SPRING Is H.E.R.E.!!!

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bee, bees, florida, flower, flowers, macro photography, signs of spring, spring, spring art, spring colors, spring fever, spring flowers, spring prints

Yes!!  Spring is finally here!  Florida is alive with birds chirping and bees buzzing. Flowers are everywhere!  It’s time to enjoy the great outdoors with family, friends and my macro lens. 🙂

Spring Fever

Macro Photography

Sharon Cummings

2016

Get a taste of S.P.R.I.N.G. Right Here!

I Blinked & Spring is Gone…

Tags

botanical, common weeds, eco, flower, garden, gardening, lavender, macro, macro photo, macro photography, natural, nature, painting, petal, petals, plant, plants, purple, sharon cummings, spring, summer, weeds, wild, wildflower, wildflowers

 

I went outside today to see if there were any flowers left blooming.  In Florida we have a short Winter and then a handful of nice Spring days with bursts of color everywhere.  The azaleas…….the bromeliads……and then it all dies………….9 months of HEAT. Not much grows in Summer except the grass and weeds.  All of my irises are brown and crispy looking.  The lilies look like beef jerky.  But this little group of tiny dancers was still celebrating, so I snapped them quickly before the sun was full in the sky.

I will be in my studio painting now for a good long while……..expect some new acrylic work very soon!

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I B.L.E.W. It…

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art for sale, beauty, blowing in the wind, botanical art, botanical prints, buy art prints, close up, dandelion, dandelion blowing in the wind, dandelions, garden, gardens, macro, macro photography, macro photos, magical, make a wish, micro, micro photos, natural, nature, puff, puffballs, puffs, sharon cummings, spring, weed, weeds, wildflower, wildflowers, wish

 

That’s right.  I really blew it.  A dandelion that is.  I mean a round puffball seemed kind of boring.  So I just blew it exposing the interesting inside.  Then I made a wish and blew them all into the wind…
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What ARE These?

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botanical, common weeds, eco, flower, garden, gardening, macro, macro photo, macro photography, natural, nature, orange, pale yellow, petal, petals, plant, plants, sharon cummings, soft, weeds, wild, wildflower, wildflowers, yellow

 

I like to walk around with my camera just seeing what I can find.  I love old buildings and garbage piles because often the most interesting photos are there.  These beauties were growing proud all along an abandoned restaurant. They were not in neat little rows, but wild and rangy. They were large flowers, so I do not think they are weeds.

Do you know what type of flowers these are?

Field T.R.I.P!!

Tags

bold, botanical, botanical art, botanical photos, botanical prints, clock vine, clock vine flowers, colorful, floral, floral photography, florida, florida botanical gardens, flower, flowers, garden, gardening, gardens, lavender, macro, macro photography, natural, nature, olive flower, periwinkle, photo, photograph, photography, pinellas county, plants, pretty, purple, sharon cummings, spring, spring flowers, spring time, springtime, vibrant, vine, vines, wild flowers, wildflowers

 

Yesterday me and the hubby went on a little field trip.  We found our way to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Pinellas County. Somehow in all of these years in Tampa, this gem has been hidden from me.  We frequently drive down to Sarasota to enjoy the Selby Gardend, but this place was also amazing!  So many flowers all out in the open to see and smell.  The winding paths lead to many beautiful surprises.  Plus there is a little heritage village with old houses and buildings that were to be destroyed, but were saved and moved here. What a treat!

It is a macro lens photographer’s delight. 🙂

 

• The Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo, Florida, USA include flora, fauna and natural resources in surroundings intended to inspire, educate and promote environmentally friendly techniques.

• Address: 12520 Ulmerton Rd, Largo, FL 33774

  (727) 582-2100

• Hours: 

  Open today · 7:00 am – 7:00 pm

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I.C.E…I.C.E….Baby!

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bold, botanical, botanical art, botanical photos, botanical prints, colorful, floral, floral photography, flower, flowers, fuchsia, garden, gardening, gardens, ground cover, groundcover, hot pink, ice, ice flower, ice plant, macro, macro photography, natural, nature, photo, photograph, photography, pink, pink flower, pink flowers, pink petals, plants, pretty, sharon cummings, spring, spring flowers, vibrant, wild flowers, wildflowers

 

This past weekend was filled with fun and diversion from my normal routine.  I spent a lovely day with a friend in Tarpon Springs eating Greek food, playing pool and hitting the vintage shops.  I also got in some photography on Saturday.  My husband and I headed out to Sand Key, FL and surrounding beaches to soak up a little sunshine and explore beach condos.  While we were trekking about, these hot pink flowers really caught my eye.  They were ground hugging beauties.  He immediately identified them as “ice plants” which I had never seen in the South before.  He said they grow like wild up in California where he is from.  In 45 years this is my first ice plant spotting. Wow!  The color is fantastic (unaltered…straight from my Nikon D7000).  I find I actually “see” more when I carry my macro lens with me.  There really is so much beauty in our world. 🙂

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Gettin’ W.I.L.D.

Tags

botanical, common weeds, eco, flower, garden, gardening, lavender, macro, macro photo, macro photography, mother nature, natural, nature, orange, pale yellow, petal, petals, plant, plants, purple, sharon cummings, soft, stamen, weeds, wild, wildflower, wildflowers, yellow

Wildflowers that is.

