apple – Dutch goes the Photo!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – New

Turn over a fresh, new leaf!

Welcome to Week 114 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge! I will finish last week’s challenge round up later during the day and post it tomorrow morning, as the response was again fantastic!

After a week filled with all things with an Age, this week will be all about things New! Whether it’s a newly hatched chick, a young lamb or a shiny new pair of shoes, your challenge is to take a fresh (new) look at what the creative juices in your brain lead you to! Let the ideas flow freely and celebrate the start of a new season (Summer or Winter, depending on your location) with your imagination!

I very much look forward to seeing what your limitless creative ideas come up with this week to be shared with everyone!

Here’s a bit of the new…

Apple-Blossom_57A4599 — *Fresh Apple Blossom*

These apple blossoms had just appeared and still show off their fresh new-ness, which will soon make way in its continued development toward the tasty apples that follow, as Summer makes way for crisp Autumn days.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

I’m looking forward to seeing what might ring true in your posts!

A Beautiful Day

Blossoms of promise

This Sunday morning, it certainly looks like a beautiful day lies ahead! The Sun is out and bright, it’s warming with an expected high of 89F (31C), and Spring is establishing its grip on the landscape.

Soon, the apple trees will be blossoming again with their promise of delicious results around Autumn, as New England produces a variety of wonderful apples. Apple orchards dot the landscape in our area, often containing well-aged trees that produce year after year; well-maintained apple trees can reach the ripe old age of 100 years unless they are allowed to stagnate.

The rite of Spring is under way, and we welcome its return!

Have a most wonderful Easter!

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 15

Out of a small blossom…

On this Wednesday, l’m focusing on one of my favorite kind of trees: Apple! As I followed an apple orchard in a past year, it really gave me appreciation for what happens every year.

These beautiful blossoms will soon wither and start their transformation into what will at first be tiny little nodules, which will grow into full size apples during the Summer season.

What natural processes leave you filled with Wonderment?

Technical Details

This image was shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III with an EF 100mm f/2.8 lens. Exposure settings were 1/200 second at f/11 and 640 ISO.

7 Day Nature Challenge – pt 1

Eris wants her apple back

I was nominated by a fellow blogger, Stella of Giggles & Tales, for a 7-Day Nature Photo Challenge. Stella’s blog is always full of interesting posts, which are a blend of poetry, photography and perspectives on the world around her. Go check her blog out!!

So for the next week, let’s see, if I can come up with some interesting nature images and pass the challenge onto some of my fellow bloggers.

p31-20130912-IMG_2143 — *What is the apple of your mythology?*

This challenge, I will start of with a pretty straightforward image of an apple growing in nature; this apple was not anywhere near any orchard, and I could not find any of its relatives nearby. Pollination must have been a particular challenge for this lone tree, but it managed nonetheless.

Technical Details

This is an iPhone 5S generated image using the standard Camera app and minor tweaks with Instagram.

The Rules

Post a #naturephoto every day and nominate another blogger for this challenge.

Nomination

The challenge of nominating a fellow blogger… Made by Mitza is a blog filled with fantastic photography (lots of flowers!). Go check out this talented photographer’s blog! If she accepts this challenge, I look forward to the results!

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 7

Blossoming just for you

Nature is full of amazing and beautiful displays, many of which are taken for granted. Go into any grocery store or super market and apples abound; how many of us take a moment to appreciate how this apple started?

20110513_MG_7719 — *Apple’s True Beauty*

About five years ago, I decided to follow the development of an apple orchard, which was close to my daily commute throughout the year. It’s one of those fun projects that keep one’s interest in photography keen, and taking a walk through an apple orchard in the morning is a great way of invigorating the senses for the day that lies ahead.

This shot is from early May, when the blooms were fully developed, just before the wither and start developing into tasty, crisp New England apples. With the beautiful light, it was just amazing to look more closely at these trees and their wondrous adornment!

Hope you enjoy this moment of wonder and think about it, when you bite into your next apple.

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk II and a 24-105 f/4L lens (with circular polarizing filter). Settings were f/10 at 1/400 second with ISO 200.