Common Buckeye

This morning I came across this image of a butterfly that I photographed at Green Spring Gardens and have just identified it as a Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), from the family of Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae). The caterpillar host plants are snapdragon, toadflax, figwort, monkey flower, plantain, tickseed, butterfly bush and water speedwell. Adults prefer nectar from plants such as aster, chickory, tickseed, coreopsis, butterfly bush and peppermint. Adults live for about ten days.

The website www.butterfliesandmoths.org aided me in identifying this “flying flower.”

This link here contains photos that chronicle the metamorphosis of the Common Buckeye Butterfly from caterpillar to chrysalis to adult (and includes shots of some unfortunate subjects serving as lunch for other insects!). One photo shows a tattered butterfly and states that such specimens “are able to fly and function normally with up to 2/3 of their wings missing.” I’ve often wondered how they fared with their wings in such bad shape. Then again, when you only live 10 days, you don’t have much time to worry about such things!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys!

I was perusing random blogs last night and came across a reference to this site: http://photofunia.com/ so I went to check it out. WOW!

From the site: PhotoFunia is an online photo editing tool that gives you a fun filled experience. You upload any photo and just wait to see the magic. Our proprietary technology automatically identifies the face in the photo and let’s you add cool photo effects and create funny face photo montages. PhotoFunia is free and very easy to use. Just select an effect you like from over 100 different effects, upload your photo, and PhotoFunia will handle the rest for you. PhotoFunia was originally developed by two enthusiasts from Odessa, Ukraine and has officially launched on the 11th August 2007.

There are 134 effects (some even animated!) to drop your photos into and voila! Instant art. In just a few seconds per image, you have the results, which can be saved as jpgs and printed. Below are just a few I created with my people and flower images.

Check it out—way too much fun! And by the way—I wondered where the phrase “more fun than a barrel of monkeys” originated, so of course I did my online research. Check out AskYahoo to learn more!

New additions to my Zenfolio botanical gallery

I just added more photos to my zenfolio.com gallery. In the coming weeks I’ll be creating a few new galleries that will showcase travel images, landscapes and portraits. I’ve also been looking into portfolio web sites such as PhotoShelter.com and others to determine what will work best as a website to showcase my photography. In the interim, Zenfolio has been an easy-to-use outlet for my work. Does anyone have any recommendations for ready-made or customizable website services? I’m open to feedback and suggestions. Thanks!

Check out my botanical shots on zenfolio on the link below. You can click on each thumbnail to view it larger. There are 10 pages to scroll through, showcasing more than 400 images.

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135/h1109ae8#h1543587c

New photos to see on my main blog!

I just received my online scans from ScanCafe and have begun posting them on my main blog. These are scans of 35mm slides and cover lots of subjects, from travel to portraits. I apologize for not having much garden-related images to share as of late—but ’tis the season when gardening pretty much comes to a halt (unless you include my indoor plants!). Today, it’s rainy and cold here in the Northern Virginia area and I’m playing with my new slide scans!

If you’d like to see some images from my travels, click here.

Road trip to Harrisonburg

Today Michael and I headed out to the Green Valley Book Fair in Harrisonburg, Virginia, about 2-1/2 hours away (you know, because we simply need more books). The late afternoon sky was spectacular—simultaneously gloomy on our right with swaths of cornflower blue on our left. Then the sun broke through a dark patch, illuminating the barren trees. We were compelled to pull over and get this can’t-miss-it shot.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Wedding blog archive: My “hobby halo”

Several pounds of jewels on my head—and I didn’t even get a headache from wearing it! I had so much fun making this accessory and have made several others (photos to come). Most of the jewels came from lost-their-mate earrings and brooches I have saved (not knowing why or what for at the time) since high school. Several of the charms reveal my many passions: gardening, photography, painting, computers, books, nature, flowers and insects. I’m continuing to add photos to our wedding blog (as I get them from various friends and family), so if you’re curious, head on over to www.cindyandmichael.wordpress.com!

© Cindy Dyer

Twisty

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Late fall in the rural Virginia countryside

Fairview Christian Church (Madison, VA), erected 1880…and nearby farms

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

This should sufficiently explain my absence…

After a 19-year engagement (did a double-take, didn’t ya?), Michael and I got married in Texas on October 24! We’ve planned to do so at least four times prior, but we finally managed to pull it off two weeks ago. We wanted to have a long weekend with family and friends and got a great deal on two houses on Lake Placid in Seguin, Texas (less than an hour’s drive from San Antonio, where my parents and one sister and her family live). The Friday night Tex-Mex Karaoke Get Acquainted Party took place on Friday night, followed by an early evening wedding and reception on Saturday. We just had a few months to plan this big weekend and from the comments by our family and friends, we were wildly successful.

If you want the full story and lots of photos, visit our wedding-only blog entitled, “Better Late Than Never.”

And yes, I had to create a logo for the event—I’m a graphic designer, first and foremost! My friend Karen and I had a blast planning all the visuals and I spent every spare minute crafting for the event—from sewing satin shawls to crafting bling-bling headbands and boutonnieres and table signs to sewing runners and tablecloths to designing programs and signage. Virtually everything was handmade, so it was definitely a labor of love and an opportunity to use every creative skill I possess. Even our wedding favors were homegrown—a dozen of my Polaroid transfer notecards nestled in handstamped muslin bags and packages of homemade-by-Michael sweet-n-spicy sugared pecans (a nod to Seguin’s pecan heritage). I’ll be posting some of the crafts in the future as well. So head on over to our wedding blog (which will be updated regularly with new photos)—I think it should sufficiently explain why I was negligent in posting on this particular blog!

A most educational dissertation on “Glow”

Referencing my 9/30 posting titled “Glow” (photo seen at right), Katie commented:

“the middle of the flower looks like a female silhouette, was that done on purpose? if not, amazing…if so, amazing still.”