It’s Spring here in Florida and all of the beautiful flowers are in full bloom.  We went out on a photo shoot this weekend and there were so many to choose from.  Hibiscus and bougainvillea were plentiful.  And the stargazer lilies were absolutely stunning!  But as I was snapping away, I realized with a macro lens I can find beauty far beyond the typical floral fare.  So I got on my hands and knees and started looking at the plants and flowers along the raggedy fences. The little “weeds” and scrubs had my full attention for the day. I was absolutely amazed at the beauty I found in these things we normally mow down and look over.  It’s another world of magnificence!

The lavender specimen above revealed to me the most delicate purple hairs with dancing bursts of yellow rimmed in black. Seriously WILD!  The yellow soft surprise below opened it’s inner world to me with a show of orange and delicate veins.

Nature: I bow to you in even your seeming insignificance.  I no longer see “weeds” in my garden. 🙂

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Hope Springs Eternal

Tags

art, art prints, common beauty, garden, gardening, growth, macro, macro photography, macro photos, natural, nature, photo, photography, plant, plants, prints, seasons, sharon cummings, signs of spring, wall art, warm weather, weed, weeding, weeds

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/hope-springs-eternal-macro-photography-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I have been super busy painting commission work lately and they are all HUGE!  But I am not letting the World completely go by me.  I try to take time each day to get outside into the sunshine and fresh air.  To commune with nature.  I am ever amazed at how strikingly beautiful the World is “up close”.  Through my macro lens even a common weed is bursting with beauty. This one reminded me of stars and snowflakes……Ahhhhh  taking time to smell the roses….or in this case the weeds. 🙂

Creativity vs. Skill

Tags

aromatherapy, botanical, botanical prints, bud, buds, calm, calming, cottage, essential oil, essential oils, field, fields, flora, floral, flower, flower garden, flowers, fragrant, france, french, french lavender, garden, health, herb, herb garden, herbs, homeopathy, lavender, lavender oil, macro, macro flower, macro photo, macro photography, micro, micro photography, natural healing, oils, peaceful, plant, plants, purple, relax, relaxation, relaxing, selby gardens, sleep, sleeping, traditional

 

As I continue my photographic journey I am realizing that a good picture has more to do with creativity than skill.  Skills can be learned, but imaginative expression cannot.  Having shifted my focus recently from my paint table to my camera, I am viewing the world a lot differently.  I am not looking to simply copy what other photographers are doing.  These days with the advent of virtually full-proof cameras, anyone can take a picture of a pretty flower and have it look really good.  I am looking for things that are slightly different.  Perfect flowers can be boring and I am anything but that.  I seek out the slightly edgy or spent.  I want flowers missing from the spray.  I look for torn edges and unpopular subject matter.  Sure, I will capture a perfectly beautiful rose when it happen to be in my visual path, but I am not looking for them.  

This piece titled “Lavender Dance” was a single shoot with missing flowers in a patch of perfectly lovely lavender sprigs.  I liked that nature had taken some of it’s beauty, yet left some for me to capture still….

My skill will improve over time and I hope my imagination will too!

S.I.Z.E. Does Matter!!

Tags

Artist, cacti, cactus, cactus flower, D7000, desert, garden, gardens, learning, learning photography, macro lens, macro photography, new mexico, Nikon, Nikon D7000, photographer, photography, photography basics, plants, prime lens, sedona, sharon cummings, southwest, southwestern, southwestern decor, succulents

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/cactus-flower-1-sharon-cummings.html

Macro photography seems to be all the rage these days on online fine art sites.  And let me tell you, there are some really stunning images that I could only dream of creating quality wise.  But everyone knows I am a dreamer…..so I am going to see what I can do with my creative eye and my new Nikon D7000 with a fixed macro lens.  Thanks to a photographer friend, I also have a mono-pod on order which should be here tomorrow.  She explained that it helps with stability and better image quality.

I am not a professional photography by any definition and I have always been a point and shoot kind of gal.  I am not a person of patience….and have always enjoyed the quick fleeting shots.  I like photographing things that move and sway.  Things that disappear. Macro photography takes a certain amount of patience and diligence that I know I will find extremely challenging, but I am up for it!

I am not new to photography in anyway including macro, but it has always been more of a hobby for me.  I will be the first to admit that I do not fully understand all of the jargon…ISO….white balance…shutter speed…..depth of field, etc.  These are things I am going to learn.  

The image above was taken about 5 years ago with my Nikon D50.  I loved that camera and the zoom lens with macro capabilities was perfect for my fast moving brain.  I have sold a lot of artwork and photos with that little gem including this cactus flower here.  It took really nice photographs.  

Getting used to a Prime Lens (fixed without zooming capabilities) is my first challenge.  When I first assembled it and started shooting there was much frustration and angst.  My photography buddy had to walk away….lol.  Change is hard.

So here I am a professional painter and hobbyist photographer diving into the complex, challening and detailed world of macro photography for real.   Wish me luck!

My first offering with the new equipment:

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/baby-cactus-macro-photography-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html