I’m just a humble gardener, not a photographer.
But I’m trying to take better photographs. In fact, I’ve been reading about the golden hours of photography and this actually inspired me to get up at dawn this morning to see how this ‘magical’ lighting might look in my own garden.
Do you know what the golden hours of photography are?
After determining when dawn occurred in my area (you can also click on this golden hour calculator), I decided to wake up early to capture this light with my camera, but I quickly learned this soft, diffused lighting is seriously affected by our neighbor’s roof and a few trees in our backyard.
However I did manage to focus on a wispy spider web dangling over gurgling fountain water. I took a few pictures of this sleeping spider and this one came out the best.
I do think it looks magical, don’t you ?
Each morning I check my morning glory vines (one on each side of the iron arch) and I wind the new buds around the metal. They love their sunny location and they’re such fast growers I usually need to wind them around the arch daily as I patiently wait for the vines to meet at the top.
When I stand directly under the arch this is my view, as you can see they’re almost there.
I think gardening helps cultivate a sense of patience don’t you?
Here’s a shot of the other arch which is farther along in growth.
This year I only have cool shades of blue and periwinkle with pops of lipstick red in my garden. All these cool shades seem comforting in the dry, hot Valley weather.
Funny, but this year I don’t have one smidgeon of yellow or orange anywhere.
Even my cushions are a deep Sapphire blue.
Can you see the little piece of spider web?
At this early hour the flowers look so bright and crisp. I just wish you could smell the damp earth and feel the coolness of the air.
After I cleaned my beds in preparation for the grad party I decided to focus on keeping a garden filled mostly with green shrubs… and now I only plant those flowers I absolutely love in a vase, so that means lots more dahlias and hydrangeas.
This year I’ve used black bark for the first time and I like it alongside the shades of green.
I have jars with pebbles and candles dangling from a Japanese Maple.
At night the lit candles look so pretty in mid-air.
Ahh..here’s a ray of morning light finding its way through the leafy branches.
An old mirror leans against the fence. It’s been there so long it’s fallen out of the frame.
In our patio is a dark corner that can’t grow anything but varieties of ferns.
This stone lion sits under a mural I painted that reads…
take time and smell the flowers
I painted green leaves that have almost become hidden by the real thing.
This stone bird sits in a weathered urn filled with flowers. I like to plant things in pots until I figure out the best spot for them. It’s easy to move pots around until you get it right.
This fountain is in the middle of our brick patio and we’ve grown accustomed to hearing the comforting sounds of splashing water from our windows.I heard once that the ocean has healing properties, and that people who are sick or depressed have felt mysteriously transformed by the smell and roar of the ocean.
Living with the steady sounds of running water makes me believe this is possible.
A bench we bought at a grade school auction sits under a arch. It’s filled with hand painted tiles made by Patrick’s fifth grade class.
This is the view of my garden from underneath the palm tree on the other side of the yard. When we moved in I planted Green Boxwoods around the borders because I love the classic look of an English garden.
As you can see, I only got a few good photos in that wonderful soft light I woke up for. Oh well. It went by too quickly for this beginner. And I didn’t realize how much dappled shade I’ve got in the morning. I probably should have read THIS before I took these pictures.
Oh, and here’s Stella keeping herself busy while I fiddle with my camera.
I hope you enjoyed this early morning visit to my garden. It’s definitely a work in progress. Right now I’m back in the gardening mood after a bit of a break so there’s been lots to do. Which is good, because I love it out here.
How bout you?
Have you had a chance to plant any flowers or vegetables lately?
xoxo
Leslie
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