Category: photos

curled up and dried out

Following through with the leaves, these leaves are some different maple leaves that I came across back in April.

I found that they had retained a surprising amount of shape after a long harsh winter.

Indeed, I quite admired the graceful way they had curled up as they dried out.

My macro lens let me get in close to the crisp edges that had been nicely highlighted by the low afternoon sun.

I actually came across these leaves around the same time as I gathered up images of bright fresh spring leaves unfurling. Tonight, in the midst of a hectic stretch and feeling a bit used up, I seem to be identifying more with the dried up leaves of last year…

leaves of pink

I mentioned yesterday that a Japanese maple tree in my neighborhood, now looking quite orange, once produced fall leaves of a surprising pink color. Here are a few photos I took in the late fall of 2012.

Two fallen pink and purple leaves among the duller hues of the oak leaves.

I was also quite taken by the complex pattern and varying shades of pink, on the leaves, looking like a mosaic, or fish scales.

These photos were from November, so there is clearly quite a bit more time for this year’s leaves to change color. I’m rather curious to see what they’ll do.

Japanese maple in the morning sun

My neighbors’ Japanese maples are a regular source of enjoyment for me. The look of the leaves changes so dramatically from season to season, and even from hour to hour. I have photos from previous years where the red leaves had turned a purplish pink. This year they look a bit more yellowy orange. Or at least they did in the morning light a few days ago.

Really these are all crops of the same photo, but I wanted to show the beautiful color variation.

I especially love the way some of the leaves cast their shadows on other leaves.

It’s really feeling like fall these days. The nights have gone cool, and the air has a freshness to it. I do really love fall in New England.

Picked a peck

It is said that Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, but this never quite made sense to me. How could the peppers he picked already be pickled? Perhaps the peppers he picked were potential pickled peppers, or pre-pickled peppers. Possibly they were pickling peppers?

These were some of the questions I pondered while picking pecks of peppers at the farm where I am participating in a CSA this year. None of the peppers I picked were pickled.

They were, however, quite pretty.

fresh tomato photos (friday foto finder: tomato)

This week’s friday foto finder theme is “tomato.” While I certainly have taken many a tomato photo in recent years, I have also already posted many of them. Happily, here in New England, it is the season for fresh tomatoes. Indeed, this year, they are especially bountiful. I have joined a CSA again this year, and the tomatoes have been plentiful there. In addition, a close friend and neighbor has been experimenting with growing hydroponic tomatoes on her deck.

The experiment has been very successful, and she harvests many tomatoes each day. When I stopped by her house this afternoon, she had these guys all lined up to get a bit more time ripening in the sun. They caught my eye, and jogged my memory about the theme for fff this week. So, for a change, instead of digging through my photo library, I have some fresh photos.


I like the tomatoes’ rather menacing shadows.


Here, I liked the the low angle of the sun lit up the leaves.

Somehow, tomatoes have made very regular appearances on this blog, both in terms of photos and as a topic of discussion. Tomatoes, in fact, seem to be a running theme in my life, what with my use of the pomodoro method. It would seem that this is (at least) my 12th post with a tomato base. And it is probably safe to forecast that tomatoes will appear again here.

To see what other tomatoes have been served up for the fff theme, pay a visit to the friday foto finder blog!

peace, stone leaves, and lichen

This old monument in a cemetery in New York appealed to me as much for its stone carvings as for the way that nature had modified the design. There is something especially compelling about the leafy shapes of the lichen growing on the leafy stone carvings. Nature imitating art imitating nature.

a few specimens of stone flora from Dublin

For someone who is not especially fond of flowers, and for someone who has been known to kill off plants in my care, I sure do take a lot of photos of plants and flowers.

I also enjoy taking pictures of buildings, and their interesting details as they catch my eye. It shouldn’t surprise me, therefore, to have discovered that I had amassed a collection of plants and flowers carved from stone that adorned various buildings around Dublin.

All of these were taken in Dublin in May of this year, during my visit there for a conference.

It would have been great if I’d made note of which buildings, or at least which locations, bore these interesting details. Of course, I didn’t.

late summer flowers glowing in the late afternoon sun

To follow up yesterday’s flowers in the rain, today I offer some sunnier fare.


A sunflower and visiting bee from 2 years ago.


Blue and purple wildflowers by Salisbury beach a few weekends ago.


Flame-colored astilbes I saw at the zoo this weekend.

blooming tree in the summer rain

This summer brought its share of rainy days. The Fourth of July turned out to be one such rainy day, leading to many cancelled plans for picnics, barbecues and fireworks. I was in the middle of a frantic work stretch, however, so the rain didn’t much dampen my spirits.

Some friends were kind enough to entertain the kids along with their own kids for the day, while John and I both did work. In the late afternoon, while waiting for my children to be delivered home, I noticed that the sun was trying to break through the clouds, and was lighting the leaves and flowers on the tree next to our front porch.

I grabbed my camera, and stood under the shelter of the porch, and was captivated by the sparkling water drops. (I am such a sucker for water drops.)

Really, I should have also grabbed the tripod, but I didn’t intend it to be an extended photo shoot.

On a side note, I don’t actually know what kind of tree this is. Its deep, dark red blooms appear in early summer. I do like their understated appearance.