To which my father (nicknamed “The King of Texas” by my friend Debbi) replied:

Katie is right on—there is definitely a female silhouette in the bloom. I can’t believe I missed it—thanks, Katie.

And I can see in the outline that the female is holding a child—great Scott, Cindy! You have captured the Madonna and Child—no, not that Madonna—the one that artists have portrayed over the centuries. Raphael is one of the most famous, but many have painted the Madonna and Child, The Holy Mother and Son, Mary and Jesus.

I can remember stories about images of Mary or Jesus or both being found in tree bark, in a toasted cheese sandwich, in a piece of toast, in an oil slick on the pavement, potato chips and Doritos, and there are probably many more that I missed. And all have drawn crowds of one size or another.

If the news of your Holy Vision in a picture of (whatever that is) gets out, especially to this part of the U.S. and to our nearest neighbor to the south, the faithful will be beating a path to your door. They’ll leave all sorts of flowers, emblems, wreaths, burning candles and notes with wishes and prayers. You’ll have to hose them down just to get out to your car—the faithful, not the burning candles—although the candles could pose a problem for the local fire department.

And it’s possible—nay, probable, that some will bring sick and suffering friends or family members so they can be near such an apparition, in the hopes they will be comforted, perhaps healed.

I believe that you should submit this photo to your local papers, to one or more photography magazines, perhaps present it to some of your local theologians for inspection and comments. You need to protect your rights on this one—it may be a real winner.

And, of course, a closer look may lead one to believe that the image shows a woman holding one child aloft and pregnant with another. Hey, it could still be Mary—we have no way of knowing whether it is, or is not. After all, Joseph had been waiting on the sidelines for quite awhile, probably with mounting impatience (no pun intended) before the Babe was born, and he must have been filled with joy that the Child had arrived. Most men will be able to relate to the joy he felt—I sure can.

And to further clarify, he e-mailed me this morning with:

And if you, with a bit of imagination, can see the outline of a pregnant woman holding a child, I suggest you add another factor, provided your imagination supports it. Since one cannot see any suggestion of clothing in the shadowy image, the figures are probably nude. At any rate, that’s what I see (no big surprise there, huh?). Hey, maybe they’re in the shower.

And if I keep looking at the photo long enough and let my imagination run rampant, I’ll probably find Joseph lurking in the darkness. And if I can’t see him, I can always imagine that he’s somewhere close, just to flesh out (no pun intended) the story.

Incidentally, I found this definition online at http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/flesh.html. I have never confused “flesh out” with “flush out,” but apparently others have—hence the need for an explanation.

One more “incidental:” This refers to the proper use of further vs farther: I found an explanation of their usages at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/farther. In the definition of “flesh out” versus “flush out,” the author used the word correctly.

I know, I know. I have a lot of time on my hands, an expression that I have often used and will continue to use. I’m still waiting to hear someone say, or write, that perhaps I should “stop dragging my knuckles.”

There—since I am the first to apply that description, I’ve beat everyone else to the punch. (I found the definition for “beat to the punch” at http://www.yourdictionary.com/idioms/beat-to-it). It’s defined as follows:
beat to the draw or punch:

1. To get ahead of someone to obtain something, as in: There was only enough for one, so Jane ran as fast as she could in order to beat Jerry to it. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

2. Beat to the draw or punch. To react more quickly than someone else, as in: The new salesman tried to serve one of my customers, but I beat him to the draw and Bill was determined to get there first and beat everyone else to the punch. The variants imply aggression to get ahead, draw alluding to the drawing of a pistol and punch to hitting with the fists. [Second half of 1800s]

Hey, this has to stop somewhere, so I’m outta here.

Rose at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Passionflower: alternate view

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Pow!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Hmmm…wonder what’s on this CF card?

You know you’re a little behind in photo cataloging when you decide to go through the random CF cards stacked on your desk and discover one full of images you shot in late July and hadn’t even seen yet! And so, as a result of my desk-cleaning efforts, I can now present these images I made at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia on July 26.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.     http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Glow

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

A look back at some little gems

At long last, she blogs! It’s been several weeks since I posted on the blog—I apologize for my absence. I’ve had design work going in and out (not complaining, mind you), and lots of other tasks to complete. Plus, gardening season has slowed down quite a bit and I haven’t had a chance to get out to shoot what is still in bloom (not much!). I’ve been doing a slew of creative projects and will post about those soon. You’ll have to be patient until I can share them with you in early November!

Tomorrow baby Josie turns one years old and I’m heading off to Fredericksburg to wish her a happy one and I’m hoping to get some new photos of the birthday girl to post on my main blog, http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/. I miss being out shooting, but work and other commitments beckon. I’ll promise to post new material shortly!

Check out Josie’s first debut on my blog here.
See Daddy’s little girl here.
View Josie “au naturel” in my studio here and with Mom & Grandma in the studio here.
See her when she was 147 days old here.
Check out our last studio session in June here, when she was eight months old.

Check out my updated Zenfolio!

The “cream of the crop” of my garden and landscape photos is now in one easy-to-navigate gallery. Eventually I’ll have the gallery set up to sell prints as well as stock photos, but in the interim, this is just a way to wrangle all of my web-viewing-only images into one gallery. I’ll be adding more images in the future. Currently there are 406 images in the Botanical Gallery. That should keep you plenty busy! If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, you’ll recognize many of the photos. Once you click on the first link below, you can click “view all” at the bottom and see everything on one page, scrolling down as you go. If you click on an individual photo, it will enlarge and thumbnails for other images will show up on the side (as shown in the collage below). You can click on any of those to enlarge, or you can just launch the slide show in the second link below. I hope you enjoy the show!

