forage Friday” series. For as long as I’m able I’ll post an image of a wild edible plant found in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. It’s not intended to teach you everything you need to know about wild edible plants. What it is intended to be is sharing some of my personal interests and to give those who want to explore foraging a place to start.

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

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

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/

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 or use the contact form on my website and 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! 😊

The McKees Creek Artifact

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Archways” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

The days are becoming more gentle and I have the urge to pack up my gear and head into the landscape. I want to smell the moss and listen to the birds singing. The path in tonight’s feature image is the trail at McKees Creek in the Salmon Run area of Summersville Lake. The trail winds through some of the old homestead properties where you can see some of the old cut stone foundations. In the mid 90s my friend Paul lead me to huge moss covered stone that was well off of the trail. I could tell that the stone was cut into a rectangle by the sharpness of the edges. He asked what I thought it was. I don’t really remember what my exact reply was but I remember thinking that it was probably just piece that was being sectioned out when the work stopped. That is until he rolled the moss back like a rug and revealed the details underneath. The work was indeed unfinished but what I saw was the beginning of what would have been a beautifully detailed fireplace mantel. Long graceful arches would have given the impression of brackets. There was even a French curve carved into the face. It had not been polished. Just roughed out. It must have weighed a couple of tons. It would have taken a team of draft horses just to pull it out of the landscape. Positioning into place in the wall that it was intended to occupy would have required several men with crib blocks and levers. I have done similar work on construction sites where the ground wasn’t stable enough for heavy equipment. It can be nerve-wracking to have a large heavy object resting on a tower of unfastened wooden blocks. In the case of the stone mantle the most dangerous part would have been sliding it from the cribbing into place. It’s possible that a block and tackle would have been used with the horses. If that was the plan then the scaffolding would have been enormous.

Perhaps the reason it was never completed was that the builder realized what an effort it would be to utilize the piece and opted to cut his losses. Whatever happened it resulted in another interesting artifact that was left behind in the Appalachian woodlands. I have never been able to find that spot a second time either. I’ve made several trips down the pathway and through the high arches formed by the trees. There’s several cut stones here and there but the stone mantle has eluded me.

I do have a question for my readers concerning upcoming posts. I have a deep interest in wild edible plants that are found in the Appalachian Mountains. Some are native to my area and some cultivated plants that have escaped. Others are plants that we might have as part of our landscape but never really considered to be edibles. Is that something that you would enjoy reading about? Please let me know by commenting either here on my blog or on Facebook. ( link to my Facebook is below.) For now I hope that you find a chance to get out and find some time to declutter the mind in nature. Be blessed and have a great day!

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

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

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/