Wildlife photography

As a little girl, I was never squeamish around bugs. I rather liked them, actually. Potato bugs, though, were one of the banes of our existence, and the half-acre of potatoes my mother regularly planted were at risk, always, from these varmints. Our parents would pay us 1/2 a penny per bug, during peak season. 

 Perhaps because I had a hand in killing thousands of his brethren, this little feller showed up on my windshield one day last week. Instead of gathering him into a tobacco can with 1/2 an inch of gasoline, as was our wont, I just took his picture, and then drove him away from our yard, where he blew off somewhere near the fire station up the street. He's kind of pretty, though, when he's not decimating our winter's food source.

 In not really related news, this little inchworm found her way unto my shirt this afternoon. I know that inchworms can cause massive devastation to plants and trees, but I have no charming childhood story of massacre for this one. I just thought the baby inchworm was cute.

I took her outside for better light, got some extreme close ups of my thumb, and set her free. I hope she's not in cahoots with the potato bug family. I'll be so disappointed.

Leftover snapshots

Sometimes I take photos and I mean for them to end up in a particular post, but they just don't. And then sometimes I go back and notice these photos and think, huh, that was kinda pretty.

And then sometimes I think of that old Sesame Street segment, "One of these things is not like the other." And I get all sappy and nostalgic.

And then I share it with you.

Languishing's Guide to Flower Photos of which to be Proud

Everyone's always saying to me, "Jen, your flower photos inspire me to take more pictures! And try more new and unusual foods! And donate more plasma!" (Okay, no one has actually said any of those things. Except in my head). And they also say "How do you do it? How do you make it look so easy?" So this post is a loving answer to the voices in my head. If you're not one of the voices, and/or don't care about taking kick-ass flower photos, feel free to stop reading right now.

Pre-tip #A: These tips don't just apply to flowers, but to many, many photography subjects. And also, I don't have any idea what I'm doing, so you should probably ignore me a find a real photographer's blog to learn anything worthwhile.

Tip #1: Take lots, and lots, and lots of pictures. Just keep clicking. Once you know your digital camera well enough to take a non-blurry photo about 75% of the time, you can just go to town. Take several shots of each subject, and consider trying photographs at different times during the day. High noon can be lovely, but so can eight in the evening. And morning sunshine in May is a whole nother thing than you recall, I bet. I will often take 100 pictures in an average day, and cut down to 60 just by reviewing in the camera (though if there's any doubt, wait and look at them on a larger screen!). Then I often end up with around 30 or 40 after viewng them on the laptop. If I'm recording an event, like a birthday party, I often don't cut that many, because I want to make sure I have some photos of everyone. But with flowers? You get one or two great shots of a flower, you're probably good. If you want more, go ahead. I won't mutter about your obsessive tendencies behind your back. Much.
Anyhoo, my point is, you can always delete the ones that don't work, but if you took only 6 photos and none of them are fantastic, well, you're pretty much screwed.  The joy of digital is deleting the stupid pictures.

Tip #2: Try different angles! This is true of all subjects. Many people just take photos from wherever their point of view is: this gives us nearly aerial views of kids and dogs and anything shorter than the photographer. And upsettingly nasal views of Uncle Roger, if the photographer is shorter than him.

 At the very least, get down to eye-level, and pretend you're a garden gnome. Remember those cheesy elementary school tulip drawings you used to do? With the petals and the v between them, and then when you got fancy you drew another petal between the v? Well, you were right. That's pretty much how a tulip looks from the side.

 From the top, though, up close (use that handy macro setting on your camera. It even shows a picture of a tulip to indicate the macro! This means you!), this looks like a whole new flower. The purpley-red goodness really shows here, and the lovely symmetry.

Same damn tulip, shot from below. I love shots from below. Yes, you have to get down on the ground. Sometimes you get twigs in your hair, or ants. Pay attention so you don't get anything worse than that. This is a bit dark (these photos in this post are all unretouched, save for occassional cropping), because this tulip is in the shade, but I love how totally transformed the same flower is, just by changing my perspective.

Tip #3: Fill your frame!  If you're taking a photo of a tulip, make sure the tulip is CLEARLY the subject. If you take a photo of a tulip and twelve dandelions, you can't expect your viewers to know what you're getting at.  When photographing flowers, I like to get as close as my camera will let me without getting blurry, which is pretty close.

