Fall

I have been loving the plants I find on my walks this fall.  When I saw the seed head above I literally had to stop in my tracks and just take it in for a while.  If anyone knows what it is please leave a comment to let me know.  I would love to plant this in my yard!

This fall has been interesting for me in that I have had a cell phone with a camera for the first time.  Originally I thought I would only use the photos from the phone for reference for art projects and continue using my Canon slr for blog photos.  My main concern with the cell phone photos was that they have a harshness of clarity to them.  It's like they have been sharpened and had the saturation turned up (see the third image down of teasel).  But the ease of carrying such a small camera won me over and I have been surprised by how much I enjoy taking photos with the phone. So I have been trying to balance using both cameras and this blog entry has a mix of the two.

When I got the phone, however, I was super annoyed when the phone started "doing" things to my photos that I didn't ask it to do...like "auto-awesoming" all my photos! WTH? I am not normally a fan of applying pre-made filters to my photos. Not that I am against filters... more that I am a control freak and I like to meticulously edit them myself. But I have to admit, every so often I liked a random one here and there. Above is an example of one I liked of George birding in Caldwell Nature Preserve.

See how the above photo is a bit over-the-top and the photo below is more natural?  I know it isn't really a fair comparison because the lighting and subjects were different, but I tend to like a softer image as opposed to a hyper-realistic image where the colors are pushed to their limits.  Perhaps in the future I will do a direct comparison of the same subjects with both cameras.

As I try and navigate new technology one thing always stays the same...my love of getting close to my subjects.  Of really stopping and taking the time to look and see them...  to know them.  Take a look at the seed head below!  I love the way the layers have dried and folded up to let go of their precious cargo.  I wanted to end this post with a quote and I liked the first one I found.

"Love’s secret is always lifting its head out from under the covers, “Here I am!” - Rumi