Spring Blooms

Well, a little later than I had planned, but here we go.  Spring blooms.  Just a few.  I've decided I'm physically incabable of passing up a daffodil without taking  a picture, touching a bloom or lingering. They are one of my favorites, trumpeting the start of spring.

Daffodils, I think, are like smiles.  They pop up in little bunches here or there, brightening the countryside with their lovely ruffled bells.  Like a great piece of jewelry, they have a way of beautifying everything they touch, whether it's a vase on the counter, a corner of the yard or a forgotten piece of farm land.  Like a smile, they make everything better, simply by their presence.  One of Mother Nature's greatest gifts, in my opinion.  Oh, and I'll take a stray pear blossom, too.

I'm back in the ditches

Ooh, it’s one of my favorite times of the year for nature photography. I’m a sucker for spring blooms, and the blooms are a bloomin’ in these parts. Most of the showy stuff is still to come, like the dogwoods, the cherry blossoms and the tulips. But the daffodils are here, and they are giving me hope that this chilly wet weather will someday end, give way to sunshine and warm my Caribean soul.

Get ready to be beaten over the head with pictures of spring blooms. The challenge? To photograph them in unexpected ways that showcase the individual parts of the plant that you may have never paid much attention to.

Up first is the simple daffodil. It hangs out in ditches and fields and isn’t as attention seeking as the tulip, but it’s the bloom that trumpets spring, so it’s one of my favorites.

This Too Shall Pass

Okay, I can't stop. Those of you tired of seeing spring blooms may be disappointed to hear that I still have hyacinth, forsythia, dogwoods and dandelions left. Oh well, there are worse things to be addicted to.

White

The color of resurrection. So fitting for Spring.

Oh, and I would have posted these LAST night if Blogger hadn't been such a complete and total doo-doo head.

Psst! Down Here.

I think I know why I like the macro lens so much. It allows me to see things that aren’t normally visible to the naked eye. Or at least easily visible. I shouldn’t be surprised since microscope work was some of my favorite work in high school and college science classes. It certainly wasn’t chemistry. I’d rather pick my toes than do chemical equations. I love how the magnification opens up a whole new world that seems to silently go on under my nose every day. For instance, have you ever looked closely at the lowly dandelion? See all those little curly things in there?

Pretty cool, huh? And pretty beautiful when you really examine it closely. It makes me wonder who deemed it an unfit flower for the yard.

Sometimes I find that the small stuff is actually pretty similar to some of the big stuff we readily recognize. Take the little white flowers that are popping up all over yards around here in this Spring time weather. They’re easy to overlook. I took a wide shot of them with a robin so you can get an idea of just how small they are.

From a distance, they’re not much to look at, but up close? They remind me of Asian lilies.

Look at the centers.

And the bend of the petals.

This is my favorite because it looks like a painting and aside from a little cropping this photo is untouched. If I never showed you how small these flowers were, you probably wouldn’t know by looking at these pictures. Fascinating. It makes me appreciate the fine details of God’s handiwork. It also makes me wonder what I was doing in botany class, ‘cause I can’t seem to remember half the names of the stuff I’m shooting lately.