Gallery:  http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Slideshow: http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135/slideshow

Blooming in my garden today…

Two passion flowers on the vine this morning…in our zone 7 area, passion flowers must be treated as an annual. I bought this vine from Home Depot and bring it indoors right before the first frost, put it just inside my office patio doors (where it gets filtered light and I keep it watered) and take it out again in spring. I’ve been able to keep it going strong for four consecutive years now—not bad for my $20 investment, huh?

I noticed that passion flower is spelled as one word and as two words all over the web—by experts and novice gardeners alike. In past postings, I’ve spelled it as one word. Which do you prefer? Are they both correct?

There are more than 500 known species and several hundred hybrids of passiflora. Most are vine-flowering, although some are shrubs, and a few are herbaceous. Just nine species are found in the U.S. and Southern Asia has the most native species–17. The most common species in the southeastern U.S. is the Maypop, Passiflora incarnata. Its edible fruit is sweet, yellow, the size of a chicken’s egg, and few pests bother it. It is the larval food of a number of butterfly species and important to local wildlife. Carpenter bees are important pollinators of maypops.

For more information on passion flowers:

Passiflora Online is a comprehensive website with growing tips, FAQs, plant ID, hybrid and species images, pollinators, and much more.

Plants in Motion has videos of a passion flower in bloom and also short clips of bees visiting the flowers.

Tradewinds Fruit has a great database of passion flower blossoms. Click on the “related species” section on the left of the site to see a wide variety of passion flower plants.

See more of my passion flower photos in the links below:

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/its-about-time/

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/backyard-blooms/

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/meanwhile-in-the-garden/

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/lady-margaret/

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

At Green Spring Gardens today…

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.  

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Nicotiana

I photographed this Nicotiana flower a few weeks ago at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia. Nicotiana, an annual plant, is a member of the tobacco family. Also known as Tobacco Flower, Flowering Tobacco, Jasmine Tobacco and Ornamental Tobacco, this most-fragrant-at-night plant is native to warm tropical and sub-tropical areas of North and South America. Although this plant is considered an ornamental, it does contain high concentrations of nicotine. The trumpet shaped flowers attract hummingbirds (and ants, as evidenced in the photo below). Nicotiana is easy to grow from seed, begins blooming in early summer, and will rebloom if deadheaded. The five pointed florets bloom in red, white, pink, maroon, rose, yellow and lavender. The plant is poisonous, so keep away from children and pets.

Whenever I think of tobacco (the smoking and chewing kind), I’m reminded of the summer my sister Kelley, and my cousin Deanna and I were paid 5 cents a stick to unstring tobacco leaves for my Uncle Roscoe on his farm in Georgia. The dried tobacco leaves (or ‘backer, as it was called in the south) were strung two across along a stick that was about 3-4 feet long. We were charged with untying the leaves and putting them in piles. The sticks were hung from the rafters in a barn that also housed Roscoe’s beautiful black stallion and a few other horses—most memorable was a slow-moving, spotted Shetland pony named Champ. When we rode horses (never with our parent’s blessings), I inevitably ended up with Champ. His incredibly slow gait thwarted any fantasy I had to look like that model with the wind flowing through her hair as she galloped through a field of daisies on the package of some feminine hygiene product. My sister got to ride a horse aptly named “Shotgun.”

The three of us worked for a few hours (in a hot barn in the Georgia heat) and I remember making barely a couple of dollars for my efforts. I’m not sure what minimum wage was when I was 12 years old, but I’m pretty sure we were paid well under that amount that day! We didn’t care—we just wanted enough to buy Cokes from the vending machine he had outside the riding arena (complete with bleachers for an audience). We thought it was so cool they had their own outdoor coke machine. The soda came out in the cutest little bottles and I think they were just 10 cents each. My cousins were all avid competitive horse riders and had a slew of trophies on display in their living room—so many that one time they gave each of us one (not that we had earned it, but who doesn’t love a shiny trophy?) and they didn’t even miss them!

And while on the subject of Georgia tobacco…there’s an interesting and very detailed account here about “Growing ‘Backer on the Wiregrass Plain.”

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Carmens’ tableau

This weekend Regina and I joined Karen at her lake house for a girls-only retreat. Our friend Carmen drove all the way up from South Carolina to join us and Sue happened to be in town from Alabama and stopped by to join us for several hours on Saturday. En route from South Carolina, Carmen bought this beautiful bouquet as a lake house warming gift for Karen at a farmer’s market in Petersburg, VA. She called ahead to see if we had a vase available. Since we were already out running errands, I hunted an appropriate vessel (without even knowing the color scheme of the bouquet) and found this beautiful glass vase on clearance at a local Michael’s Crafts for just $4.00! Karen had the fabric handy in our project stash to serve as a table scarf (thanks to Sue for suggesting we scrunch the fabric). I added the glass bowl and Carmen added the yellow and purple bell peppers. She then declared, “what a lovely tableau.” I teased her about her “fancy college word,” but it was a perfect noun for the finished result. I have to admit I don’t remember ever hearing anyone actually use that word—maybe in college in Art Appreciation 101 class, perhaps? And in the end, as you know—I love any opportunity to shoot a photo, so this was a photographic-can’t-not!

Floral arrangement courtesy of Carmen Mezzacappa.
Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Early morning at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C.

Click here to view images from July 20, 2008.

Click here to view images from July 22, 2007.

For more Kenilworth photos, click here.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Craft project: The Monet Chair

My friend Karen inherited this rocking chair from her grandmother and took it out to the lake house a few weekends ago. She has often declared, “I’ve never met a little chair I didn’t like!” Since the fabric wasn’t in great shape, she asked what I thought about painting something on the chair to make it more whimsical. And, of course, I took on the challenge with gusto!

