Nov 222009
 

Gracenote (c)2009 by April Siegfried

Color swatch green Color swatch brown Color swatch yellow [¹]

Our neighbors have a beautiful holly bush with rich red berries against glossy green leaves. I couldn’t help but think, “Holiday card!” Concerns about the sun getting high, and setting up a tripod near their front porch early on a Sunday morning, suggested a hand held combination of lenses I’ve not worked with in quite a while: 18-200mm VR zoom with a Canon 500D Closeup Lens and (thin) polarizing filter.

Nothing much resulted from photographing the holly, but that did point the way to other possibilities on this mild, clear day with no wind. Think bokeh! 🙂

I’ll try the holly bush again after a snowfall. Cliché, sure; but a challenge to do well. As a fellow-photographer once said, “It will be my holly.”

¹Colors of the day:

  • Green R:67 G:64 B:20
  • Brown R:140 G:86 B:46
  • Yellow R:203 G:164 B:110

  3 Responses to “Grace Note”

  1. My first impression was an enchanted world. A leaf living in a glowing forest lighten by strange planets.

    April, I like the shades of colors. The leaf and stem are so slender and graceful, as suggested by the title. The bokeh is marvelous and the depth of field so effective (leaf and stem in the foreground, pale orange circle in the background). The circle and the leaf’s colors echo with harmony.

    I hope you intend to keep this blog open all year around.
    It is not the same thing as going on Flicker’s to see your work. Here, you comment your artistic approach. This is what I particulary like.

  2. Micheline said it so beautifully, so I’ll comment on other aspects. Instead of holly, you captured dogwood, which also has red berries. I too love the bokeh.

    Each day I also enjoy the three colors you select. Room decorators would have a ball here. Choose one of your images to start the color scheme for the rest of the room!

    April, I too hope you’ll continue on beyond November – perhaps not on a daily basis, but surely once or twice a week. It’s such a treat to come here and see what photo goodies you’ve devised each day.

    I guess for Thanksgiving, it would be natural to expect an image of a festive table – or the turkey – or pumpkin pie or the like, lol. 😉

  3. My first impression was an enchanted world. A leaf living in a glowing forest lighten by strange planets.

    A lovely impression! What a pleasure it is for this image to suggest that to a viewer, because I was struck by the different world seen through the viewfinder as well.

    Here, you comment your artistic approach. This is what I particularly like.

    Ah-hah. Thank you for that feedback, Micheline. I also enjoy knowing more about what’s going on behind-the-scenes in a photographer’s work, and the Flickr format doesn’t really encourage that kind of exchange.

    Each day I also enjoy the three colors you select. Room decorators would have a ball here.

    🙂 The colors are fun for me to investigate, too, Flo. I’m thinking about pulling all the swatches into a grid at the end of the month, just to see how many shades (or combinations) of hues there might be.

    April, I too hope you’ll continue on beyond November – perhaps not on a daily basis, but surely once or twice a week. It’s such a treat to come here and see what photo goodies you’ve devised each day.

    Thank you so very much! I’m definitely considering how best to continue, and allow time to spend in other forums as well — which I miss. My current thought is “Every-Other-Day” (Tue/Thu/Sat), to keep pushing myself to produce but also not ask too much time from people who are so kind to check in. 🙂

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