Mother’s Day Gifts

Mother’s Day is coming up on May 12, and it’s time for all of us to think of a special kindness for a mother, grandmother or special lady in our lives. My aunt who never married was a special person in my life, so she deserved and well appreciated some TLC on Mother’s Day.

Fresh flowers are a wonderful gift especially in Spring, when perennial plants are just starting to bloom again, awakening our own senses and inspiring us to linger outdoors. So are the gifts that preserve the delicate beauty of nature, such as photographs.

I won’t be braving the unpredictable Spring weather at Sewickley’s May Mart this year, but I am happy to fill requests for notecards, tiles and prints of my varied portfolio of tulips, butterflies and other nature photographs. Just drop me an email to share with me your ideas. Let’s make something beautiful and share the love!

Orange tulips in the foreground are emphasized in this image with a shallow depth of field. Can you reach out and touch them? Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, PA, 2019.

Dogwood in My Own Backyard

Admiring some beautiful photos of the dogwood blooming in Yosemite, I realized there was an opportunity for me to photograph dogwood blooms in my own backyard — for my two white and two pink dogwood trees are now in bloom.

You can even find a flower within the flower in this macro image of the dogwood.

My photography practice was taking a break during the month of April, as my attention was focused on my father’s failing health, his hospice care, his death, mourning and support of my surviving mother. As you may know from experience, these events can be overwhelming.

Mother’s Day gave me a reason to pause and give myself the time to think about photography again. I sent myself to the garden in the late afternoon to look for some compositions. It’s a challenge to find a composition amid a tree full of blooms and a low vantage point on the ground, but I found a perch on my back porch and the lens to create just the right background bokeh, the 105mm Sigma macro lens.

It’s nice to be reminded that photo opportunities are right there in your own backyard.