I moved this amaryllis out of the cold back bedroom two weeks before bloom day. But it still took forever to move from bud to bloom. Oh well. Better late than never. Thanks, as usual, for Carol for hosting at May Dreams. More scans here. Flower scanning directions are here.
Month: February 2011
‘Picture this’ photo contest: ‘Genius loci’ edition
OK. Time to commit. I wish that I had a whole season for this month’s ‘Picture This’ photo contest assignment. But going through the comments the prelim post where I ran through more than a dozen contenders from earlier seasons, I’m going to rely on the advice I got from Laurie:
“[Go with] the last one. You captured it with your comment ‘the gradation from human to wild’. It tells the story of your place in one shot: how it’s a safe created harbor where human stuff happens (picnicking, potting, sitting,) but it is only just barely contained inside a little fortress of tall flowering ramparts… then the outside untamed world takes over. I am sensing a first prize again.”
And yes, I am very much aware of Julie Moir Messervy’s harbor archetype.
Saturday music: Grant Peeples
Down Here in the County, ’cause my sister-in-law Liz (of Girls Night Done Right fame) knows a great songwriter when she sees one.
‘Picture this’ prelim: The ‘genius loci’ of Ellis Hollow
My favorite part of the gardening blogosphere is Gardening Gone Wild’s Picture This photo contest. I’ve had the honor of winning twice and the privilege of judging once.
What I like most about the contest is that it often pushes me — a rank amateur photographer — to venture beyond my boundaries and comfort level. It makes me a better (though still not great) garden photographer.
So I’m a little bit frustrated with this month’s ‘assignment’: One shot that captures the ‘Genius loci – the special atmosphere of a place’.
That’s a tough assignment for a garden in February in snowy upstate New York. Sure, we have a genius loci in winter. But it’s not really focused on the garden. And good luck to folks in Chicago and across much of the U.S. going out to capture that special shot this month.
But I’m undeterred. This gives me a good excuse to go back through old images to see if any capture that. I do a lot more close-up and medium range shooting. But I think I’ve got some longer shots that might capture a bit of the genius loci. Maybe I’ve succeeded? Maybe not.
And here’s where you come in. I have some favorite genius loci shots, what with living here and all. But from an outside perspective, which of the following images to you think best captures the ‘genius loci’ of Ellis Hollow?
From one of my first posts. I suspect the ridge to the west will be a familiar theme.
From 2005? My banner is (and always has been) a slice of this image.
Same image with tilt-shift treatment.
The white pine, the lone crab apple in the marsh and the ridge help define this place.
From June 2007. Decent overview with nice light. But the Norway maple is no longer with us. Might be a little more clinical than spiritual.
One of my favorite borrowed scenery shots.
Front with tilt-shift treatment.
Dare I submit a video of a day …
The day in 50 seconds from Craig Cramer on Vimeo.
Or a season?
Veggie bed close up from Craig Cramer on Vimeo.
Fall grasses and bottles maybe?
Will a stitched image tell the tale?
Larger view
This might be the closest thing I have to showing the gradation from human to wild.
Looking these over, I’m starting to envision the shots I wish I’d taken. So maybe this assignment will be a good motivator.
Which one do you think I should enter?