It is such a joy for me to photograph tiny parts of plants, enlarge them, and see structures that were not visible to my eyes before. These plants are part of the living collection of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota.
The Sandhill Cranes raised two colts this spring.
They found a sweet spot behind our house under a date palm tree.
The colt is checking out what its parent is finding
Both colts are checking out what their parent is digging up
It appears that they are having a conversation!
The parents are ever vigilant
June 1 was my solo exhibit opening! We had such a nice gathering of art fans. I gave a talk as an introduction to the show and received many interested questions. I am so grateful to Bill Rusling, Liz Trostli, and Randy Havens for working all Thursday afternoon with me to hang the show. It looks splendid. The Arts Advocates Gallery has a beautiful exhibit space and lighting to show off the works. Along with many 8″ x 10″ and 13″ x 19″ prints on beautiful paper, I was also able to have two 24″ x 36″ images made, one on framed canvas and the other on aluminum. Both turned out really well.
I also want to express gratitude to my friend Pat LaRussa, who typed up the labels for each print–49 of them in total. Pat and my sister-in-law, Shelly, helped Randy and me set up the refreshments.
This Saturday, June 8, I will give a presentation on my photography for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, show examples and demonstrate the techniques I use for capturing closeups. The gallery is open from 2 to 4 PM and my talk will begin about 2:30 PM. I hope to see you there! Here are three images from the show that I made at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
For me, art is seeing with imagination. I see the world and modify it with my imagination.
I have a passion for making close-up photos of flowers. The following are from the collection of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. These particular blooms are about one-quarter inch in size, so the photographs reveal more details than I can see in person.
Because macro lenses are notorious for their shallow depth of field, i.e., they focus one very thin slice at a time. Therefore I use a technique called focus bracketing or focus stacking to allow us to see a much greater depth of field. I make a large number of photos each focused slightly nearer to the subject (bracketing) then I stack them together in Adobe Photoshop and run a program that selects the most in-focus part of each photo and merges them into one. Any movement of the flower will cause the merged photo to misalign and make an interesting abstract. The artist in me make like the abstract result, but the botanists may be frustrated.
Bamberg, Germany was our first destination on this trip.
“Bamberg is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, laid out over 7 hills where the Regnitz and Main rivers meet. Its old town preserves structures from the 11th to 19th centuries including the muraled Altes Rathaus (town hall), which occupies an island in the Regnitz reached by arched bridges.”Bamberg.Germany “is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in 2022.[6] The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby Babenberch castle. Cited as one of Germany’s most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and buildings, the old town of Bamberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Sitesince 1993.[7]” wikipedia.org
During our Masters in International Business Studies (MIBS), we met a young man from Bamberg. Tragically he died during his study at University of South Carolina of a car accident. Bamberg remained a mystery to us until this trip. What an historic and beautiful place this is and how fortunate he was to be raised here.
Glass vessels and sculpture fascinate me. Over 15,000 pieces are on display inside the Hotel Wilder Mann, famous in the 19th c. where Elisabeth II, Empress of Austria, stayed for a week in 1862. The collection is from Bavaria, Bohemia, Austria and Silesia and comprises glass from 1650 to 1950 and features Biedermeier, Art Nouveau (Jugendstil), and Art Deco (Modern) styles.
It is fun for me to make photos of others’ arts and crafts to share and to keep as memories. This is a quirky assortment of just some of the sculpture, graphics, paintings, and vessels we saw on our trip to Europe this summer, spanning many artistic styles over the years.