Tag: beauty

Isle of Mull – pt. 4

Magical paths

In this fourth installment as your tour guide of beloved Mull, I’d like to show some of the beauty that we found there during our visit.

When visiting Mull, we had a general idea of what we’d expect from Scotland: mountainous terrain with expansive lochs and a sense of ruggedness that would be everywhere.  While there is plenty of such terrain, there are also some tender, hidden gems that show up with the right light and transport one into a completely different environment.

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Step into the Elfin Kingdom

Getting views of this kind gave me a sense of where our inspiration for works, such as ‘Lord of the Rings’, comes from.  There are many places within Scotland that I found these utterly magical scenes…

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Bridging the Magic Realm

Walking along the wandering paths of Mull, on a beautiful, sunny day, there were little treasures to be found around every bend.

Have a wonderful day!

Growing at Mushroom Speed

Growing in stature

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge provides the theme of Growth.

During the extreme cold that we are experiencing at this time (it’s 0F at this time [-18C]), it’s hard to think about anything growing, other than the frost on the window.  So I went back a little ways to warmer times to one of the images that is still among my favorites.

Mushrooms are amazing structures in Nature’s grand variety; their rapid growth and, often, beauty make them very attractive.  Yes, there are plenty of hideous mushrooms, and the prettiest ones are among the deadliest ones, but that’s part of the challenge.

Here’s an example of the beauty…

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The Gentle Mushroom

If you read this and are an expert in mycology, please let me know what variety of mushroom this is; I have made several attempts to figure it out, but am unsuccessful thus far.

Stay warm and comfortable and have a wonderful day!

Morning Glow

Rising Fire

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Glow.  Definitely a natural fit for quite a bit of my photography, as I enjoy backlit images…

Of course, a lot of my Yoga Tree images are in this category, as most were captured around sunrise with the Sun coming up behind the wondrous tree.  So for today, I thought I’d share a different tree.

Here’s something from an early morning start on a golf course…

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Rising Fire

The first peek at the Sun rising behind the tree reminds us of its awesome power!

Have a wonderful day!

Thorny Beauty!

Tough as beauty!

The WordPress Daily Prompt has the theme of Thorny.  One idea sprung to mind immediately when I saw this one: the Scottish beauty of gorse!

Gorse is ubiquitous across the highlands and isles, where it adorns many hills with a lush coat of yellow that looks so beautiful from a distance.  It is a pioneer that knows how to protect itself with thorny spikes that are strong and almost an inch long; any encounter with this defense mechanism is sure to leave an impression that is not soon forgotten.

Here’s a quick shot that shows both the beauty and the beast….

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Prickly Scottish Beauty

This was captured on the lovely isle of Mull, where it abounded.  Where you get a dense conglomeration of gorse brushes, there is no passing without strong protection.

Have a wonderful day!

Waiting for a Cookie

I deserve a cookie!

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Waiting.  An interesting theme, that made me think of a number of images that I shot over the years.  A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of a statue among the plants that had the possibility to wait an Eternity.

This time, my model is our youngest dog, Dorothea Lange, who came along for a walk and can throw a pose…

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I’m so cute!

What do you think: should I make her wait for another cookie?

Hope you enjoy!

Delicate Structures

Dandelions’ Fragile Future

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Structure, which has made me very happy, as there is lots of structure in Nature and the world around us.

Sunday’s post focused on the structure of a fan structured leaf, with the angulation of each fold providing additional strength to the leaf over a rather large area.  Today’s post goes more toward the delicate, as we look at the placement of the seeds of that dreaded lawn denizen, the dandelion.  Each seed is constructed to be carried by the slightest of breezes to find a bit of disturbed soil, where it can take hold and germinate.

This is a closer look at the lovely dandelion…

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Dandelions

This most delicate of structures has found its way across the ages to float forth and multiply.  As an aside, a design studio in the Netherlands makes light sculptures that use the dandelion seed heads for the lights in their collection named Fragile Future.

Hope you enjoy!

Dignity and the Mushroom

Simple beauty

The WordPress Daily Post prompt has the interesting theme of Dignify; this immediately made me think of a rather simple scene that I captured a number of years ago.

As I walked among the trees at an agility trial that I was photographing, my eye caught this gentle mushroom standing beautifully among the debris of the forest floor.  I knew that I had to capture this lovely little scene…

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The Gentle Mushroom

Looking back at this image, I still enjoy the simple beauty of the mushroom, standing there with dignity.  Unfortunately, the story of the mushroom did not have a happy ending, as some time later, I noticed that it had been knocked down…

Hope you enjoy!

This too shall pass

Sometime beauty tumbles

There are few things in Nature more temporary than mayflys and (some) mushrooms.  The former comes with the rite of Spring and the promise of Summer to come, whereas the latter is an opportunistic, spore-driven wonder of Nature, which can take amazing shapes and present stunning beauty.

Quite often these beauties are reviled and simply trodden upon, rather than appreciated, as their location on forest floors doesn’t protect them from the inconsiderate travellers through their domain.

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The Gentle Mushroom

This little beauty stood proud among the detritus of the forest floor, showing off as a jewel among common pebbles.  Several hours after I captured it in this photo, it was gone….

Inspired by the WordPress Daily Post prompt of Temporary.

An Opaque Landscape

Opacity creates wonder!

We all need something Opaque in our lives from time to time, no matter how transparent we try to be in all our dealings.  It is through the opaque quantities in our lives that we learn to value both their presence and the transparency that surrounds them.

The opaque are the shadow to the light of transparency; without one, the other is not defined…

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PondScape

While looking for the Ponies of Chincoteague, opaque beauty lay right at my feet.  This is an image that I still enjoy looking at even after more than 3 years.

Technical Details

This image was captured using a Canon EOS 5D MkIII with an EF 70-200m/f2.8 lens. Exposure settings were 1/30s at f/6.3 and 800 ISO.

An Abstract Thought (or Two)

Autumn’s best morphs before us

Abstract photography is one of the areas of my photography that has to find me in the mood to play around with it.  The simple reason is that seeing the potential in the environment around me for an abstract exploration requires all of my senses, including the mind’s eye.

Being relaxed and in tune with my environment makes a big difference in how I see things, as they evolve around me, such as what happened in this little tree view that morphed itself…

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Autumn Serenity

What inspired me in this shot is the gentle warmth of the day, as the Sun played across the beauty of the color sported by these trees.

Shortly after the above image, a slight breeze picked up that gave me another idea…

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Autumn Winds

Seeing the play of the wind across the leaves with a sense of destiny awaiting, provided me with a deep sense of appreciation of the world around me.

Opening all of our senses puts us in touch with the universe and all the beauty that is encompassed by it.