Tag: instagram

WPC – Landscape(6)

Smooth surface

As landscape photography is one of my main areas of interest, I am am truly excited about this week’s Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Landscape.  Each day this week, I will share some of my favorite landscape shots.

Photo Sep 08, 7 17 42 AM
Morning Serenity

Today’s image is from somewhere much more local to me than the vistas from the past couple of days, as it is from the neighboring town of Boylston, Massachusetts.

One of the things that I enjoy doing during my daily commute, is finding locations that I can photograph time and again, as they change over the seasons.  Rocky Pond in Boylston is one such place (of course, my commute has changed with my new job, but I’m looking for some spots).

On this particular morning, there was nary a breath of wind, as the sun had just risen and left the pond with a glassy surface.  All that could be noticed was the song of various birds, which is a perfect accompaniment for a moment of serenity.

Technical Details

This image was shot with my iPhone 5S using the standard camera app and some minor adjustments in Instagram.

Inspired by Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge – Landscape

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 11

Fibonacci is everywhere!

There are certain aspects of Nature that inspire amazement when we look at them and even greater amazement when we analyze them even deeper.

p26-20130905-IMG_2021
Fibonacci’s Flower

The mighty sunflower is an amazing little piece of mathematical design, when we analyze the spiral shapes in which the seeds are laid out.  I think most of us have heard of Fibonacci numbers: the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and so on, so that each number is the sum of the last two.  When looking at the spiraling shapes in cauliflower, artichoke and the sunflower floret, as seen above, we see this sequence appear in front of our eyes.

Upon analysis, we see that those spirals pack florets as tight as can be, maximizing their ability to gather sunlight for the plant. But how do plants like sunflowers create such perfect floret arrangements, and what does it have to do with Fibonacci numbers? A plant hormone called auxin, which spurs the growth of leaves, flowers, and other plant organs, is the key: Florets grow where auxin flows.  This has been modelled mathematically by researchers to demonstrate the Fibonacci spiral count is the optimal dense-packing strategy.

How to Count the Spirals


The sunflower seed pattern used by the Museum of Mathematics contains many spirals. If you count the spirals in a consistent manner, you will always find a Fibonacci number (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, …). Below are the three most natural ways to find spirals in this pattern. Note that the black pattern is identical in all the images on this page. Only the colored lines indicating the selected spirals are different.
The red lines show 34 spirals of seeds.
The red lines show 34 spirals of seeds.
Choosing another slope, the green lines show 55 spirals of seeds.
Choosing another slope, the green lines show 55 spirals of seeds.
And choosing a very shallow slope, the blue lines show 21 spirals of seeds.
And choosing a very shallow slope, the blue lines show 21 spirals of seeds.

– See more about this at: http://momath.org/home/fibonacci-numbers-of-sunflower-seed-spirals/#sthash.XF0YpZoT.dpuf

Hope you enjoyed this bit of in-depth view of the sunflower!

 

WPC – Landscape (1)

Solitude by the pond

This week’s Photo Challenge presented by the Daily Post is none other than Landscape!!  As you might imagine, I am psyched about this one, and most definitely will do more than one post 🙂

p40-20131005-IMG_2341
Autumnal Reflection on Rocky Pond

This moment of solitude was captured a couple of years ago at Rocky Pond in Boylston, Massachusetts.  It’s one of my favorite spots that I have photographed over the years throughout various seasons.

I hope that you enjoy this moment of quiet reflection.

Inspired by Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge

Friday Mystery Slide – vol 7

What kind of boat is this?

As it has been a pretty busy week, today’s slide will not be a slide, but rather an iPhone image from last year.  I will get time this weekend to plan out next week’s mystery with more detail.

2015-06-11 14.46.27 HDR-1
Water everywhere!

I am confident that many among you can identify the country, where I captured this image, but how many among you can identify the city (not easy, but I think the boat does provide a hint about the area of the country…)

Good luck with your investigation!!

WPC – Dance

Dancing with a lady

The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge gave us the prompt: Dance.  Of course, all of us are familiar with the human activity, but I decided to take a slighlty different approach, which I submit for your approval…

2015-11-30 07.35.40 HDR-1
Prana Dancer

The dance of the Seasons is performed by the majestic Yoga Tree, as her steps are measured and executed with ageless perfection in front of a Universe, whose energies flow through her.

As the Sun rises, stand in front of her, close your eyes and breathe in deeply; feel her movement as prana fills you, again and again, and dance.

Technical Details

Captured with an iPhone 5S using the standard Camera app and Instagram for some minor adjustments.

In response to Weekly Photo Challenge – Dance

WPC – Harmony

All is good

The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to focus on Harmony.  Of course, the Yoga Tree is always in harmony with the universe, but I present you a different image..

p40-20131005-IMG_2341
Peaceful Pond

This photo was taken overlooking Rocky Pond in Boylston, MA, on one of those mornings when all is tranquil: not a breath of wind to ripple the pond and disturb its perfect reflection.

Autumn’s colors provide the perfect backdrop for this moment, when all is in harmony with the universe and we don’t have to be concerned about a thing.

In response to Weekly Photo Challenge – Harmony

Shot of the Week – vol 8

Bricks with a bit of sky

2016-02-25 12.22.54 HDR-1
Looking up

This week’s shot was taken, as I just stepped out from work for a quick jaunt to Starbucks to feed my addiction.

It was a beautiful day with unseasonably warm temperatures about 60F (16C), which is a regular heat wave in New England in February.  Walking down the uneven sidewalk, my eye caught the reflection of the Sun in the puddle of water.  A little bit of adjustment in position, added some of the tree branch and resulted in what you see here.

The image is not re-cropped, as I shoot mostly square with my iPhone 6S; it’s an aspect ratio that forces my eye to observe things just a little different.

How often do you find yourself capturing serendipitous little scenes?

Yoga Tree Loves Snow!

Yogawhite may just become a color of choice!

2016-02-05 07.41.14 HDR-1
The Lady in Snowdress

When I saw this morning that the snow was sticking to trees with all the beauty that provides, it was clear that a visit to my lovely Yoga Tree was in order on my way in to work…

As you can see, the stop was very worthwhile, as she is positively radiant among the white!

Yoga Tree in Autumn

She’s wearing a coat of many colors…

I may just have to do a series of posts of the Yoga Tree in her various seasonal outfits; I’ll have to think how I want to organize it, but for now…here’s a little taste!

Photo Oct 28, 7 17 17 AM
Yoga Tree in Autumn

As you can tell from this image, she’s progressing in dropping her leaves, which have beautiful shades of color at this time of year.  It’s almost, as if she is stretching out of a slumber that was induced by the blanket of leaves that she carried during the Spring and Summer months.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of this image!

Shot of the Week – vol 4

Getting down with the noble grasses…

2016-01-28 07.42.33 HDR-1
Morning Frost

The shot of the week came about on Thursday morning during my commute; yes, there may be a pattern here, as you may have noticed that I’m often inspired during morning travel.

The quality of the light was that beautiful warm tone, that occurs on chilly days when the air is nice and clear.  As I traversed into Westborough, Massachusetts, I decided to stop near a pond that I had frequented before and check out what caught my attention.

In all honesty, I had first thought to do something with the way the sun’s light was playing across the trees, but the sun was still too low in the sky for the desired effect.  As I walked along a path, my eye caught the tall grasses with still quite a bit of frost on them; I thought they looked pretty interesting in this color light.

Now, all I had to solve was how to make it pop in the image with just my iPhone as a tool. You can see what I did: put the sun behind a fence post, get low enough and ensure that the focus is on the front grasses to create some extra depth in the image.

Hope you like the result!