© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
In the small part of my garden that sees limited sunshine, Daylilies reign.
Sunshine Daylilies
Author: Beth Walsh's Photoblog
Pushing to the limit
I have decided to change-up a bit and display this collection of images in a slide show format. In this post I have pushed these images to their limits and hopefully arrived at a more artistic expression. I have been inspired by a number of new blogs that I have been following recently. The blogs are by aspiring and established artists, who move between many forms of art, embracing them all. What I notice most is their willingness to experiment and make mistakes. It’s a very active community and one blog that I really enjoy is Debi Riley’s blog “The Creative Zone for Making Art”.
In this collection of images, I have converted or changed some of my colour images to black and white. The slide show format displays the colour image which then melds into the black and white image to create a very effective view of what was done. So I hope you will take a moment to allow the slide show to create its magic!
The peony images were desaturated from full colour to around 30-40% colour that imparts a fifties feel to the colouration. I used the negative filter located in the curves adjustment of Photoshop on the landscape image of the woods and the image of the plane flying high in the sky. Also, blur was added to soften some images as well as heavily sharpening others to highlight a very small depth of field (DOF) or what is often called a shallow focus. If you have followed me even for a short time you might have noticed that I love to play with a shallow DOF.
The railway images are examples of one point perspective with a vanishing point, as the rails disappear into the distance. Luckily for me a squirrel was curious about what I was doing on the railway tracks and stopped to pose for me. Neither of us dallied on the tracks. Hope you enjoy this collection and as always I would love to hear what you think or if a particular image was a favourite.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
Raindrops Galore
We are finally getting lots of rain. My garden is happy and full of raindrops. As soon as the weather clears for a bit, I’m searching for raindrops. Most of these are shade perennials as well as lupins and rhododendrons that add splashes of colour in the few sunny spots left in my garden.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
A Secret Garden
Finally rain! After it stopped, which was too short a time, I was out capturing raindrops on the foliage around my house. This is because I have a thriving shade garden without much colour other than green, so raindrops are the main attraction not flowers. On the other hand, my neighbour’s garden across the street is south facing and has many showy sun loving flowers. She invited me to capture her new Peony, which I did as well as a few others along the way.
In order to write this post I had to learn the difference between Azaleas and Rhododendrons. This is confusing because while all Azaleas are Rhododendrons, not all Rhododendrons are Azaleas. They are really quite distinctive and easy to tell apart. Generally Azaleas have 5 stamens (male part of the flower), 5 lobes (petals of the flower) and 1 stamen per lobe. Rhododendrons also have 5 lobes but 2 stamens per lobe which equals 10 stamens in total. So I just counted stamens and easily identified them. These Azalea and Rhododendron grow in a protected area along the side of my neighbour’s house hidden from the street view. You can see the promise of a large garden but many beautiful aspects of her secret garden are only revealed upon invitation. Lucky me!
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
Bearded and Beardless Irises
The Bearded Iris is named for a fuzzy ridge that runs along each of 3 downward-facing petals, called falls. The 3 upward facing petals are called standards and may be a different colour than the falls. The Siberian Iris forms very handsome clumps of grass-like foliage with a host of blooms rising on elegantly thin stems. These beardless flowers are smaller than the Bearded Iris blooms. These images were taken at the Ornamental Gardens located at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
Spring in the Arboretum
The Dominion Arboretum is located at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. These pictures were taken during a evening walk through the arboretum near a small patch of wetlands located by Dow’s Lake. Sunlight backlit ground cover and new buds on a cascade of branches. The wetlands, full of cattails, were alive with the sound of birds. I captured a few of them as they flittered through the cattails. People were walking and biking the paths and beach while the water was still low.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
The Tulips are Blooming in Ottawa
In Ottawa springtime means lots and lots of tulips blooming all over the city. These images were taken at Dow’s Lake, a few days before the official start of the tulip festival. Despite rain and cool temperatures, people were out viewing the tulips.
Walking along the paths lined with tulip beds, some in full bloom and others not yet ready, I captured tulips as well as people out enjoying their evening. On my way back as the light was dimming, reflections, ducks and lastly, an elegantly lit doorstep caught my eye.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
Deep into the Woods
As I walk deeper into the older growth forest in the late spring all the eye can see are trilliums. Trillium grandiflorum or as it is more commonly known the white trillium, large-flowered trillium, great white trillium or in French trille blanc, cover the forest floor. Compared to the small delicate flowers featured in my previous post, the attractive three-petaled white flowers are individually quite bold and showy.
My favourites are pink trilliums. Pink and white trilliums are not different species. The flower’s white petals turn pink as they age. Just for fun I zoomed out to create motion blur in my last image.
With every change in season, there is something to look forward to. Trilliums turn the woods into a magical wonderland. I think it’s time to take another walk in the woods.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
A Springtime Walk in the Woods
These images were taken during a walk in the woods. These woodlands are surrounded by suburbs. So there are wildflowers as well as perennial flowers from gardens that find their way into the woods and thrive. The blue and yellow carpet of ground cover is quite pretty on the forest floor. The tall white flowers, which I assume are wildflowers, grow in abundance near the walking paths.
The weather is getting a little warmer and we have had some rain showers so spring flowers are starting to bloom. I think it’s time to take another walk in the woods.
© Copyright Beth Walsh Photography. All rights reserved.
I’m assuming from the large area covered in Forget-me-not flowers that they are perennial. Seeds are found in small, tulip-shaped pods along the stem to the flower. Apparently the pods can attach to clothing, transplanting the small seeds elsewhere.
I hope I have identified these Viola correctly. Viola are most often spring blooming and pollinated by insects.
These tightly bound buds may be leaves to a shrub rather than a flower but I found them interesting.
Beth Walsh photography 