Over the July 4th weekend, I painted a base coat of metallic blue, green and gold paint (finally, a use for all those little bottles of fabric paint I bought when such-and-such store was going out of business!). My initial plan was to paint sketchy leaves or swirly abstract shapes on top in a lighter color. After the base coat was completely dry the next day, I thought that it was starting to look like the water in one of Monet’s paintings of water lilies at his garden in Giverny, France. I shot some record shots of the chair after I was done. Karen loved the idea of turning it into a “Monet chair,” and it was her idea to split up the painting with the Japanese bridge on back of the chair and the water lilies on the seat. We found one of Monet’s many water lily paintings on the web, including one with very bright blue/teal and green combination of tones in the water. I did a screen grab of the painting and superimposed it over the chair in Photoshop to see what it would look like. She loved the effect—so guess what my project at the lake house this next weekend is? I’ll shoot some during-and-after shots so you can see how it turned out. I’m estimating it will take about 3-4 hours to complete.

Blooming in the garden today…

Song of the Flower

I am a kind word uttered and repeated 
By the voice of Nature;
I am a star fallen from the
Blue tent upon the green carpet.
I am the daughter of the elements
With whom Winter conceived;
To whom Spring gave birth;
I was Reared in the lap of Summer and I
Slept in the bed of Autumn.

At dawn I unite with the breeze
To announce the coming of light;
At eventide I join the birds
In bidding the light farewell.

The plains are decorated with
My beautiful colors, and the air
Is scented with my fragrance.

As I embrace Slumber the eyes of
Night watch over me, and as I
Awaken I stare at the sun, which is
The only eye of the day.

I drink dew for wine, and hearken to
The voices of the birds, and dance
To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.

I am the lover’s gift; I am the wedding wreath;
I am the memory of a moment of happiness;
I am the last gift of the living to the dead;
I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.
But I look up high to see only the light,
And never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn. 

— Khalil Gibran

Photos © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.    
http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Orange you glad(iola)?

About the title—admittedly, very bad. I had to go with my first thought. Sorry.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135.

Re-post: Rhymes with Orange

Why I feel the need to revisit orange: I’m working on final changes to a conference program for a client. The conference is next month in San Francisco. The client is working on conference signage and just asked if I knew what PMS (Pantone Matching System) ink color would be closest to the color of the Golden Gate Bridge. I googled “what PMS color is the Golden Gate Bridge?” Apparently the Golden Gate Bridge people have answered that question many times before. It’s PMS 173! See the background info in the two links below. Hmmm…Now I’m thinking I might change that red-colored bar at the bottom to something closer to PMS 173! I need a color pick-me-up—who doesn’t? So here you go!

http://goldengatebridge.org/research/factsGGBIntOrngPaint.php

http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2903029/

________________________________________________

Original posting, January 30, 2009:

For several months now I’ve been trying to catalog my images better, bit by bit (there are thousands and thousands of photos). While organizing my garden photos folder I noticed that I have a plethora of orange-hued flowers so I put together this collage of all things orange-ish to brighten your winter day.

Tangerine. Coral. Day-glow orange. Push-up popsicle orange. Sunset. Pumpkin. 70s shag carpet orange (I did window display at a department store while in college and there was multi-shaded orange shag carpet in each window. Do you know how hard it is to design around that color scheme? I covered it up every chance I got—with a decorating budget of zilch, unfortunately. I asked for $5 once for a huge set of markers and my boss freaked out).

Orange peel. Safety orange. Salmon (did you know that the “l” in salmon is silent? The correct pronunciation is “sam-uhn.” Don’t believe me? Click here).

Frou-frou-big-bowed-bridesmaid-dress-apricot (yes, I had to wear one once upon a time). Carrot. Persimmon. Vermilion. Orange-red. Rusty can orange. Burnt orange. Tomato. Panama Brown orange (the color Dad insists his old diesel VW Rabbit was—sorry, Dad, it was ORANGE).

After a week of designing at the computer in a cold basement, pausing only to look out at winter gray skies (save for that remarkable sunset on Wednesday), I needed a jolt of color to inspire me. What better color than orange?

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Re-post: Cool and Green and Shady

This shot of one of our pond plants (the center “poof ball” is a type of Dwarf Papyrus, as I recall) reminded me of a song from John Denver’s “Back Home Again” album. It’s called “Cool and Green and Shady.”

Saturdays, holidays, easy afternoon
Lazy days, summer days, nothing much to do
Rainy days are better days for hanging out inside
Rainy days and city ways make me want to hide
Someplace cool and green and shady

Find yourself a piece of grassy ground
Lay down, close your eyes
Find yourself and maybe lose yourself
While your free spirit flies

August skies, lullabies, promises to keep
Dandelions and twisting vines, Clover at your feet
Memories of Aspen leaves, trembling on the wind
Honeybees and fantasies
Where to start again
Someplace cool and green and shady

Cool and green and shady
Cool and green and shady
Cool and green and shady
Cool and green and shady

Words and music by John Denver and Joe Henry

Stinging scoundrels

Earlier this week I ventured out, camera in hand, with some trepidation—just to see if I could get a clandestine photo of the bat rastards (actually, just one stung me) that chased me into the house last week. I’m fairly confident they’re Eastern yellowjackets. I didn’t want to get too close to the nest (for fear they recognize my behind), so this is more “record shot” than art! (Oh, the things I do to entertain my visitors!)

Yes, I know they need to be removed from the garden if I’m ever to be able to work out there again. I can’t do it myself (for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is I don’t like killing anything—even if it did sting me), so Michael is taking up the task. Read the details of my attack in my posting here.

Here’s something alarming I read on Wikipedia:

Yellowjackets are social hunters living in colonies containing workers, queens, and males. Colonies are annual with only inseminated queens overwintering. Fertilized queens occur in protected places as hollow logs, in stumps, under bark, in leaf litter, in soil cavities, and human-made structures. Queens emerge during the warm days of late spring or early summer, select a nest site, and build a small paper nest in which eggs are laid. After eggs hatch from the 30 to 50 brood cells, the queen feeds the young larvae for about 18 to 20 days. Larvae pupate, emerging later as small, infertile females called workers. By mid-summer, the first adult workers emerge and assume the tasks of nest expansion, foraging for food, care of the queen and larvae, and colony defense.

