photography

Photography Lately: Autumn Comes

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

It seems like just yesterday the leaves were budding, and the flowers were poking their tiny heads up through the ground. Even just two weeks ago the trees were all still a vibrant green, and the sun was shining in full force (like in my last post). But, in the past week the weather has gotten cooler- there is that telltale chill, the sun sets earlier, and of course the leaves are changing colours quickly. They are no less vibrant than the greens of summer, but are made of a different artist’s palette. Fall, or autumn, (I’m never sure which word I like better!) is special to me. For one, my birthday is in October, so that always makes me anticipate the season. But I also just love the cooler days. I love tossing scarves on top of my outfits. I love the darker and warmer tones in my wardrobe that come out to play: cinnamon, cognac, rust, sage, black, mustard. And, I love not melting in the heat! You can always add a few layers if you are cold, but there comes a point when you can not take off any more layers 😉 I only wish that the season lasted a bit longer. One day you notice the leaves hinting a yellow undertone, and the next they have all dropped to the ground, leaving bare branches reaching for the distant autumnal sky. (Have you ever noticed that an autumn sky is different than a summer sky, or a winter, or a spring sky?)

Anyways. I guess I am rambling now, but really, this season passes by so quickly: you can pardon me for wanting to hold onto it a little bit longer! These photos have all been taken in the last few weeks, and just capture a few moments, unique to the season.

Do you like fall time? Do you call the season “Fall” or “Autumn”? Is it starting to look like autumn where you live?

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

We have a plum tree, with the sweetest little plums!

And mums at the grocery store: what a delicious shade of pink, with an undertone of orange!

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

Some kind of weed seed. Oh well, it’s pretty. 

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

Wash day. 

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

The perfectly situated photogenic bees.

Harvest time in Alberta.

Not your average egg. Above average I’d say. World’s largest Pysanka.

Obligatory, hipster, foot selfie (foolfie?) in autumn leaves. It just has to be done.

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

This road.

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

Sunshine streams.

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

First time I’ve ever seen an acorn in real life. We have two oak trees and they are dropping so many of these!

Life Lately: Autumn Comes the artyologist

More harvest time in Alberta, this time on a smaller scale. 

Autumn comes.

Technicolor Flowers

Grandma's bright pink rose, Technicolor Flowers, The Artyologist

My Grandma and my Mom are amazing gardeners. I am not a gardener. I don’t enjoy digging in the dirt and planting, and watering and weeding and all of the assorted chores that a garden entails. However, I do absolutely love the flowers that result. I also enjoy being in the garden, and I especially love to take pictures of the flowers that grow. (As you can probably have guessed by now, considering the number of floral themed photos that appear on this blog!) This means that, even though I don’t personally enjoy gardening, I will always have flowers, as houses and yards without them, are so cheerless.

I am constantly amazed by the rainbow of colours in nature, the enormous variety of species, the unique details of the petals. . .  I like taking photos of flowers as they are so easygoing: they don’t move out of frame (unless it’s windy I guess), they sit nicely while I compose my shot, and I don’t have to worry about them not smiling nicely 🙂

Both my Grandma’s backyard, and my Mom’s garden are full of such vibrant flowers – so, today’s garden is brought to you in technicolor!

purple daisy technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Magenta Purple Daisy

purple and yellow lupin and orange lily the artyologist

Orange Lily & Hybrid purple and yellow Lupin. I say “hybrid” because the first year, they were purple and the next year they grew up, both purple and yellow combined.

pink coneflower, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Coneflower

purple daisy, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

vibrant pink roses, technicolor flowers the artyologist

I have no clue what variety this rose of my Grandma’s is, but it is absolutely stunning. The entire shrub is just covered in hundreds of bright pink blossoms, that fade to a delicious pale pink. The first picture in this post, is also from the same rosebush.

blue cornflower, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Soft Blue Cornflower

blanketflower, the artyologist

Such vibrant colours in this Blanketflower

blue cornflower and sweet williams, the artyologist

Cornflower & Sweet Williams

yellow lily, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Turk’s Cap Yellow Lily. It’s called ‘Turk’s cap” because the lilies hang downwards instead of up.

allium, technicolor flowers, the artyologist

Allium, or Ornamental Onion. One of my favourites as they are a large, 4″ balls of spiky flowers!

*All technical and horticultural information in this post, brought to you by my mom. I did not remember what all of these flowers were and so I asked her for the names of them 🙂

Life Lately: In Photos

Life Lately: In Photos, The Artyologist - Canola in Full Bloom

(Alberta: Canola in bright, sunshine-filled bloom)

We are a culture surrounded by and immersed in images and photos everywhere we look. Advertisements, magazines and social media: a constant influx of images. Everyone is a photographer, and each one is documenting the world they see around them, the way they see it.  I love how these little snapshots are being captured and catalogued. They are memories of a moment in time.

I have always been a person who takes photos daily. I used to carry around my little point and shoot film camera, always hoping for that special photograph I knew was waiting for me. A few years ago, I even challenged myself to a “Photo a Day” challenge: sometimes taking photos of the beautiful, sometimes of the mundane. Today, I don’t always carry my real camera with me, but I have one in my phone (as many of us do) and so I always have it ready to capture an experience, or something interesting. Do the photos I take need to be perfect and professional? Do I need to have a “purpose” for the photo? Do I have to share them on my blog or on Instagram? No. Sometimes it’s just nice to look back and think- “Oh yes, remember that time?” Or, “When did such and such happen”, and you have a picture to refresh your memory. Sometimes the photo serves no purpose, but to be there and bring a smile to your face. And really that is all they need to be. Snapshots; offering a glimpse into one little moment that was, no matter how fleeting it may have been.

So, here are some photos, taken over the last month or so. Not related to anything, or related to each other, but I like them nonetheless. Do you take “purposeless” photos too?

Life Lately: In Photos, The Artyologist -Nature

berry picking, my Grandma’s beautiful rosebush & so many mushrooms this wet year

Life Lately: In Photos, The Artyologist - Bouquet and Country Lane

a weedy clover bouquet & my favourite country lane near my house

Life Lately: In Photos, The Artyologist - Domestic Arts

books read/reading (we are reading Little Dorrit aloud, as Dickens was meant to be)

baking, tea- always tea & the latest sewing refashioning project

Life Lately: In Photos, The Artyologist - Berry Picking and Hosta Leaf

berry picking bounty & after the rain