January, so far.

You guessed it. Another moody, gloomy, winter botanicals post. I can’t get enough of these dreamy vintages lenses. I could walk around anywhere all day and not get enough of the swirly bokeh. Anyway, spring can’t come soon enough, and I’m thrilled that we’ll see subtle signs of her in the coming months.

One fun thing about January so far: I’ve been really into tarot cards. On the advice of a very experienced tarot reader, I purchased a really lovely deck. I’m absolutely hooked! There has been a really neat theme in the cards I’ve pulled so far.

Moody tones of green. We found a mantis egg sack nestled on a horsetail stem. I sure do love vascular plants and I’ve made a mental note to return to this spot with the macro lens in the next few weeks to try to find hatched babies

Excited to finally have some time to play with the film camera. More to come on this later as I slowly begin collecting what I’ll need for home development.

Sweet moments with this wild girl.

A former classmate asked me to photograph her in her wedding gown, so we had some fun one (very bright) day. Hoping to get more practice with portraits in the coming months! It’s definitely trickier than insects or flowers. Especially the editing process.

January has been lovely so far. It will conclude with my 31st birthday and hopefully some warmer weather. I’m really hoping to see signs of spring early this year.

Here are some recent pics of Mulato and some cozy morning shadows for good measure.

Soft mornings

There is magic in quiet mornings. Mary Oliver sums it up in one of my favorite poems, ‘Softest of Mornings’. (Okay, every poem Mary Oliver ever wrote is my favorite…)

Softest of mornings, hello.
And what will you do today, I wonder,
to my heart?
And how much honey can the heart stand, I wonder,
before it must break?

This is trivial, or nothing: a snail
climbing a trellis of leaves
and the blue trumpets of flowers.

No doubt clocks are ticking loudly
all over the world.
I don’t hear them. The snail’s pale horns
extend and wave this way and that
as her fingers-body shuffles forward, leaving behind
the silvery path of her slime.

Oh, softest of mornings, how shall I break this?
How shall I move away from the snail, and the flowers?
How shall I go on, with my introspective and ambitious life?

Moon and birds

I took my new zoom lens out for its first spin during an early morning moonrise. I quickly learned variable aperture = learning curve. The sun was coming up so I only had a few minutes to get set up. I am definitely looking forward to more moon shooting in the near future.

Here are some birdie-in-the-yard shots. Bird photography = another learning curve. They like to move. : )

December

The last few Decembers have been tricky. Emotionally exhausting. Sad. Gloomy. Anxiety all the time. The gray December weather never helps. Right now I’m feeling pretty ready for the new year. A large part of my excitement stems from the three-week cross-country road trip I’m planning for May. It’ll cover fifteen states, a few major cities, a lot of small, forgotten, dusty towns, sunrises and sunsets in multiple deserts, canyons, and at least eleven amazing national parks, including Joshua Tree, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. And camping. And all of the hiking. Can’t wait to wander and document it here.

There are more exciting plans in the works, too. Anyway, here are some pictures from December. Looking forward to peace and adventures in 2021.

Mulatu of Asheville

Global pandemic aside, 2020 has been a hell of a year. To add to the craziness, the new hobbies, the personal growth ventures and goals, and the challenges, I decided to adopt a cat! Meet Mulatu. He found me at a “cat cafe” in Brevard, NC. I named him after an Ethiojazz artist I’m really fond of. His name means “complete” or “full”, and like Mulatu Astatke, kitty Mulatu jumped around quite a bit before finding where he needs to be. Welcome home, Mulatu.

Enjoy the cute kitty pics! 🙂