(Here’s the really alarming part below)

From this time until her death in the autumn, the queen remains inside the nest laying eggs. The colony then expands rapidly reaching a maximum size of 4,000 and 5,000 workers and a nest of 10,000 and 15,000 cells in late summer. At peak size, reproductive cells are built with new males and queens produced. Adult reproductives remain in the nest fed by the workers. New queens build up fat reserves to overwinter. Adult reproductives leave the parent colony to mate. After mating, males quickly die while fertilized queens seek protected places to overwinter. Parent colony workers dwindle, usually leaving the nest and die, as does the foundress queen. Abandoned nests rapidly decompose and disintegrate during the winter but can persist as long as they are kept dry but are rarely used again.

Now I highly doubt that 4,000 workers could possibly fit in this small decorative birdhouse, but then again I was surprised that even the eight that I did see could fit. I’ve managed to water the garden in spurts over the past few days, but always with a wary eye to the left side of the garden. So far, no more keister bites! Flashback: the only other time I was stung by something was when I was about eight years old. My younger sister and I were playing house in the front yard. We were hanging sheets over the bushes outside our bedroom window, pretending to do laundry I suppose (we had strange ideas about what was considered fun when were kids, didn’t we?). I unknowingly tossed my sheet over a yellowjacket nest. Yes, yellowjackets. Déjá vu.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.   http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

I know what you can get me for my next birthday…

Yes, I am fully aware that $15,000 is pretty pricey for a bed frame, but if just 15,000 of my currently 82,733 blog visitors chipped in just $1 each, I could sleep in this bed every night! Imagine that. (I didn’t account for tax and shipping charges, though—this thing must weigh quite a bit. Does anyone have a large truck?)

Of course, it might bring on recurring nightmares about the snake-and-doomed-robin-chick episode of last week that I posted here. The scene atop the bed looks eerily familiar. You see, I have this visual penchant for trees, leaves, nests, feathers, birds and eggs. Oh, and sleep. That’s a good thing, too. So, this present would combine four of those faves of mine in one simple gift. And you don’t even have to wrap it! Oh, and I’ll provide the linens, so no need to fret about including those.

Then again, $15,000 would buy at least three of the pricier prime Nikon lenses that I don’t already have but certainly still lust after. (Which ones, you ask? Oh, say the 600mm f/4D IF-ED II, the 200-400mm VR f/4 AF-S, and maybe the 200mm Micro f/4D IF-ED, in case you were curious or just taking notes.)

Tree bed, Nikon lenses. Tree bed, Nikon lenses. Hmmmm. What do you think? Talk amongst yourselves. I’m sure I’ll love whatever you get me.

Take a look at artist Shawn Lovell’s other metal creations on her website here. Beautiful work!

DIY overcast sky

As promised, I have new photos for you!

Picture this: Today. Green Spring Gardens. High noon. Not the best time to photograph flowers, but ventured out anyway. And I brought my own overcast sky. I carried my trusty Interfit 5 in 1 collapsible reflector (translucent portion only) to block the mid-day sun and get more saturated color. Amazon sells the 32-inch version for just $38.99. And, of course, you can use it as a regular reflector once you zip on the double-sided covers that utilize four other colors—gold, silver, opaque white and black. I just noticed that there is an even larger one (43″) for just $29.95, made by Opteka. These handy little contraptions fold down to an easy-to-carry size, so I would recommend buying the larger one for almost ten bucks less. You can find that one here on Amazon. If you don’t already have one—run and get one! They are invaluable in and out of the studio and for virtually every subject, from portraits to plants to products. I especially like the 5-in-1 products. Just don’t lose the zip-on cover (I speak from experience)! And you’ll most likely need to use your tripod to use it. I set the camera up, focus on my subject, then hold the reflector over my head with my left hand to block the sun (doubles as protection from the sun on you, too!). This leaves my right hand free to focus and shoot. Yes, you’ll look silly, but you’ll also look like a pro and intimidate people passing by. You can purchase an arm-and-stand holder for these reflectors, but that means more equipment to carry—who needs that? If you can convince your significant other or a friend to hold the reflector in exchange for a free lunch, good on ya (again, I speak from experience)!

Today’s photo challenge: Can you spot the little bug playing peek-a-boo in “Kilroy was here” fashion in the Cleome flower—the first image? I didn’t notice him at the time I was shooting this image. He popped out at me when I opened the image in Photoshop. Here’s a clue: he has black and white striped antennae with an orange-ish colored head.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Check out my garden gallery here: http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Re-post: On color…

I promise I’ll have some new works posted by this weekend. Perhaps some new images of lotus blossoms from Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens? Or maybe something from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden? I’ve been going through my oldest archives and have found this collage I posted two years ago that makes me really, really happy when I view it. I also love the quote. Hope you don’t mind the reruns!

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.” — Georgia O’Keefe, American Painter, 1887-1986

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Check out my garden-photos-only portfolio at:

http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Blooming in my garden today…

My Star Gazer Lily
blooms
with colossal flowers of pink fire.
Its stamens lick the air
with pollen-covered tongues
of orange flames.
The trinity of blossoms lean heavy,
would topple and only ogle earth
with bright freckled eyes
if I had not propped them
against a colorful pot.
Heady fragrance fills the room,
demands attention.
A lower petal rests like a benediction
on the porcelain head
of an angel poised with a silent harp,
as if flower shakti could bring
the angel to life.
No shy, tiny violet
this plant blares its presence
in a trumpet of color,
declares its allegiance
to life with the vibrancy
of a Flamenco dancer,
castanets clacking,
red dress whirling,
feet stamping.
Its verve stirs me with purpose,
calls me to action
with the torch of love blazing,
a conflagration of pasión.

