Ten Day Dogwood, Then a Track Meet
-
Ten days after Easter: The baby leaves on the dogwood we’ve been watching are so colorful! We still have only 4 guesses as to how long it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 (not a chance).
Brad and Heidi both said 17. Leave a comment with your guess! (Or not. Brad, Heidi and I can duke it out over 17 days or not 17.)
-
Here’s why I love plant photography: I make myself get out of my comfort zone and shoot using settings I don’t want to “chance” when I’m photographing families (and don’t want to miss a great shot just because I was fiddling around with my tried-and-true settings).
In the one above, I was shooting at a very low ISO setting on my camera (LO.3, which is equivalent to ISO100) at f/11 on full screen metering, which means that the camera will average the light over the entire frame. I usually shoot at low f-stop numbers like f/2 for a seriously blurry background, and often shoot using spot meter, which tells the camera to adjust the light in the frame based on my focal point. This one worked nicely. I think I’ll try that at my next shoot!
-
Immediately after taking yesterday’s dogwood shot with that f/11 setting, I went to Bradley’s track meet and happened to come up on the coach’s group shot. Cool! That f/11 setting was perfect for that shot! Bradley’s in the center of this picture, but that’s less than a third of the whole team. That’s a huge track team!
-
I was shooting through a fence, which accounts for the strange light in these pictures. (Still f/11, but the coach is far closer to me than the team.)
-
So cool when I know somebody on the opposing team! Hey sweetie!
-
In case you’re new to the blog, Bradley is “the tall one.”
-
He’s also the one whose entire family stalked him at the shot-put event.
-
I have no idea what’s going on in this picture. CAPTION REQUEST!!! Leave a comment with a caption that makes us laugh.
-
This one may have something to do with the previous one. I really don’t know.
** Ok, CONFESSION TIME **
We stood there for, I swear, like 20 minutes in the FREEZING COLD waiting to watch Bradley throw the dang shot-put, and in an effort to pass the time and keep warm, Gregory ran around messing with Mike, and I took pictures of them, and when I turned back around, Bradley was back at the end of the line again.
I COMPLETELY MISSED IT!!!!!!!!!!
wait…
wait…
shiver…
wait…
-
…Mamarazzi’s doing the happy dance!
Gotcha, Bradley!
“My yip! My yip is stuck!”
Comment by Heidi — April 3, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
Wow…just saw your latest dogwood photos. Hmmm, maybe I should change my guess!
CAPTION: “How about a raise in my allowance?”
Comment by Carolina Girl — April 3, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Heidi, Gregory was reading the caption of yours and scratching his head going “huh? what’s a yip?” Cracked me up!
CG — Gregory was reading your caption and jumping up and down screeching like he just scored the winning touchdown!
Comment by Jules — April 3, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
Hi Jules,
My Kousa dogwood blooms the week before Memorial Day. As I recall, last year you were posting about yours a couple of weeks earlier. I’m guessing a slightly 40 days.
Comment by Jeff from Linden — April 3, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
Caption: I’m so hungry, I could eat your hat!
Comment by OldRoses — April 4, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
I wish I had run track. There seems to be such fun and camaraderie. Didn’t start running until I was 24. By age 28, I was probably good enough to make a Division III college track or cross country team, but I was left to marathons and all. I’d have made a good coach too. I’m very opinionated on training stuff
Comment by Jeff from Linden — April 4, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
October Glory update
The grass guys showed up the last week in March to do their preseason work. So, for the umpteenth time, I brought up the “perspective” issue and whether the maple, 20 feet from the front window, should be moved further away. “Looks fine to me”.
That day, the guys from the nursery delivered and planted the Serviceberry Tree. I brought the subject up with them. They both said it looked Ok, and might help “shade the house” and all. We came up with the idea of eventually planting another tree in the foreground to better “define the distance” and cure the perspective issue (basically when I take pictures and the tree appears right next to the house”. So, you know, I was kind of overwhelmed for awhile. I kept thinking about it though, remembering your pictures and advice, Jules. Anyway, yesterday, I went to the nursery guy and said I felt sure the thing to do was to transplant. This evening, he showed up and did it. It was no easy undertaking, requiring a lot of digging, even though the tree was only planted last year. He got a pretty good root ball out of it though, and feels good about the operation. Well, everything just seems, much, much better. I looks much better from my window, and much better viewed from the street. I think the tree can now be a real contender! Thanks, Jules!
Comment by Jeff from Linden — April 5, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Dear Jeff –
Yay!
Treat it as a “newly transplanted tree” all year, meaning, water as you would for a newly planted tree. It will be stressed for a few years and will need extra attention. Good luck!
Comment by jules — April 5, 2008 @ 8:55 pm