nature

Befriend the Bend

Refraction refers to the bending of a wave when it changes its medium of transmission. This bending can result in separation, compression, distortion, and differing levels of visibility. It can make small things seem bigger and far off things seem closer. It can delight the senses or confuse the mind. Even though there may be a simple scientific explanation that doesn’t mean it has to make sense.

In fact scientists are now developing simple lenses that are effectively bending light so far as to make objects seem invisible. Yet more proof that we may not always be able to see everything that is in front of us.

the pot of gold awaits
get in the van
me in a bee
the world in a drop

Posted for the DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Refraction

Dream of Life
sunrise

sunrise in Seattle

Sometimes my memories feel like dreams, and I wonder what really happened. What did I really see? I take photos in hopes I might be able to make sense of it all later. I look back at my photos to be sure that it wasn’t really just a figment of my imaginary world.

Sometimes when I see the photos I become convinced that it actually was a dream, that somehow I have attained photographic evidence that the world is not always what it seems. Sometimes the photo is more of a dream than my foggy imaginary memories. Sometimes the photo feels like proof that this life actually is a dream, which leads me inevitably to the question, can we live our dreams?

Can our dreams be real?

into a dream
did it really look like this
jellyfish dream
dream in the water
lighthouse in space

Posted for the DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreamy

Signs of the Times

Motel Mt Whitney

A sign can take so many forms.  It can be a reminder, a rule, a law, or a warning. It can be a gesture, action, or graphic presentation meant to provide information or instructions. It can also indicate the probable presence or occurrence of something else, something unseen but to be expected.

The signs are all around us. I just wish I could figure out what they truly mean. I love taking pictures of signs, and have so many I could post hundreds.  But that would be a sign of something else.

Here is just a few.

breaking the law
target practice
welcome to the bottom
cocodrilos
assembly area
what are you saying
shadow play
they closed the ocean
rules for life
no exit
wrong way
life advice

Posted for the DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Signs

Light at Night

 

sunset

sunset in big sur

I have been so busy getting back into teaching mode that I haven’t posted anything in weeks. Finally, an entry for the DP Weekly Photo Challenge. Some photos I took at night. Cheers!

carbon cycle

carbon cycle

 

moon, tree, sky, no tripod
little lights and lanterns

The Nature of Texture

Texture is a feeling. Texture is an appearance. Texture is a consistency. Texture implies depth. Texture can be used to describe the look, sound, taste, or feeling of an object. Texture makes things interesting and delights the senses with contrast. There are so many competing textures in the world around us that sometimes they get lost in the sensory overload that is the modern experience, with all its immediacy and umbilical attachments to technology .

border war
Ephedra californica
Erigonum giganteum

But one thing about texture is that it denotes a depth of experience that is best experienced in person, in three dimensions, and for that reason texture is difficult to convey on the flat surface of a video screen. But that will never stop us from trying.

Crassula ‘Tom Thumb’
Gingko
Cactus Corridor at the Ruth Bancroft Garden
Haworthia
Euphorbia flanaganii

Posted for the DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Texture

See more garden textures HERE (on my dedicated garden photography blog)