Every single photograph tells a story.
It was a hot day and I was walking slowly on a country road.
Rich smells of sunflower, of grass and corn were everywhere.
It is so amazing how much beauty is around us and how many interesting beings.
But, in front of your screen, you will never able to feel the wind bringing the scent of sunflower. In best case, seeing this image you will recall a beautiful moment from the past.
One reason why I like winter: yellowhammers.
The scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius)
This photo of the butterfly is taken last year. I was alone on a plain and it was very hot. I was observing some bee eaters in flight when this butterfly appeared. It was standing on a corn leaf. Nothing new here, just a butterfly and a leaf. But I think it is an interesting perspective.
I was enjoying a beautiful walk when I noticed these wild flowers. I wanted a beautiful photo of them but…how to choose the best point of view? As usually, you need to kneel, you need to get down and get dirty but the effort is paid off.
Have a beautiful weekend!
Time…
It is very interesting how we spend our time. We invest a great part of time in things which don’t last in time, and we ignore so many beautiful moments which take place everywhere around us.
We have time for TV shows, but we don’t have one minute to take one photo of our family.
We have time to socialize, to give likes, to write comments but we never say hi to our neighbour…
We have so much time for nothingness… and we forget we will never have some chances again.
It is like a dance.
The dance of some leaves full of thorns.
Photo taken in 2013.
Definitely one of my all time favourite.
Many times I watch honey bees. When I was just a kid I was afraid of them, and only their name terrified me. Back then, saying honey bee would mean danger.
When I grow up, I realized how gentle they are if you are gentle with the, too.
I don’t know how gentle are the honey bees from the place where you live, but the one in the picture above ( an Apis mellifera) is very gentle. If a bee is on a flower and you bring your finger very, but very close to the flower and you touch the bee, she will avoid your finger and will continue to collect pollen. Only if you use force and pressure, be sure she will sting you.
Bees do not visit all the flowers without discrimination, nor indeed do they seek to carry away entire those upon which they light, but rather, having taken so much as is adapted to their needs, they let the rest go.
St. Basil the Great
The Yellowhammer
by John Clare (1793-1864)
When shall I see the white thorn leaves agen
And yellowhammers gath’ring the dry bents
By the dyke side on stilly moor or fen
Feathered wi love and natures good intents
Rude is the nest this Architect invents
Rural the place wi cart ruts by dyke side
Dead grass, horse hair and downy headed bents
Tied to dead thistles she doth well provide
Close to a hill o’ ants where cowslips bloom
And shed o’er meadows far their sweet perfume
In early Spring when winds blow chilly cold
The yellowhammer trailing grass will come
To fix a place and choose an early home
With yellow breast and head of solid gold.
We are surrounded by so many beautiful things and we don’t even know it. Or, worse, we say there is enough time for all.
Maybe there is enough time, but what if there is no more enough time for me (or you)?
What if this is the last day when I am able to see?
You don’t want to think about such things but yet…there are chances, unfortunately.
I keep asking myself what I will do if one day I will be a blind man?
How others will know what I was enjoying? How I will be able to show them the world as I saw it and yet not seeing it anymore?
My answer is: through the photographs I have taken.
I try to document many things like my belongings, our garden, our street, our neighbours, my dogs, our neighbour’s plants, the fields around our village, the forests, clouds, trees, bugs, and many other things. I take photos of my family, of my friends and of strangers.
You might say these things will always be there, or at least for a long time starting now. But the real live has proven to me that …you never know when you see something for the last time.
And I will give you two examples:
First one: about two years ago I was off for a while. When I returned home, I took my bicycle and had a ride. I was shocked to notice that somewhere, about 3 kilometers away our house, a large area of forest has been cut down.
By chance, just a few weeks before I had taken a few shots of some trees, branches and leaves from that place. I was sure they will still be there for a couple of years and I will keep returning year after year. I was so wrong…
Second one: my grandmother was blind for way too many years before she died…Then I didn’t understand her and neither her special needs. Maybe one day …I will…
Enjoy this journey called life. Take photos of your wife, husband, children, grandparents, friends, neighbours, even of yourself, of your belongings, of your street, of your town, of everything you enjoy and of many things which you think will be there at least for many years. You never know when they will disappear…
I have a tendency to see almost all the time only the empty part of the glass, and this fuels my fears. It’s something which must stop, but this process of healing requires a great amount of will and time… and patience.
To be honest to yourself it is the biggest gift for you and for those beautiful persons around you.
Lately, I have been exploring ‘small worlds’, ‘microcosmoses’. I started doing this because of a constraint: my camera. This was the glass half empty.
But I am a creative person and there is no limit for your creativity except your fears.
I found this lens.
I was embarrassed only by the thought of posting this image, of my ‘lens’.
But I decided to say “So what? What’s my problem? I take photos using this lens, too, so what?” Now we(me and you) may laugh, there is no problem.
This lens are from a slide projector and sometimes I hold it with my left hand, and other times I use adhesive tape to attach it to my point and shoot camera.
I think spending time in field enlarge your vision, makes you even more creative and, the most important, gives an experience which is invaluable.
Now, I am more grateful for all I have.
I found this little buddy in our garden. Even if it’s little, it’s smarter than you may think.
Be grateful for what you have.
This photo shows one leg of a Honey bee (Apis mellifera), fully loaded with pollen.
The flower is a dandelion.
Cornell's photos and words 