200 - 4

Coincidentally, pumpkins were next on my list of photos in the current theme. Happy Halloween! There were far more than 200 pumpkins in the pumpkin patch I photographed a few years ago. I am not certain there are that many visible in this image, but it is obvious that there are LOTS!

There was a lot more than $200 being dropped from the hand in the second photo. In 2004, we started Think Green at our school and we were trying to increase the amount of recycling that parents donated throughout the year. I borrowed over $1000 cash from the office and had students throw it around the school library. I planned to use photos with the slogan, "Don't Throw Money Away: Lets Double Our Recycling at MQP". Believe it or not, it was a little difficult to get the shots I needed because the bills were sticking together a lot. As you can imagine, the kids throwing the money had a lot of fun. If you would like to see some of the posters we created, check http://www.mqp.k12.nf.ca/html/recycling/posters_01.htm

I have no doubt there are more than 200 leaves in the fourth and fifth photos which were taken at Bowring Park a few years ago in late October.

200 - 3

Several of you have let me know that you are enjoying this theme which will continue for a few more days. The photo of the grocery store I shared yesterday brought back memories to several people and one person informed me where I could find a very similar store that is still in operation today.

Only one more person has let me know that he/she is on facebook so I probably won't bother to upload the 80+ photos I chose for this theme. I haven't counted the objects shown in today's photos since I didn't enter them in the contest, but I estimate that there are at least 200 in each.

The strands of wool on a loom at L'anse aux Meadows made an interesting and colourful image. The daisies grow wild around my yard and yesterday I noticed that a bunch of them had bloomed (not this photo). I guess 3 or 4 warm days (16°C) (61°F) tricked a few plants because I also saw a few dandelions blooming as well. There are quite a few interesting decorations on an old dress in a museum that I visited in Bear River, Nova Scotia. It is hard to tell, but it looks like 200 parts to the rose and leaves and berries in the last photo.

200 - 2

All photos I selected for the 200 theme are ordinary things that most of us see but don't bother to photograph. As well, they illustrate the theme to my Photo of the Day. I've been sharing photos nearly every day since January 2003 and uploaded nearly 1500 postings since starting my Photo of the Day Blog in 2006. Over the years I have received thousands of comments on the photos I share, and many of you say that the photos make you look at the world differently.

The first photo today shows a clump of grasses growing along one of the trails I hike. I liked the interesting lighting in this image and, though I didn't count them, I'm pretty sure there are 200 blades of grass. Imagine the number of blades of grass in a lawn!.

The second image was taken in an old grocery store in Hearts Content, Trinity Bay. I was taking a photo of the outside of this building when the owner invited me inside to make a few images. There are definitely 200 items on the shelves. I don't see many stores like that these days and the last time I drove through the town it looked like this store was closed.

Even though I don't normally shoot weddings, when my son's friends were getting married, I made over 100 photos of the church service. I didn't count them all, but there are probably 200 people in the church.

I photographed the strings of shells because I liked the shapes and textures. The weathered shingles on an old building also fit the theme.

Yesterday, seventeen of you responded to my facebook query and the results were: YES - 12, NO - 5. I will wait a few more days to see if any more respond before deciding if I will upload the 80+ photos on this theme.

200

Last week's theme in the Photography Contest - New and Improved on facebook was 200. When I saw the theme, I went through my photos and was surprised that I had selected over 80 before deciding which one to submit. To be honest, it was a hard choice. Over the next few days I plan to share some of these images. Even though I share three photos on my email version of Photo of the Day, I usually upload 5 or more to my Blog each day and will continue to do so for the duration of this series. Feel free to check them.

The tiny individual strands of the feathered structure of the parachutes on dandelion seeds made and interesting image and there are certainly over 200 in the first image. By the way, while working outside yesterday I saw several dandelion flowers in bloom - a little unusual for this time of the year.
The stacked roof tiles were on a house under construction in Bell Villa in Citrus Park Florida. I liked the shapes and textures in this image.

I was very tempted to enter the silhouette of palm fronds as the sun rose in the background, but decided against it even though I really liked it. I was looking for a subject that would be different - something that most people don't see and would catch their attention. In retrospect, since the one I submitted came in 5th or 6th, maybe this one would have done better.

There are definitely more than 200 dandelions in the yellow field located in Chapel's Cove Conception Bay! The white flowers of the chuckley pear was taken in my yard a couple of years ago.. I liked the contrast betwwen the white flowers and blue sky in this composition.