© 2006 Sher Lianne Christian

This beautiful poem was reprinted with permission by Sher Lianne Christian. Find more of Sher’s poetry and creative essays on her blog, www.lusciouspoetry.typepad.com/. Sher hosts the Third Sunday Poetry Reading and Open Mic at Coffee Catz in Sebastopol, CA, accompanied by her husband John on accordian and keyboard. She is the author of Star Kissed Shadows, Divining Poetry, available for purchase on her website. Click here to learn more about Sher, John, and their spoken-word CD, Sweet Tongue, Assorted Poems & Music, released in 2007.

Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

What’s on my nightstand now…

Some people like light reading to lull them to sleep. I sometimes opt for the techie photography books! Currently residing on my nightstand are two very informative books on the subject of closeup/macro photography—Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers, by Alan L. Detrick (published by Timber Press, Inc.) and Cyrill Harnischmacher’s Closeup Shooting: A Guide to Closeup, Tabletop, and Macro Photography (published by Rocky Nook, Inc.). The latter link allows you to download sample pages in pdf format.

Another of Harnischmacher’s books, Low Budget Shooting: Do It Yourself Solutions to Professional Photo Gear, is also on my nightstand at the moment. The author shows you how to create ingenious DIY projects with inexpensive supplies. What a great idea for a book! I read the reviews on Amazon and many readers wish the author had expanded on the how-to portion of the book with more details. Even so, if you want to replicate expensive studio accessories on a budget, the book is still worth purchasing. You can download sample pages in pdf format on the link provided.

As you might well assume, I own a plethora of photography books (who am I kidding—I own books on just about any subject you can toss at me—unless it involves math, that is). Alan Detrick’s Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers is one of my top favorites on that subject and I highly recommend it. Click on this link here to view 17 pages from this book.

Re-post: My favorite dragonfly photos

I photographed these two Blue Dasher dragonflies at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, this time last year. These were both photographed in natural light without fill flash. You’ll get your best shots (of almost any subject, but insects in particular) on an overcast day.

Check out Eric Isley’s article, Dragonfly Photography 101, for great tips on capturing these beautiful insects, as well as David Westover’s (very detailed!) article on How to Photograph Dragonflies with Flash.

Today I discovered 5 min Life Videopedia, which features short videos on all sorts of topics. Check out this informative one posted by Go Wild TV on photographing dragonflies (love the photographer’s accent, too!).

Click here for a list of 326 short photography how-to films on 5 min Life Videopedia.

_______________________________________________________________________________

I’m overdue for a field trip to Lewis Ginter (just about 1-1/2 hours away). I haven’t been there since April. Their Butterflies LIVE! exhibit is open (until October 11), so I’m sure that will be ripe with photographic subjects. Then again, I think the lotus blossoms are starting to do their thing at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (less than 30 minutes away). Decisions, decisions, decisions!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

See more of my photographs from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden below:

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/spring-blooms-at-lewis-ginter-botanical-garden/

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/glorious-day-at-lewis-ginter

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/how-can-something-this-beautiful/

Re-post: One of my favorite macros

Since I haven’t seen any praying mantis in my garden this season, I thought I’d go through my archives and look at past macros of this fascinating insect. I posted this photo much smaller in size and part of a collage in 2007 when I began this blog. To see the collage of various praying mantis in my garden, click here. This is one of my favorite shots because of the stark contrast of the bright green mantis against the purple potato vine.

I punched up the color a bit more true-to-life than the original posting, which upon revisiting I’ve noticed the color was a little flat. With improved Photoshop skills and the Pantone Color Huey calibrating my monitor, my color correction is more spot-on than. It’s a reasonably priced instrument (it’s now just $65.21—I got mine for about $80 at the time at Amazon here). I highly recommend it if you’re having problems with color from your monitor to print! My Costco prints are much closer to what I see on my monitor now. I’ve had great results with it and it’s very easy to use. It prompts you to recalibrate your monitor approximately every two weeks.

The Praying Mantis by Ogden Nash

From whence arrived the praying mantis?
From outer space, or lost Atlantis?
glimpse the grin, green metal mug
at masks the pseudo-saintly bug,
Orthopterous, also carnivorous,
And faintly whisper, Lord deliver us.

Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. http://cindydyer.zenfolio.com/p270076135

Partake as doth the Bee

Partake as doth the Bee,
Abstemiously.
The Rose is an Estate—
In Sicily.

—Emily Dickinson

Photo © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Truly a thing of beauty…

Go. Quickly. Check out this living work of art on Flora’s Blog. Wish I had a wall. Wish I was in a gardening zone that would be conducive to growing this.

UPDATE: Wish I hadn’t gone out to weed my garden just now. I glanced over at the birdhouse that I’ve been “allowing” some unidentified bee/insect to inhabit (nature lover that I am, I’m regretting that decision at this very moment). I watched as one adult, then another, then another (7 total) flew in to join the first one. I kept my distance, fascinated yet alarmed at the nest they were finalizing inside the entrance. Just as I was finishing up, minding my own business, I apparently stepped straight into the flight path of one of their relatives. I didn’t see him, but I realized something bumped me as I walked by. Just a few seconds later I felt a sharp sting in my posterior! Then my attacker called for reinforcements and I was chased (screaming like a little girl) into the house. One followed me just inside the door (with two others in hot pursuit). I let out a series of short guttural moans—unnhhhhh unnhhhhh unnhhhhh unnhhhhh. My two cats (who were happily basking in the afternoon light by the patio doors) ran off in all directions, ears back and eyes as big as saucers. I grabbed some envelopes and swatted them out (the hornets, not the cats). Sure hope I got them (the hornets, not the cats). Now I’m indoors (with a sore hiney) looking at six large plastic envelopes strewn over the patio. Hornets 1, Cindy 0.

