Ruby Tuesday! August 11, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Ruby Tuesday!.7 comments
Sometimes when I go out shooting for red, I can’t hit the side of a barn.
Then again, sometimes I can:
At the eastern foot of Catamount hill.
Thanks to Mary over at Work of the Poet for this simple meme!
Hazy Days, Hazy Nights. August 9, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: gratuitous Brittish spellings, haze, moon, rain, river, total bullshit
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This past week was warm and humid, the air thich and rich like something good for your skin. It rained frequently, but seldom torrentially, rather enshrouding the landscape in mists and fog and allowing glimpses of the Summer We Weren’t Having through miserly thinnings of the clouds.
Here are a couple of those glimpses.
The Deerfield after a late day rain, just north of the Vermont line:
This photo was a willing volunteer (well, I never exactly asked it, but we’ll assume) for my ongoing experiments in Implied Colour*.
This next one was taken that very evening, of the Sturgeon Moon through Sky Soup:
Despite the atmosphericly-imposed lack of detail in the shrouded moon, there’s something in this photo which takes me out into the night. I think it’s the way my eyes adjust to the light levels, the way the skyline reveals itself over time.
These two photos were both fun to capture and fun to play with afterward, something previously said only about bunnies and frogs.
* The “Implied Colour” idea sounds enough like bullshit that I thought I might lend it a bit of credulity with a Gratuitous Brittish Spelling.**
**But the “Gratuitous Brittish Spelling” idea sounds like bullshit, too. Bummer.
A Sturgeon Moon. August 5, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: full moon, moon, sturgeon
5 comments
You may or may not know that each and every full moon has a name.
I find it odd that, at 55, I’m only familiar with October’s “Harvest Moon.” WTF, didn’t my elementary school hire Wickens??
Anyway, August’s full moon is known to us Americans as the “sturgeon moon.”
That has to be one of the most romantic things I’ve ever said here at LBT.
So without further ado, but with apologies for the lack of clarity induced by an impossibly thick atmosphere, here’s this year’s candidate for “Sturgeon Moon:”
This one was caught cresting a hill in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and may be as good as it gets ’till the drier airs of autumn.
The Deerfield At Shelburne Falls. August 4, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Love and Death.7 comments
Our local river is rippin’ these days:
It’s loud and fast and deep and dangerous:
It’s beautiful to look at, but from a safe distance:
An eighteen year old girl died here this past weekend, and has yet to be found:
She was tubing with friends.
Ruby Tuesday! August 4, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Ruby Tuesday!.Tags: Bridge of Flowers, dahlias, lillies
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Yeah, I know – it’s kinda late to be posting this. But I needed to shoot the full moon, then I had company…
Anyway, here are a few semi-rubiate shots from the Bridge of Flowers in nearby Shelburne Falls:
A Dahlia there, and here, a lily mix:
These I don’t know the name of :
…Anybody??
They have interesting blossoms:
…and don’t look at all native to this area, nor are they in any of my field guides.
At any rate, sorry to be so late to the party, and thanks to Mary over at Work of the Poet for this fun Tuesday meme!
Still Rainin’, Still Dreamin’. August 2, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: chickley river, rain
2 comments
This is most unusual.
I don’t recall ever having a summer like this, where it doesn’t get hot and it never stops raining. I can count the sunny days thus far on one hand.
But still, it’s visually interesting, with the brief periods between rains being shrouded in fog as the water wends its way skyward:
That’s the Chickley river between showers.
Right near there a field of sunflowers danced in the rain while wishing for a bit more heat:
…and minutes later, the rain stopped and the fog lifted from the fields:
Yes, it’s an unusual summer, but not an ugly one. At this point I feel like a quitter, setting my sights on autumn rather than delving deeply into the present. But I’ve taken a butt-load of foggy landscape shots this year, and I’m ready to move on.
Chickory. August 1, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: chickory
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Although I gravitate to the little things in nature, I’m an easy mark for the bigger things which exhibit some less common trait. To my eye, Chickory fits that bill – although it grown chest high in this area, its individual blossoms are spectacular in their simplicity:
There’s a purity of form to this flower, a simplicity of line and clarity of color which captivates me every summer.
Here’s a crop which illustrates what I mean:
There’s something about this flower’s structure which evokes urbanity. Perhaps it’s the echo of flourescent “black light” tubes from my wilder past; perhaps it’s the rectilinearity of its stamens, exploding radially with a conviction seldom found in us “higher forms.” Perhaps it’s its color, pure to the eye but not easily described.
These were abuzz with life, sating the thirst for nectar of all manner of flying things. Honey bees abounded, but they moved on so quickly that I couldn’t get a shot of one. The little flies, however, lingered longer, and my big brother, God bless him, enticed one to sit on his knuckle while I immortalized it on e-celluloid:
This little bugger’s well dusted with chickory pollen. Thank you, little fly, for doing your part to keep the world turning.
Little Bang Theory 