Pass by the garden in midsummer and you notice a five foot high wall of green topped by deep purple flowers— “black and blue salvia.” I chose this plant because it is known to attract pollinators. What an understatement! From early morning until dusk, a cloud of beesContinue Reading
Those following along will remember my quest to try as many Minolta manual zoom lenses as possible. I am doing this for the VMLP and a little bit for the same reason people climb Mt. Everest. However, in the case of the 80-200mm, f4.5, there is a detective story of sorts. When the Minolta-LeicaContinue Reading
Mid-April seems to be the best time to plant–earlier, and frost is still possible, much later, and there is a chance the rains will stop. It could easily be 95 or hotter by the first weekend in May, which would fry tender, young plants. Some plants are real troopers. AngeloniasContinue Reading
Up Close is an ongoing series relating my attempts at macro photography. I have always been fascinated by the larger-than-life appearance of macro photos. I doubt there will be any insects, but obviously, flowers will have a good representation in what I shoot. From a technical standpoint, macro work isContinue Reading
One ostrich fern–one. When my hosta garden still seemed a little bare, I decided ferns would be a good addition. My wife, who loves ferns, thought it was a wonderful idea. I really should have read a book. Wandering through Grower’s Outlet, looking for Prairie Bella day lilies (they neverContinue Reading
This is now my ninth garden season, which is hard to believe. It has been the most challenging thus far because of the health woes mentioned in an earlier post. In early April, I spent a lot of money on plants, mulch, and manure, and I found myself unable toContinue Reading
Description: Red camellias blooming in mid-February Background: Before moving to Georgia, I cannot recall ever seeing camellias. I was invited to a party at a colleague’s house the first December after moving south from Washington, DC. Winters for me started in November and lasted until April and always brought grayness and ice.Continue Reading
Gardening makes one pay close attention to the weather. I keep a rain gauge and check the levels after each rain, then average those values over the week to determine whether I need to water. I never imagined caring that much about rainfall. Weather changes receive the same attention. IContinue Reading
Lately, I have spent a lot of time thinking about why I started EarthSunFilm. Maybe it’s the rarely seen snow swirling past the window and the stillness that descends at the insistence of the cold that invite me to reflect on the last two years. The impetus for EarthSunFilm beganContinue Reading
A while back, I shared my take on shooting flower portraits in low light. During that shoot, I had to deal with breezes that made the 1/8 sec shutter speed a headache. At the time, I was irritated by how the breeze kept moving the agapanthus around, wasting my time,Continue Reading