 Yes, you can see ferns and undergrowth behind the red tulip, but any closer and I would've been all Georgia O'Keefey. Which I'm totally for, by the way. But today I just wanted that classic yellow and black framed by red and green.

 One of the peony tulips, above, spreading fast. It will probably be gone by tomorrow.

I found the center of this peony tulip the most interesting part, so I got all up in its business. This is not as effective with people, as some of them might not like that. But flowers don't seem to mind atall.

Tip #4: Don't be afraid to crop! Since you've filled your frame, you have even more to work with. You can save the original as a separate file, if you're nervous like that, but especially if you have one of those newer type digital cameras, you've got enough megapixels for major croppage.

Even if you'd never seen a purple-black tulip in person, this photo lets you see the very texture of the petals! I'm impressed with myself, even. (This is a crop of the first photo in the post, under Tip #2)

 And you don't always have to crop to make things centered or to remove that glimpse of your camera strap. You can crop for effect, to show the fabulous pink stripes, above,

or to illustrate the feather-like translucency of flower petals. This was shot from below, on macro, and cropped down. Plus, I turned this one on its side, because I like that it's framed by mostly sky and a little tree, and looks like it just poked in from the right.

Be adventurous in your cropping. Maybe you wanted a photo of a tulip, but it turns out the sky is way prettier. Crop that pesky tulip out! Or leave in just a little. Or whatever. Cropping is fun for young and old!

Tip #5: Mind the riff-raff. We've all had great photos ruined by some weird Anderson kid who pops up in the background at the last minute and you don't realize it until you get your film developed. But he's not the riff-raff I'm talking about here. I mean the stuff in the background we tend to ignore: the neighbor's can collection, the wires in the backyard, the peeling paint on the northeast corner of the house. They may be ignorable in real life, but in photos, they are less so. Case in point:

Did I know those wires were there? Sure. Do I want them in my photo? Nope. The thing is, when I shoot from below, I sometimes do it blind (so as not to get ants and twigs in my hair) and just take a bunch and check them later. Had I just shot from the other side of these tulips, those wires would never have been in the background. But I didn't, and I was lazy, and now I have this lovely, translucent tulip shot full of ugly wires in the background. That'll teach me. (Well, not really. But maybe it'll teach you).

There you have it, folks. Languishing's first 5 tips to Flower Photos of which to be Proud.  "First five?" the voices are asking Yes, voices, there are more. You'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

Peony Tulips

I don't know when or where, or even why, but sometime in the last few years I ordered some peony tulips, and despite my utmost negligence, several of them have flourished. Every year I'm surprised to see them, and I like them so much.

These do last quite a bit longer than regular tulips, and open a little later. They'll be here almost until the actual peonies bloom.

I love this photo, above: so purely white.  (The tree in the background is a volunteer that I'm trying to decide if we should keep or not. It's only about seven feet from the house, but it's not under any wires. Unfortunately, it's in the middle of limited garden space. I just have a hard time cutting down things with such tenacity).

Meanwhile, back to the tulips: the bits of green on the outside petals are my favorite part!

New garden

We got a new, raised-bed garden today. V helped fill it with a variety of types of dirt, and talked excitedly about what we would plant. "I like squash!" I don't know who taught her that; it wasn't us, but we'll be planting squash. Obviously.

"It's like we're farmers" she said.

 While I moved on to photographing fancy tulips*, V kept working the soil. Myra's gonna be so proud.

 And if you've gotta work the soil, you might as well wear cute shoes**. Right?

Like we're farmers, indeed.


*Upcoming post: stay tuned.
**Born maryjanes, from two or three years ago.

Quotes about Spring

Because the only words I can think of right now are swears.

"In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather

 inside of four and twenty hours." ~Mark Twain

"May is a pious fraud of the almanac." ~James R. Lowell

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems"~Rainer Maria Rilke

Welcome spring!

Oh, seasonally appropriate weather. We are so glad you've finally arrived.

Springiness

This winter, I bought a bag of silver forks at Savers. They'd been drilled through the handles, and two of the seven were attached to this heavy silver ring. Today, V and I attached the rest, fashioned a wire hanger, and put it up in the backyard, hanging off the clothesline. It sounds really lovely, though the wind has to blow pretty hard to move them. And I like being the kind of family that has seven forks hanging in our backyard.

In the front yard, despite our profound negligence, the tulips are still coming. I am deeply grateful for such persistence.

