An Inspiration

It was a beautiful Sunday. The sun was shining on this Mother's Day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

It was a wonderful day to honor mothers. I went to celebrate Mother's Day with my family. My Mom has six children and five grandchildren. She always puts us first in her life. The amazing thing is that she found out that she has multiple scerlosis a few years ago. But she keeps going and has such a positive attitude.

She is such an inspiration! So I am posting a single tulip in honor of my Mom and all those in our lives who serve others.

Pretty Petals

Spring has finally returned to this part of New York State. The flowers seem to be blooming later this year, but the daffodils and tulips are now in full bloom. And what a joy it is to see these miracles of nature!

Recently, I was out with my camera as the late afternoon sun was shining through a group of gorgeous tulips. I just sat and marveled at the way the light danced through and among this lively group.

I decided that I wanted to do something a little different when photographing tulips. My goal was to make some creative photos using a limited depth of field. I also wanted to retain the rich flower colors. So, I used my macro lens (60mm) and focused on the front petal. I was able to get the very front petal to be in focus while blurring the rest of the flower and background.

I was pleased with the results. I don't think that every photographer would appreciate this style, but I was excited because I was able to work with color, composition, and the camera's settings. What do you think about this image?

Dreaming of Spring

Today I tried to remember what the local landscape actually looks like without all of the snow. I thought about how green the valley looks when spring reawakens the earth. My imagination allowed me to breath in the fresh air and drown myself in the sweet rain. And the spring flowers dotted the countryside: snow drops, crocuses, daffodils, and tulips. (I make the above photo last year when the tulips were in bloom.)

I had a group of seven year olds in the library today. They wanted to know how many days are left until spring arrives. So, we looked at the calendar and found out that there are 12 days left until spring is suppose to arrive, even here in Central New York State. They also knew that the snow will still be on the ground on March 20!

Fortunately, the temperatures are suppose to be a bit warmer starting on Saturday. The daily high temperatures are suppose to be above 40 degrees F. We are going to start daylight savings time on Sunday, and I look forward to the longer days.

It has been a very strange winter here indeed. Actually, we didn't have much snow at all here until the end of January. We even had a green Christmas. However, we have suffered with all of the snow and very cold weather since the end of January. I read in the local newspaper that we received 85 inches of snow last winter and our total for this winter is 115 inches.

I recently found a quotation that brought me some comfort, "No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." (Hal Borland) And so I hope and pray that winter will give way to a gentle spring.

A Ray of Beauty

I have had a difficult week due in large part to the snowstorm. We have received 35 inches of snow here in Central New York State since Wednesday. The Valentine's Day storm was due to a nor'easter that came up from the southern states. The rest of the snow on Friday was courtesy of the Lake Ontario snow machine.

So, I spent a lot of time digging through the snow. I have my driveway plowed, but the steps and sidewalks still need to be cleared. Now, there is now where to put the snow. I have a snow mountain in my front yard and I am waiting for an avalanche!

Driving is such an adventure, too. I am only 5 feet tall and there is no way that I can see around the corners due to the gigantic snow banks. The streets are so narrow now due to the snow banks, so some streets are one way now. And, it took a long time to get the snow cleared from the streets.

The good news is that the sun made an appearance today and the temperature was 32 degrees F (0 degrees C). This helped to melt a little bit of the snow and ice. The roads were clear for the first time in days (but the snow banks remain.)

I ventured out to the local stores today. (Of course, all of the stores were very busy because other people were out and about, too.) I wanted to purchase some flowers so that I could take some photos this afternoon, but I didn't have a great selection from which to choose from at the floral shop. The selection was limited because Valentine's Day was this week and because the shop wasn't restocked due to the snowstorm. So, I ended up with a small pot of tulips.

Fortunately, I had enough natural light to work with this afternoon. I used some blue fabric for the background because I liked the contrast with the tulip colors. The aperture was set at f25 this time. I tried experimenting with the composition, too.

It was wonderful to see these gorgeous tulips when all I see are mountains of snow outside of my window. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world." And indeed, these beauties made me forget about shovels, snow banks, and lake effect snow.