Friday Flowers

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Debra

Tulips, hyacinth, and bright colors! Can you feel the happiness in my photo today.  The weather warmed up a bit here in NJ this week and people seemed to be happier and lighter.  As I approached my driveway yesterday, I was greeted by these beautiful colors in my front yard. It only seemed fair to share them with all of my friends.

I cut a few tulips and a piece of the purple hyacinth, which if you are not familiar with, is extremely fragrant.  I played around with a few different vases, but this mason jar seemed to have the feel I was looking for.  The jars were used for my daughter’s engagement party, hence the heart and bow.  Once I arranged the flowers, I couldn’t help but think, how simple and beautiful! It all just seemed to work almost as if the flowers knew what was in their future before I did.

As the warm weather approaches, the air if filled with fragrant scents, the grass is a vibrant green and the clouds and sky appear to be smiling down on us.  What is it about spring and summer that brings out the best moods in people? Warm weather and sunshine is such a simple recipe, and so welcomed after a long, bare winter.  As I’m writing this, I am listening to Thomas Rhett singing “Die a Happy Man”, the wedding song for my daughter and son-in-law last year.  Such a happy time and song, which makes me feel even happier.  Happiness can be infectious, I hope you were able to grab a piece from my photo today, if not, go pick some tulips of your own and see how they brighten your day.

For more of my work, please stop by my Instagram page, until next time … Debra

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by Carolyn

A bucket of white roses … how simple is that. A photograph with just one item can really grab my attention. It gives me the feeling of peace and quiet … a couple of things I long for in my life. Although nights like last night are ones to treasure … we had a sleepover with the grandchildren. We have 9 and they were all involved in the sleepover. They range in age from 13 to to 15 months. Each one is so special! It was definitely not a night of peace and quiet!

So, back to peace and quiet …. in this busy world today, those two things can be hard to find. Sometimes they come in large chunks of time, but for me they are in moments. I have found that I just need to take my life in in the way it comes. I can’t stress about things not being how I might think it ought to be or how I see someone else’s life playing out.

My peace and quiet is found early in the morning … like right now. It’s 5:38 a.m. I can hear heavy breathing behind me from some of those adorable grandchildren … this is my time to quieten my own soul. Time to stop and think … to read … to ponder … to plan my day. Do you get time for that in your busy schedule? I hope you’ll plan some if you don’t have it already.

Peace to you on this lovely Friday ….

If you’d like to join in on some of my quiet moments you can follow me on Instagram.

Carolyn

Camera Settings: 50mm, 1/180, f/4.5, ISO 250

Friday Happenings

 

“If you don’t take risks, you will have a wasted soul.”

Memories from the Past by Debra

As I took today’s photograph I wondered what I would write about for this type of flower. Who likes dried, dead flowers anyway? Well, I honestly never liked them until recently, and Carolyn will probably remember me asking her years ago, “Why are you photographing dead flowers?”  However, I think as I took a few shots of these dried roses, I thought about more than dead, dried flowers.  I guess everything lives and everything dies, it’s not about dying, but about how you live and the beauty you share with others, that ‘s what is truly important.

Two times today, once on my way to work and then on my way home, I heard Alan Jackson’s song “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?” and it got me thinking.  That day is etched in my memory forever.  I worked on Wall Street and took the PATH train for 6 years into the World Trade Center.  It makes you wonder, why? It’s nearly 16 years ago already and so much has happened in my own life since then, as I’m sure all of the families who lost loved ones.

I wonder why I am still here, I wasn’t in the buildings on 9/11 so I personally was never in danger from the tragedy.  Since then, I’ve been remarried, moved to a completely different town, lost my job, battled cancer and with the Grace of God, I am still here, living and healthy.  Life has a way of working out what is supposed to happen for you.  After so much devastation in the world and in my own life, you think and live differently.  You don’t take any day you are given for granted, at all!

You are most likely wondering what those dried roses have to do with anything?  It’s just a photograph, right?  Well, it is a photograph, but it’s how you see the things you photograph not so much the object but how you view the object. No two people will view anything exactly the same, but I choose to look at these flowers as something beautiful and not just dried, dead flowers.  See the beauty in everything you are given and live each and every day to the fullest.  It’s a gift!

Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next time … Debra

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Tulips Are For Shooting by Carolyn

Hello … so nice to see you here on this Friday morning. It’s kind of a funny thing … to me anyway … but tulips haven’t always been a favorite of mine. They have grown on me though over the past few years and are in fact a flower that I look forward to shooting.

The life and variety you get out of them is really just incredible. Click here to see more of my tulips.

If you’ve clicked on the link, you have seen that I love them when they’re fresh and new, just popping out of their green leaf covering all the way to when they’ve dried and shriveled up.

To me, the best way to enjoy tulips to their fullest is to take pictures of them because they simply just don’t last long enough!

Tulips make me happy.
Rebecca Wells

Camera Settings: 50mm, 1/1000, f/2.0, ISO 250

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Carolyn