Another Abstract in nature

I’ve posted my COVID in Nature (dramatization of a seed pod from the Sweet Gum Tree) earlier. But today I’ve added my “Window Box,” which I had float mounted on clear acrylic to represent glass in a window. The flower box – on high gloss aluminum panel – is actually a manipulated photograph I made of an orange Day Lily.

Both of these abstracts in nature are on display in the “Abstract April” show now through April 25 in the Covered Bridge Art Association Gallery in Rockville, Indiana.

Created during the coronavirus pandemic, COVID in Nature debuted in August 2020. This “Abstract April” show was the debut for “Window Box.”

Both did not place.

COVID in Nature RCAA 12th Annual Exhibition Fall 2020

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A Shot in the Dark

I captured a cactus flower blooming in the dark! Believe me, it wasn’t easy, using only my kit lens.  Matter of fact it is one of the hardest things I have attempted since I got my Nikon. Ranks right up there with silky misty water and spider webs.

I love how the petals look like feathers.

Cactus bloom

My friend has had this six-foot cactus for 25 years or more and it has bloomed maybe the last 12 of those years. Not in the Southwest, but right here in the Midwest!

This year it had about eight buds, each one only blooming once, at night. Come dawn, they close up, wither and die.

My first attempt I arrived at her house too late – at dawn – and the flower had started to close. Aug. 28 was my second chance to capture the bloom in the dark. So this time I went to her house at night and only this bud was in full bloom by 11 p.m. No tripod; I had to stand on a chair to get level with this bloom while she held a flashlight for me to adjust settings on my camera.

So this is as good as it gets. Read more …

Cactus blooming in the dark.