Fall Colours 5

At first glance these photos don't look like Fall, but they were taken on October 19, the same day as the other images I have been sharing over the past 5 days.

My dahlias are still in bloom despite a Category 1 hurricane and several heavy frosts. I was surprised to see a bee on one of the blooms so I made a few photographs, then noticed that there were three flowers together and a bee on each. It was pretty cool that day and the bees were moving rather slowly. In fact I photographed them for several minutes and they didn't fly from bloom to bloom. One of them hardly moved at all - unusual behaviour for bees.

This will be the last in my Fall Colours series for now. As the leaves continue to change colour and I make more images, I will share them with you.

Fall Colours 4

Today I chose photos that show leaves with the light filtering through them from behind. The veins in the leaves are emphasized by this lighting and I really like that effect.

The reddish leaves in the second and fourth photos are on one of hundreds of northern wild raisin shrubs growing on my property.

The third photo shows a leaf on one of two maple trees I transplanted in the fall of 2009. It grew well for a while but moose ate all the leaves off in early summer, then last winter it was broken off by the contractor who plowed my driveway. To my surprise, it started growing again this spring and is now three feet high again. The grey object in the background is a stick that marks the tree so the contractor will not break it off again this winter.

The last image shows leaves of a "burning bush" shrub that I planted in the spring of 2008. At the end of the season, I transplanted it again because I thought it might get damaged by snow clearing. This year it is showing bright red colours and is a beautiful addition to my yard.

Fall Colours 3

Only a few black-eyed susans, margaritas and pansies are still blooming in my yard in late October, and most of them are fading quickly. As you can see from the first image, the petals on the golden black-eyed susans are succumbing to the cooler weather we've been having recently. We've had frost several times and the nightime temperatures are dipping close to 0° C while daytime temperatures are hovering around 10°C most days.

The second photo shows how prolific the black-eyed susans were. I bought one plant late in the planting season, and was not disappointed even though one of our cats broke off a large stem with many blooms. It was a good investment of $3.00 because I have been photographing them for nearly 3 months.

The lone yellow margarita is one of the only flowers of the thousands of bright yellow blooms that added colour to my yard since early July. My wife purchased one margarita plant in the spring of 2008, the first summer we were living in our new house, and the following year there were hundreds of these flowers growing all over the yard, growing mostly in rocky fill. This year there were thousands of these plants growing all over the rockiest areas: along the side of driveway and the septic field. Since these are excellent self seeders, I have thrown seeds and seed pods all up and down my rocky driveway. Hopefully they will grow and the 240 foot driveway will be flanked by bright yellow flowers next summer.

Fall Colours

Earlier this week as I walked around my yard looking for photos, I saw the reddish leaves shown in the first image. I zoomed in to capture the beautifiul colours created by the light filtering through the reddish leaves. The second shows a variety of plants whose leaves are changing colour. You can see varying shades of pinks, greens and yellows in this image. The leaves in my strawberry patch are turning red very quickly now.

Most people on my list live in North America so you are probably experiencing fall colours in your own areas. I visited Nova Scotia in late September, but it was too early to capture the Colours of Fall because very few trees had begun to change colours. Fall is a beautiul time to photograph the colours of nature and I encourage you to get out and capture the variety of colours in your own surroundings.

Highbush Cranberries

I will probably return to the Banff series again, but decided to move on to Colours of Fall with a series of photographs I made in my yard a few days ago. I have stated several times in the past that I often walk around my yard making photographs of the same plants and flowers in different seasons and have been doing this since moving to Holyrood in 1982.

There are several highbush cranberry shrubs growing on my property despite all the trauma to the land when it was excavated 3 years ago. These plants are prolific producing white flowers in late spring/early summer which result in the red berries which you see in today's photographs. I have tasted these berries and they are bitter, though I have read that they make excellent sauces and jellies. I have never picked them nor heard of anyone who did. If anyone on this list has made sauces or jellies from highbush cranberries, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

Rockies 4

Today I chose closer views of the Rocky Mountains to share with you. While it is isn't easy to judge the size of the cliffs, there are trees in a few of the photos. I estimate that the trees are 30 feet high - I had just travelled over trees in a gondola trip to the summit of Sulphur Mountain and was looking down at trees during that trip.

When I look at the steep mountains I am amazed that trees would grow so high up on the steep rocky cliffs. Not only do they have to take root and find nutrients, but have to survive the heavy snow and bitter winds of winter, as well as rushing waters of melting snow and heavy rains of spring.