This link here shows what my attacker looks like (or pretty close—I’m afraid to go back out to confirm identification for fear they’ll recognize me!) They’re going to have to GO.

Lacecap Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla normalis — Lacecap Hydrangea photographed at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia

Click here for an excellent site on various hydrangea varieties and tips on planting, fertilizing, pruning, propagating and drying.

THIS JUST IN: I just checked out my blogging buddy Phillip’s blog, Dirt Therapy, and he has posted an amazing variety of hydrangeas growing in his garden in Florence, Alabama. Go check them out!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bright Eyes Phlox

Aptly named Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’ — photographed at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

In bloom at Green Spring Gardens

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Check out my first paid blogging assignment!

A few weeks ago I wrote an article titled, “Got the Blues?” for Bloomin’ Blog, an online florist’s newsletter. All the photos, excluding the poppy image, are mine as well. The link to my newsletter contribution is below:

http://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/got-the-blues

Special thanks to Jamie, editor and webmaster of the Bloomin’ Blog, for contacting me and being such a pleasure to work with. The site, www.flowershopnetwork.com is an oline florists directory that produces the newsletter. I’m planning on submitting articles on event photography for their sister company, Wedding and Party Network.

Requiem for a baby robin

Not too long ago, a mama robin fashioned a beautiful nest at the top of the gazebo outside my office door. From my chair in front of the computer I could watch her come and go. I wasn’t sure if she was sitting on unhatched eggs or already mothering a hatched baby. Early this morning, after she left for her morning food gathering mission (I assume), I tapped on the gazebo and heard some faint chirping. I pulled out the ladder and climbed up to get a peek (camera in hand, of course). The gazebo has a grapevine growing over it and the area she had built the nest is well hidden by branches and leaves. We also put up one of those light nets that you put over bushes at Christmas so we could have mood lighting during parties. I wasn’t able to get up high enough to look down on the nest, so I just slipped my lens through the net, put the camera over my head, pointed it in the general direction, and snapped away. I got this not-that-great photo of her solitary sweet baby this morning.

About an hour ago, while we were watching a movie, Michael heard a bird chirping loudly and since birds don’t normally make much noise at night, we knew something was dreadfully wrong. Had the baby fallen out of the nest? Had Indie, a neighborhood cat, come into the yard and seen the baby? We ran downstairs, turned on the porch light and watched the mama bird hopping from branch to branch under the gazebo, chirping away. As soon as we opened the door, mama flew to the fence. We looked on the ground; no fallen baby. I looked up—and gasped—was that the curvy outline of a SNAKE? Yes, it was. I hollered to Michael. He went to grab a flashlight and grabbed the (black) snake by the head and pulled it out of the nest, banishing it (unharmed) to the woods nearby. Had we known the baby was already gone, I would have taken the dead bird and the snake out to the woods. I’m not a big fan of snakes, but I would never kill one (unless it was attacking me, that is) and I always discourage my snake-fearing friends from doing just that when they encounter one. I respect them but really…go feast on something else…and not in my yard!

I climbed the ladder to see if the baby was still alive. It was too late. I pulled its still warm but lifeless body out of the nest and started crying. Michael came back and we gave the baby bird a proper burial in the garden. Just 12 hours ago I was photographing an almost-ready-to-leave-the-nest baby and now we were burying it in our garden. I realize snakes need to survive, too, but it’s just such a sad thing to witness so soon after photographing it. Of course, when you build a paradise in your backyard, you’re bound to attract all sorts of wildlife, including the predators. I wish I had a better photograph to honor this sweet baby who lived such a short life. A short life, long remembered.

Speaking of snakes…a few years ago Michael was driving home through our neighborhood and noticed a U.S. postal truck that had stopped in the middle of the road. There was a group of kids on a nearby curb watching our postman beating the crap out of a harmless black snake! Michael gave him a lecture about black snakes and promptly rescued it, taking it to the woods to release it (although I’m sure it didn’t survive the postman’s wrath). The snake was simply slithering into the woods (as snakes are inclined to do) and the postman turned into animal control. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Michael came home from work, then walked across the parking lot to get the mail from the communal post box. The mailman came running over, shouting “do you have a shovel?!” Michael asked him, “what in the world do you need a shovel for?” He said, “there’s a snake over there and I ran over him a couple of times with the truck but he’s still not dead!” Michael walked over and looked at the snake. Once again, it was a harmless black snake. And guess what? It was the same damn postman, too. When Michael came back in to the house, he told me what had transpired. He was mad, which in turn made me mad. I called the local post office to register a complaint. The man who answered said he would be the one to report to, so I told him both stories. I gave him our address so he was able to pinpoint exactly which mailman I reporting. He said, “that is so not his responsibility nor his job. Plus, doesn’t he know that snakes keep the rat population down?” He apologized for the man’s behavior and said he would speak to him about the incidents.

Obviously Michael is the calm one in this relationship. It’s a good thing I didn’t encounter the postman either time!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Aw, I want one!

After the Hearing Loss Association of America Convention was over (click here for details), we headed toward Huntsville to visit our friend Sue. We wanted to show my sister the nearby towns of Franklin and Leipers Fork en route and we just had to stop to photograph this adorable baby donkey. He (she?) came right up to us to get some attention. I shot the image of Michael petting it to show you how small this little guy was.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

A few more butterflies

…from the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

While in Key West, we visited the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory before we met up with the Muchemore family for the big event—Chantell and Austin’s wedding. If you want to see the wedding photos I shot, click any of the links below:

Weekend in Key West!