The slugs and other crawly things were enjoying the fruits of our lack of labor.

And V enjoyed the slugs and crawly things.

I think these are daffodils. This time of year, I'm so pleased with my past self for taking the time to plant flowers. Because I need inspiration something fierce this time of year.

I hope spring is coming to your neighborhood, too! 

List #15: The Great Outdoors

As winter insists on continuing, and I'm running out of survival skills/patience, I'm going to let myself think about spring, dammit. Several of my friends have already started seedlings (or so they proclaim on Facebook: I never actually SEE my friends, of course), and I should get on that, though it's a bit early, I think. The last time I planted seedlings was 3 years ago, and as I recall none of my plants lived to see June, though several friends got productive tomatoes from that batch, I think. For list #15, I present a two-part list.  If the first one bores you, just skip to the second.

15A: Things I should plant.
Martha Stewart says I should only plant the fruits and vegetables I love to eat, and god knows Martha Stewart is smarter than I am.

1. Corn: I don't like corn in any other form than on the cob, with a little butter and a little salt. I could eat corn on the cob every. single. day. when it's good. Oh, mercy.

2. Green beans: I really love canned green beans (shut up. I have rights), but I also remember how green beans seemed miraculous to me as a kid. The soft, fuzzy crispness that is a homegrown green bean is something I want my child to know. Plus you can make them grow in a teepee. Awesome.

3. Pumpkins. Seriously. I know you can buy them fairly cheaply around Halloween, but there's just nothing like carving a jack-o-lantern from a gourd you saw from a blossom. And I'm more than a little freaked out by giant milk-fed pumpkins, but I think it's neat that it can be done. By other people.

4. Carrots: I don't really have room for carrots in my backyard garden (which is, actually, full of lilies, and so I plant my vegetables in containers), but like green beans, my childhood summer memories are full of carrots.

5. Eggplant: I've only eaten eggplant once, and I didn't really like it, but I love that something grows in that color.

As evidenced by #5, I'm mostly out of things to grow, per Martha's orders. I mean, I like tomatoes, every now and then, sliced thick with a healthy layer of sugar. It's how my grandfather ate them. But that one's just obvious, and I'm ready for the next list. Now.

15B: Things I really want to do this summer even though I probably won't because it's the story of my life.

1. Get ourselves to Duluth. Shaun's sister and her family have lived there over a year now, and it's just over 4 hours for us to drive there. We are not good people, so we haven't been to see their new house or anything yet.  But we will, before too long, and V will get to see the Greatest of the Great Lakes.

2. Build V a  playhouse or treehouse or some sort of thing. Perhaps I could combine list 15A #3 and dry a giant pumpkin and turn it into a house. Of course, these options (minus the pumpkin) are ridiculously expensive. Right now, I'm obsessing over this dinosaur head, and the idea that it can be on the ground, or in a tree, or part of a larger structure. Plus, it's cheap!

3. Visit Graceland and/or New Orleans (perhaps with V and maybe Shaun if he wants to go which he likely won't because that's his way). For some reason I feel a hankering for travelling down south lately. I've never been to Graceland, which is a sin, and I want to see even more of New Orleans.

4. Go camping with V again. Okay, this one can probably happen. It's so much easier to go when I have real camping friends who know how to start good fires and how long to grill a hotdog. And who pack extra food for when my five year old who eats like a teenager needs a second or third breakfast.

Ah. I feel better already. Now I'll just remove my slanket, tuck V into bed, and dream of warmer days.

How do you get through the February slump, gentle readers? And will you help me build a playhouse in a few months? Do tell.

List #9: Hobbies o' Mine

Nothing too profound this snowy Saturday: just a list of some of my many hobbies. I'd love to hear your favorite hobbies, too, though I certainly don't need anymore of my own.

1. Jewelry making: I especially love making earrings, because they don't take long and they can be so lovely. This summer we made stretchy bracelets for my aunts and cousins, using stretchy bead thread. If you take your time with the knots, you'll be happier with the result. Cute, fast, and easy, just like me! (um...nevermind)

2. Quilting. You've read Languishing's award-winning Quilts of our Lives series, and I do love to quilt. It's hard for me to get inspired without a scheduled retreat or weekend set aside, because they are labor and logic intensive, and I don't have a lot of either to spare. But when I'm quilting, I'm a happy girl.

