Ferns & Green.
Painted Leaves. Unedited Leaves.
Ferns are indigenous, prolific, and come in a few varieties. These photos were taken in my yard where we have natural stands of these plants that come up every year in front of our house. Each year, they are taller, thicker, and spread themselves out further than the previous year. I like ferns because they’re bright and airy, and make for a natural “curtain” for the windows during the warmer months. It also adds color and emits different shades of green depending on the time of day of angle of the sun coming through the trees. Very cool! I didn’t feel any struggles with these images other than making sure to cut as much of the building out as possible. Also some of the ferns are camouflaged into the background with other green blossoms, so I chose to name these landscape images Ferns & Green.
Ocean.
Watercolor Seas. Open Waters.
Oceanviews are one of my favorite scenes. These were taken during a brief trip to Miami. From the balcony of the hotel, the vastness of the ocean shows itself to be broad and expansive. The sunset with descending clouds make for a relaxing and calm scene. During the day, the small waves in the water can be viewed as dolphins, natural white caps, or maybe...whales?! The ocean is wide, limitless, and vast. I like the openness of this environment that water represents. I was also in Miami as a young child and this left a positive and lasting impression of the ocean for me. The main challenge was getting enough of the water without it completely taking over the images and making sure the building didn’t get in the way. I think I accomplished that by making sure the zoom focus was just right.
Wild Turkey.
Painted Turkey. Fowl Squad.
Since wild and undomesticated animals were permitted for this assignment, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take these photos of a wild turkey roaming through my backyard. These were taken where our yard backs up to a hardwood forest of natural wonder in nature. Most people have turkeys for Thanksgiving; my family has duck. When we see a turkey strolling through our yard, we often feel like we’re looking from afar in a cabin in the up North. I took these photos because this is not a common scene to be seen with such an up close and personal view. This turkey looks like a young one and is comfortable scrounging for the bugs in the yard. He is more than welcome to them. I played with the lighting a bit and need to work on getting the balance on these, but like the overall result in capturing the turkey in its natural environment.
Rocks.
Oil Paint Rocks. Untouched Rocks.
Rocks to me represent strength, timelessness, and longevity. The natural shapes, sizes, and ingrained patterns show each one has a unique foundation from which it was formed. These photos were taken in the crescent yard at my house where we use rocks for not only aesthetic purposes, but also for practical purposes like securing retainer walls and controlling the flow of rainwater in our yard. When I was little, we visited lots of art and natural history museums where they always had a geology section. I remember learning about the different types of rocks and so have grown to appreciate not only the beauty but the steadfastness of rocks. Plus, I also like to listen to rock music sometimes. I experienced some trials on creating interesting angles since rocks are very stagnant, but feel I was able to triumph with interesting and creative angles with these images.
Forest Floor.
Painted Plants. Clean Blossoms.
As I mentioned previously, we live in the woods, so I decided to take some close-up photos of the forest floor. These images were taken from underneath mayapples and indigenous geranium plants. I tried to imagine what our yard must look like to a squirrel or other small animal rummaging through the forest to “hunt” for nuts or seeds. I also like to see how the natural light shines through from different angles. If I were a squirrel, I would probably want to live here.