rustic decor – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

A Morning Concert Performance

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Birch Leaf On Moss 102919” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The mists drift softly across the forest floor on a cool Fall morning. The first snow hadn’t fallen yet but the chill in the air foretells the oncoming frosts. The squirrels still scurry through the leaves hiding nuts but rain softened leaves means they don’t make nearly as much noise. The moss growing on the fallen log catches my eye. I don’t really know why but the presence of moss has always had a calming effect on me. Perhaps it’s the soothing green tones or the soft texture. Or maybe I just associate it with the peaceful solitude of being in nature but it’s always been a way for me to push back the noise of modern life and relax. The single leaf resting on the moss provides a focal point for me to concentrate my gaze and allow my other senses to explore the world around me. Several small birds are close by foraging for insects on the various bushes. Their quick and sudden movements produce a different cadence in leaves than that of the squirrels make when they bond across the ground. The wind gently shakes the leaves on the trees in my yard and produces a rhythmic rattle while the stronger breeze up on the ridge makes the familiar roaring sound. The creek sings out it’s gurgling songs and provides a melody to accompany the rhythms of forest. At one point a woodpecker makes itself known with it’s laughing call echoing through the hills. The laughing call is followed by the hammering of it’s beak on an old snag somewhere close by. Like all drummers he knows that he’s the real star on this stage. As the woodpecker’s drum solo fades into a echo my recharging is complete. It’s time to raise my lens and preserve the memory of my front row seat of nature’s morning concert.

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Tending Fences

black and white photography

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Rustic Fence Post 7319″and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

There’s definitely something about weathered wood and barbed wire that soothes the country soul. Especially when the post is covered with lichen such as the one in tonight’s feature image. The image brings back the memories of walking the fences with my grandfather. He kept his pockets full of hemp twine saved from a bale of hay so that any time we found a place where the fence sagged he could tie on another hemp lashing. He also kept a Barlow Hawkbilled folding knife in his other pocket. The hook of the knife was perfect for pruning off weeds that might be grounding out the fence. The work was easy enough. He didn’t really need help but he always came and picked me up to help him out. He just wanted to spend more time with his grandson. The conversations that took place was where I learned the most about history, religion, ethics botany and life in general. The conversations were always more important than the topics. It was the time that was important. I think that is why he always used the temporary solution if the salvaged twine to hold the fence together. He kept regular fencing tools and supplies behind the seat of his pickup truck but seldom used them. A permanent solution to the sagging fence meant that there was no excuse to walk line together. What he knew and what it took me far too long to figure out was that busy hands are happy hands and that doing work together is an expression of love.

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Stonework And The Return Of Nature

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled Nature Returns 52619a

Many people have the opinion that the age of megaliths was when mankind truly began to conquer nature. We literally built a world made from the bones of the earth. As a child I found a book in my grandfather’s library that was all about ancient mysteries. All of articles in the book were about megalithic cities and artifacts like Stonehenge. I didn’t just wonder about how the stones were cut an moved but I dreamed about what it must have been like to live in those structures. I would imagine what the city sounded like with the music of ancient instruments echoing off of the stones. At a time when every meal was cooked over an open fire. In the days before the internet I would spend hours leafing through dusty old books and learning about stone cutting and leverage. I was convinced that I could build my own megalith o e day. But hey, I was ten years old and anything was possible and rocks were free so they fit into a ten year old’s budget.

Needless to say that as an adult I still have an affinity for stonework. I pass by the wall in tonight’s feature image every day and look at the large blocks of stone. I don’t really know the history of this retaining wall. It stands just a few feet off of the highway and in the winter when there’s no foliage I can read the lay of the land well enough to know that a structure of some kind once stood above the wall. Not far from this spot is the foundation of church that no longer stands and a forgotten graveyard that I have not had a chance to investigate.

But what has really caught my eye lately us the roses that cascade down the stone. They are mixed in with at least four other wild vines. My mind was taken back to my grandfather’s library and the pictures of ancient ruins in South America. Those pictures of vine covered temples and trees growing in the hallowed halls. The broken idols that once symbolized human mastery over nature are now the hunts of serpents and birds. Mankind’s victory over the forces of nature is temporary. The masterfully crafted stone blocks now tumble as the mountain rejects it’s constraints. Rain washes out the mortar and trees push away the stones until one day the wall topples like a child’s toy.

“Nature Returns 52619b” The trees are beginning to topple the old stone wall.

Perhaps if the world stands long enough a young boy will enter his grandfather’s library and whatever form the books will take will feature images of cut stone in Appalachia. Perhaps the boy will marvel at the ancestors skill in shaping the bones of the earth and read about our lives and wonder what must have been like to live in such a marvelous time when stone cutters and code writers worked side by side to tame the land.

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Take Time To Grow

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Hickory Seedling 43019″and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

It’s not how you start out but where you end up that’s important. Growing as hard as it can this little hickory tree is barely a foot tall. But if it lives long enough it could end up being one hundred and twenty feet tall. But that’s not going to happen overnight. It’s likely to take hundreds of years of hot summers and icy winters. It will have to survive multiple windstorms and seasons of drought before it can be a giant.

In our age of technological wizardry when you can fix a hot meal and download your favorite feature length film in less than five minutes we have come to expect instant success. We want the “cheat codes” of life. But then what? You can’t cheat life without cheating yourself out of the reasons why winning is awesome. A one hundred and twenty feet tall tree that has never weathered the storms will be doomed to crashing down in the first gust of wind. Like our own bodies, a tree has to develop its strength and flexibility by being exposed to the harsh conditions. It takes time to develop that kind of strength. It’s a battle that often leaves scars inside the wood. Not every tree reaches its full height. In fact, the average hickory tree is only sixtyfive feet tall. About half of its potential. And still we sit beneath it’s branches in awe of its size not considering that at one point in its life it was just another plant growing in a ditch. Most of us would have mistaken it for a weed.

A hickory seedling looks like just another weed

We shouldn’t measure our lives by where we are now. We need to consider that reaching our potential means weathering many storms and taking the time to develop those strong roots that hold us fast.

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Catch The Moment

Color Photography

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

Soft clouds skim the mountains and the scent of the pending rain fills the air. The birds have settled down in the thick underbrush to take cover from the change in weather. During a lull in the wind I ventured out with my camera to see what I might find before the rain begins. The first thing I spotted was my Azalea that was planted by the previous owner. The delicate white flowers bruise very easily and if I’m going to get a shot before they are battered by the storm and turn brown now is the time.

As I’m admiring the bloom from different angles I can’t help think about how pure they look. The white flowers on the field of white felt very fresh and clean. I spent all winter hoping for a chance to capture something with this same feeling of purity but the mild winter here means mostly rain and mud. But the Azalea more than made up for the lost opportunity.

With the rain scent in the air and the white flowers I was feeling very renewed. Soon I heard the lonely cry of a Mourning Dove and I knew that my opportunity for photographing the unspoiled flowers wouldn’t last much longer. Before I knew it I was feeling the sprinkles of the rain hitting the back of my neck. The flowers will be here for a few more days but they will be bruised and my best opportunity has come to a close.

I put my lens cap back on and hovered over the camera body to keep it dry as I stepped back into the house. The lesson that I learned from this experience was to appreciate the moments as they come. The flowers are mine and they bloom every year but I’m not always able to catch them before the hard rains come and the moment is lost. My generation came up with Carpe Diem, Seize The Day and the phrase is now well known. But what is unsaid is that a day is made up of a collection of moments. If we could really seize the moment as it comes then the day will be ours.

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