3. I make books. I can do more elaborate, formal bindings than those in the picture, and am particular fond of Japanese stab bindings (it sounds so violent! But it's not). They make lovely scrapbooks and guestbooks and journals. I taught a group of 5th and 6th graders to do that form several years ago, and discovered working with kids that age is remarkably similar to college age students, but with less swearing.

4. Crochet. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was about 10, but I lacked any semblance of patience, and it ended when I snapped my plastic knitting needles in half in frustration (Sorry, Beulah!). When I was in high school, my mother learned to crochet, and my sister and I followed suit. Mostly I make dishcloths & scarves, now: a girl only needs so many afghans, and the carpal tunnel keeps me from projects of that size. I like crocheting because, after this much practice, I can do it in the dark of a movie theater or while we're watching something at home, and not feel like I'm being indulgent quite so much.  Idle hands do the devil's work, you know.

5. House plants. I have almost totally failed at this hobby, and I have a dozen dead plants in my house to prove it. But I also have a few (5 or 6, maybe?) that persist in living, and I adore the idea of healthy, happy houseplants. I just don't remember to water them regularly enough.

6. Collage: This is how many of my students spell "college." At any rate, I like to cut things up and paste things back together (which is a lot like quilting, now that I think of it). I use collage to make little trading-size cards, alter books, and jazz up my syllabus. Decoupage is my friend.

7. Card-making: Connected to #3 and #6, this was a natural outcropping. My mom and aunt and friend have a ridiculous collection of supplies, and when I can get there to play, it's a breeze to make cards. Lately, though, I've been sending Mary a card a day, which really ups the ante: I'm trying to keep things interesting but don't have access to the supply mecca. It's been fun, actually.

8, Facebook: Oh, facebook, you evil temptress. I came to this party late, but I find myself checking it time and again throughout the day, almost automatically, like looking at the clock. When I'm bored, I get irritated, and want it to entertain me. Gak.

9. Dexter: We don't have Showtime, but we recently discovered how to run Netflix through our XBox 360, so we can livestream all sorts of things, provided our somewhat pathetic internet cooperates (which, by the way, do any of you, gentle readers, have internet through DirecTV? Any thoughts?). We'd heard about this show, and just finished season 1. I love it: it's like CSI meets Criminal Minds meets the Sopranos. What's not to like about that?

These are some of the things (besides blogging) that I do in my spare time, or in my avoid-doing-what-I-ought-to-be-doing-time, like cleaning and/or grading. What's your favorite distraction?

Underappreciated; or, my second post on dandelions this month.

I know they're weeds. I know they spread like crazy and all my neighbors have way fewer of these in their yards than we do. But maybe it's because they're weeds that they're so awesome. What other flower do school children get to pick without ever being scolded? And make up games about? (We had one involving the almighty dandelion predicting whether or not you liked butter. Because that cosmic puzzle is one that we just can't solve without assistance). And make crowns and mama bouquets and wish upon?

I just think these are mighty pretty. That's all I'm trying to say.

Random bits

We had a kick-ass bird on our street a few days ago, chillin' on the powerlines.

Here, let me zoom in....The tulips, of course, have bloomed.And so have these lovely things, which look to me a little like a cross between a tulip and a daffodil. Taffodil? Dulip? Taffo-ulip?And V and I are still the same.

There are more posts a'brewing. It's the end of the semester, so forgive my absence. I look forward to being back in the land of languish.

Gardening Mama

I want a rich, overgrown garden that looks like it's been there for a hundred years and grows effortlessly, beautifully, on its own, with vines and willow trees mixed in among corn and sunflowers and exotic lilies and wild roses.

When I win the lottery, that's one of the first things I'll do after I buy my gorgeous huge old house that's totally updated in wiring and plumbing and insulation but still has the original hardwood floors and stained glass windows: fill up a securely fenced in, expansive backyard with loads of easy to care for, self weeding plants. Oh, sorry. I digress. Sometimes I get distracted by my retirement plan. In between now and then, I'm working on our (extra shady) backyard and overly-landscaped-by-the-previous-owners-frontyard. In fact, my mama came by the other day with some hostas she'd divided from her own garden, and we put V to work with her first in-ground planting project. She helped divide the plants, choose where they would go, dig the holes, fill them in, and water. She also got dirt in her hair and my hair, and hosed off my otherwise dry sneakers and her own underpants. She is her mother's daughter, her grandmother's granddaughter, and one of my favorite gardening accomplices. I hope she appreciates stained glass as much as I do.