I spent a few rewarding hours in my local botanical garden the other day. Famous for rain, Seattle was clear and sunny; the angled October light cast deep shadows on the brilliant stained glass colors of fall.
The back of this Dahlia was as joyfully pretty as the front.
A mushroom – looks like an Amanita – hid behind a fern frond.
We’ve had a lot of sun, but as always we are VERY mushroom-y here in the Pacific northwest!
The season’s last roses are so sweet – this one is a climber with a fruity scent and perfectly round blooms, some of which dropped prematurely onto the ground below, scattering lovely pastel petals.
Oh, the complexity of fall color!
Grasses go to seed in shimmering drifts.
Hydrangeas were beginning to brown. With the color removed from the petals, the structure is revealed beautifully.
In contrast to the orderly structure of a Hydrangea petal, these leaves displayed a marvelous anarchy of form.
And this one had been caught mid way between limb and earth.
Another leaf burnished by autumn’s chiaroscuro light.
But it’s not all fall leaves and mushrooms. There are straightforward floral beauties still to be found, the late bloomers, the brave ones who raise heads to waning light in defiance of cold and dark and the sure slipping away of leaf and flower….
The photos, many of which illustrate the idea of chiaroscuro, were taken at Bellevue Botanical Garden, Bellevue, WA.
From Wikipedia: Chiaroscuro (English pronunciation: /kiˌɑːrəˈskjʊəroʊ/; Italian: [kjarosˈkuːro]; Italian for light-dark) in art is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition.
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These are all so glorious! What a celebration of season. We are heading into Spring over here, I might have to head out with my camera!
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I was thinking about down under being in spring time as I put this post together, so thank you for commenting – I SO LOVE that these posts reach people all over the world and we can communicate so readily. Do go out & shoot!
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I don’t recognize the flowers falling and reflecting in the water….. and that was my favorite shot of them all! Beautiful one and all.
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Gunta, I have to look it up – I can’t remember – and those are leaves! OK, it was easier to find than I thought. It’s Darmera peltata – sometimes called Umbrella plant for those fabulous leaves – it loves water and it’s a northwest native!
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Thanks! I’ll have to look for some. I love planting natives.
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Reblogged this on Beatz kane Blog 143.
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Reblogged this on Beatz kane Blog2013.
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Reblogged this on Gabbie 2013 blog.
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A beautiful collect of photos! I especially like the one of the grass.
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It sparkles in the sunlight! Thank you.
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Beautiful photos, Lynn. I have one similar to the back of your dahlia. I love the mushrooms, “complexity of fall color” and the lovely rose petals. 🙂
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I have to come over & see what you’ve been up to – I’ve been absent from most blogs lately. My loss! Thank you!
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Me too, Lynn, and I really feel a void from not having time to keep up with my own blog plus look at all the blogs I love to read. Work is eating me alive, and I can barely keep up with life! 🙂
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So much to get excited about here, Lynn! Love that first peeping mushroom shot, and the petals on the beautifully darkened background. 🙂
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I thought the petals photo didn’t show as well in this post as it did as a stand-alone photo, so I’m happy that you liked that one. They were just SO GORGEOUS – perfect arcs of soft color – I always love the look, the poetry, of fallen petals.
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Splendid!
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A very fine collection Lynn. They are all strong images – vibrant and beautifully composed.
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Thank you, Louis – good to hear. Fall is a great time for vibrancy, isn’t it?
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stunning pictures.. fall is my favorite season
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Thank you very much – I see you haven’t started your blog yet – good luck on it, and enjoy the process!
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seems like there are a mistake, I have already a blog but When I click on my name another page appears, that’s weird! well here is my blog http://tinasca.wordpress.com/
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Got it – and congratulations on doing such a great job on that butterfly shirt.
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Brilliant captures all! What beautiful work you do!
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Oh my goodness your blog here is absolutely beautiful ! I’m so glad you commented on my work. It brought me here. WOW – I like your hands – perfect.
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Thank you! I hope you get a chance to roam around a bit sometime; some posts are more abstract and some are more concrete. I’m enjoying looking at your work and reading a bit about your story. The hand icon is a photo I took one-handed of my other hand on the edge of a small reflecting pool full of goldfish, at a botanical garden in NYC, where I used to live. Thanks for commenting!
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Your close-up botanical images provide plenty of evidence for your ability to locate unique lighting situations. Nice group Lynn!
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Always looking, John, always looking!! 🙂
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Very relaxing and beautiful photos! All of them came out so crisply also. What type of camera do you use??
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Hi there – for these, a very old Canon Rebel. And I do often sharpen them up, when I think it’s appropriate, in Lightroom or Perfect Effects.
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Beautiful work as always! I particularly like the grass gone to (shimmering) seed – wonderful words and a great set of images to match.
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Thank you Tim – I appreciate hearing from you & yes, that grass sure shimmers in the sunlight.
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These images and your poetic narrative are wonderful. I absolutely love the one of the pink leaves drooping into the water with the reflections. This is a beautiful post, Lynn. Your use of light is superb. I enjoyed every one of the images. What a treat it must have been to visit the gardens!
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Thank you! As you probably noticed, I totally enjoyed your garden post – I’m crazy for tropical habitats & plants. More!!
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Nice collection from your visit to the botanical garden. I like the mystery in that first picture Lynn. And the imagery in the “complexity of fall color” is just so lovely.
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Thank you for stopping by – yes, a sense of mystery can be good in photographs. I enjoyed finding your blog – I’ll be back!
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Ah, Lynn, chiaroscuro is my favorite word ever! These are wonderful photos that capture the idea perfectly; the fern and mushroom image is sheer genius. As I read this post, I was thinking of the synchronicity of reading your post while I was preparing a musical piece for my blog called Shadow and Light. But then shadow and light is more than a visual concept, more of an archetypal experience that resonates 🙂
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It’s a very musical word, I think, the way it takes a syncopated trip off the tongue (is that accurate??). (AND the Italian connection, AND the meaning itself – all very musical!) I think I’m privileged to be part of your process as you create posts. Really. It’s a privilege for many of us to take part in each others lives in this way, if we pay attention.
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It IS a privilege to share and exchange ideas and creative work – the best part of online community!
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I love that you did the back of the dahlia! I have done that, too. Delightful post.
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It presented itself to me! Thanks for commenting –
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My pleasure. Your photography is wonderful.
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I hope you have a garden. Seriously. Your appreciation of all things garden is beyond wonderful and well, you just need to have one! 6 and 7, they particularly appealed to me, but see I say that but the grasses, I love grasses, I love them in my garden because of their movement and architecture. Oh how you capture them all so well. Brava! 🙂
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Gorgeous gallery!
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These pics leave you a little peaceful.
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A good thing! thanks!
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Reblogged this on Floyd, Times Are Changin and commented:
These are really sharp. Love ’em all.
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hm, wonderful pics 🙂
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