Today is one of those wonderful days where winter is giving way to spring. Here in California where I live it means the air is cooler, sky is blue, the breeze is fresh. Buds are forming on trees that shed their leaves and had them blown away by the east winds. Bulbs are emerging, some already blooming. It’s just a delightful time to be oot-n-aboot – we were oot for a good 3 miles, dogs, and Josh, and the X100V!
I always love a walk in the local botanical garden, but I haven’t been for awhile with one of our dogs. I fell down a hillside because one of them pulled me off balance – squirrel! – and am rather uneasy, but today I went. Luckily, nothing happened except beautiful weather, spring scents, new leaves, narcissus, and bulbs. I didn’t plan on taking pictures, but my trusty phone came in hand. Smudge brought her nose and one helluva good time.
The people who care for the garden do a wonderful job, and spring cleaning, or new year cleaning, came as the underbrush and detritus of last year has largely been cleared away. Only fallen leaves and new plantings – even my favorite old oak tree that usually has a pile of leaves in its center where branches grow was clean. Maybe the wind, maybe the fairies in the wood.
Because of my fall down the hill with Smudge, I decided to take the easiest paths I could find in the climb to the top of the hill. Switchbacks with low degrees of ascent and descent worked, and we had a wonderful walk.
We spent a few hours wandering around, sitting on benches, observing people and plants, listening to squirrels and crows, seeing lizards climb trees and play hide and seek in the ground cover. Smudge sniffed and climbed up on the benches to keep me company.
This is a beautiful pine, and though I have no idea what it is (and no label to be found), it is at a corner of the garden, like an old and dear friend welcoming you back.
These bulbs are always so cheerful. They bloom for months and are a bright splash along the trail.
These caught my eye – last year’s foliage, or this years tinged by frost? (We have had some below 32F nights!)
This is my beloved oak tree. It must be 500 or more years old – young when the Spanish first came to the area? Who knows . . . .
I love looking for the narcissus planted throughout the gardens, and the daffodils, and the iris. They all bloom at different times.
The pine tree from a distance. The rocks lining the pathway are new this year!
This is a native plant, and it’s rather a fun one. When the bladder pod to spread its seeds, the bladders explode and send the seeds flying in all directions.
Initially, I didn’t plan on ending up at the botanical garden; rather, the goal was the dog park. However, it turns out that on the third Thursday of the month, the dog park is closed for cleaning and maintenance. So, how lucky were we to be able to enjoy this wonderful day?
I took this photo a few years ago with my pre-WW2 Voigtlander Brillant. It is a simple camera that gives lovely results, as only a vinage camera can. I wonder if it is from their uncoated lenses.
I haven’t been to the local botanical gardens since last year, where this picture wast taken, when I fell down a hill and came home looking like something out of a horror film. A bit trepidatious to return, I admit. However, after the rains of last months, I know I have to go. The hills are greening, and the air of spring is in the air.
Definitely time to get out. I think more Ektar is definitely indicated, too.
After the rain comes weeds. This is a particularly prickly one, but not so bad as thistles! New growth comes in many forms, and this one, I think, will eventually produce some rather pretty, sticky, and prickly flowers.
More browsing through history! Today, a trip back to the spring of 2017, a hike on a pathway behind the local botanical garden. Obviously there was some rain that year as there are green plants!
One thing I really enjoy doing is making panoramas out of a whole series of images. Sometimes I fail to get enough to create a good study, and that is where Photoshop comes in. I did a lot of filling in of empty spaces, and if you look closely you will see repetition of the cloud in the upper right corner, and plants in the lower left corner. That is what happens when I hand hold my Nikon Df camera and a long lens – this was the Tokina 100 macro lens. I think I took about 50+ photos here. I like to use a macro lens for panos because of the sharpness that is inherent in such lenses.
Altogether, I like what I did in post here. The coloration and composition are pleasant and summery. I also think it is a photo worth using as the basis for a landscape.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 