Much more of the Muchemores

Muchemore redux

Chantell and Austin on the pier

Yes, another wedding photo…

This conservatory is definitely one of our favorites now! As you walk around the winding pathway through the conservatory, you’ll hear classical music playing. Not only are there 60+ species of butterflies, they also have an array of exotic birds, tropical plants and a koi pond. Ever notice that most butterfly conservatories are hot and humid? That’s the case here, except for the strategically placed cool air tubes throughout the conservatory—these are to help cool the air for the birds. We humans appreciated that touch on a hot Florida day, too! There’s also a Learning Center and a wonderful gift shop. Founders Sam Trophia and George Fernandez established the Conservatory and the Trophia Butterfly Foundation in January 2003. Read more about Sam Trophia in this article on www.SunSentinel.com.

I photographed a plethora of butterflies at the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland last year. If you fancy butterflies, click here and here to see those photos. I often find butterfly subjects to photograph in our garden—check out the Monarchs I photographed last fall here. Last year I designed a Monarch Butterfly Habitat poster for my friend Mary Ellen Ryall of Happy Tonics in Shell Lake, Wisconsin.

I have no idea what kind of butterfly this is below, but it’s a beauty, isn’t it? I made a half-hearted attempt to identify it for you but it’s late and I need some shut-eye (it may surprise some of you, but yes, I do sometimes sleep).

As my father often writes on his blog www.thekingoftexas.wordpress.com, “I’ll get back to you later with more details.”

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Amazing tree in downtown Key West

I’m fairly certain that a Ficus aurea, or strangler fig, has taken over this tree (or group of trees) in downtown Key West. I did some research online and learned that they are common throughout the Caribbean and tropical Americas. You’ll find excellent and very detailed information about strangler figs with illustrative photos on this site: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct99.htm

In the first photo, Michael serves as my scale reference. Doesn’t the second photo look like a scene out of a Harry Potter movie? If I have misidentified this unusual tree, enlighten me!

THIS JUST IN…Artist Val Webb posted this comment:

“It has been many years since I visited Key West, but I seem to recall that the tree in question is a banyan tree. There is a large one on the Thomas Edison property there.”

I looked up “banyan tree” and learned that a banyan is a fig tree that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree. The seeds germinate and send down roots toward the ground, and may envelope part of the host tree…giving them the name of “strangler fig.” So apparently banyan is another name for it. Thanks for the input, Val!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

AHS 2009 Great American Gardeners Awards

Last Thursday night I photographed the American Horticultural Society’s 2009 Great American Gardeners Awards dinner, hosted by AHS at their River Farm headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. For some strange reason, I couldn’t get the layout and photos to copy intact to this blog, so I’m giving you a link below to the main blog instead.

I was particularly excited to meet Amy Goldman, author of The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World’s Most Beautiful Fruit, as well as two other beautiful books. The Heirloom Tomato won a book award this year.

Check out the photos and write-up on the award winners on my main blog:

http://cindydyer.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/ahs-great-american-gardener-awards/

Contest reminder…just 24 more days!

Previously posted on May 22

Wanna help me pare down my notecard inventory?
I would love to hear from fellow gardeners who have the same modus operandi as I have when it comes to squeezing in just one more plant…or tell your tale about an incorrectly labeled plant, your greatest plant bargain ever, how you handled an overload of tomatoes (or squash, etc.), or when you realized you were a “gardener obsessed.” Perhaps you have had a humorous (or not so) encounter with a garden critter or a run-in with poison ivy or a hike that recharged your batteries. Tell me about your favorite garden or nature experience. Tell me what your garden means to you. Did gardening change your life, improve your health, wreck a relationship, forge a friendship, clean out your wallet or save your sanity?

Vanna, show them what they could win…
The top five winning contributors will be published on this blog and will also receive a free package of my Polaroid transfer notecards (4-color images printed on cream speckled card stock with contrasting seafoam blue green speckled envelopes—all on recycled paper—and each card is signed). There are 12 different images (see collage below): carousel horse, Canadian maple leaf, sunrise at Cape May, Monument Valley, red rose, tulips, Cape May seagulls, Saguaro cactus, kids on the beach, cactus blooms, Camilla’s lace dress and Canyon de Chelly.

Odds of winning are infinitely better than the lottery! You may submit up to five stories and there is no cap on the length (although any entries venturing close to War and Peace heft will be severely edited for publication). Entries will be judged by a panel of my fellow gardeners and authors (all of whom will be compensated—in the form of notecards). Entries will be judged on creativeness, resourcefulness, originality, and empathy/sympathy/laugh/tear-jerk factor. You retain all rights to the stories (and photographs, if included) you submit.

Please e-mail entries to me at dyerdesign@aol.com. Be sure to put “Notecard Contest” in your subject line and include your name and mailing address in the e-mail. Deadline: June 30, 2009

Read more about the Polaroid transfer process and my notecard venture on a previous posting here.

Cards are also available for purchase (in packages of 6, 12, or singles). Inquire within!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

What 20 bucks will get ya in Key West

(Delicious bruschetta not included) While eating dinner at Caroline’s on Duval Street on Saturday night, we watched a cockatoo dancing in time to reggae music on a nearby bench. The bird is on exhibit at Jungle Greg’s Rescued Animals booth in downtown Key West. A sign lists prices at $10 for each animal for photographs. He also had various birds and two large snakes on display. So Jungle Greg must have been feeling pretty good that night because he attached four birds to Michael for just $20 so I could get this shot. Whatta deal! The money goes to his rescue projects (at least that’s what the sign purports; the animals on display aren’t rescues). I did observe that the animals were far more lively and conversational than the proprietors. But $20 isn’t too bad considering he usually charges $30 (plus tax) to shoot a photo for you and that gets you one 4×6. As we were leaving, two twenty-somethings came up and said, “we’re scared to death of birds, but can we get a photo of the python wrapped around our necks?”

Coming soon: See how fast you can part with $35 in 15 minutes in the tropics!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Cloudspotting: spinal column

Key West sky photographed Tuesday, June 2, during a dolphin-watching tour

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.