Just Chill
Welcome back, and I hope you’re somewhere dry, and have air conditioning! It’s been a month of flooding and now high heat, and who knows what is next? Maybe it’s time to find some high ground, and chill:
This is a short one. I’ve been learning more about printing, gearing up to maybe get a little booth at a popup market or something, where I can try to sell some prints and greeting card collections. I had no idea how many decisions there would be, but I’m slowly grinding through it. Once I’m set up I’ll start applying and then…we’ll see!
Anyway, the last blog was about heat. It looked like some rain and relief was on the horizon, and the birds scrambling for cover should have given me a hint:
Promise, delivered:
That’s my car in the distance, and managed to thread the needle between the two storms, only getting a bit damp.
Once the storms passed, a glorious rainbow emerged. Unfortunately I wasn’t situated for a good photo, and it faded almost right away, but I could see that if I drove a few miles I might get ahead of it in a better position…and thus began a crazy cross country chase that led me all the way back to Winnipeg. The storm was heading south east, but the roads only travel cardinal directions, and some were closed due to previous flooding. Every time I got close, and the rainbow was max colour, I was in the wrong position; and by the time I found a good position, it was gone! Like chasing a mocking leprechaun for that pot of gold, eventually it just laughed, snapped its fingers, and disappeared.
However, they say it’s the journey, not the destination, so while I was driving I managed to snap a few others, including a rather dull version of the rainbow:
Of course that rain brought more wildflowers than I’ve seen in a while, along with their tiny inhabitants:
I’m partial to the “past peak” colours of wild roses:
Even the lightest puff of wind is usually an issue for wildflower shots, but patience and a higher shutter speed (at least 1/200th second) pays off…unless you want to use the wind to create a colour-smear, as with this gaillardia, in which case a shutter speed of 1/10th second or less is helpful:
While I like full colour shots, I’m more drawn to trying to make something of small accents and arrangements:
The black and white orchid might be odd: the orchids were in peak colour, a beautiful blue, but the background was a deep green, which is not very complementary. If there had been any yellow I’d probably have left it, but the intense green ended up dulling the orchid’s texture, and also hid the tiny guest. I try to make these decisions in the field, but in this case it wasn’t clear until I got home. So much still to learn!
Final shot here is a total departure from everything above:
I enjoy working through the complexity of a busy scene like this and trying to tease something coherent out of it. If your eye went right away to the little trucklet in the maintenance yard, I did my job. If not, then I’ll have to try try again :)
Thanks for reading, and stay cool until next time!
Cheers!