Here's what I did to this photo: I toned down the highlights.
Now that I see it on the screen it looks like I was walking in an enchanted forest, where pretty posies grow near a charming cottage. Maybe an ogre lives there, or better yet a sweet old witch, who makes tasty cookies for good children and nasty ones for bad ones. The purple flowers tempt the littlest ones to her doorstep, where she offers them goodies (or baddies--one can't be sure 'til one eats). The older, wiser kids must be brave. They leap the purple flowers, run to the house, grab the tiny hands of the little ones and spirit them away, plucking a blossom as they go.
Either that or I was squatting in the gutter, while Boz stood on the median saying, "murph!" Which means "come back now, you come back now."
17 comments:
Wow, the sun sure was hitting those flowers just right... looks like it could of been a blinding one.. love the detail in the tree trunk.
Such a pretty spot, Kalei. I wait for these to pop up every year. They're best early in the day and they close up at dusk.
Great photo! I'm always amazed at how bright ice plants can be. I like your enchanted forest story; if a sweet witch is making cookies in that cottage I'll be sure to find my way there.
Ice plants. I think I should have known that, Katie. Thanks for naming them.
I love your story! Those flowers could be a forest of trees leading to that cottage. All it needs is smoke curling out the chimney. Perhaps you should try your hand at writing children's books? It's time for more books that enchant and slightly terrify children. I grew up with the REAL folk stories collected by the Grimm brothers, not the ones changed by translators or made into soppy Disney movies. They gave me a love of imaginative fiction, and I still see those medieval North European landscapes around me. One of those old cottages in Millard canyon could have housed Snow White, couldn't it?.
Dazzling!
Llandudno, I agree!
Bellis, yes, those cabins in Millard, or Santa Anita canyon, are magical aren't they? I went wild when I first saw them, wanting to have one.
in a few weeks the coast in Monterey should be glowing with these---a trip we HAVE to make as they are my sweetie's fave.
hummn, I'd better find a webcam---considering the weather this year, who knows when they'll pop here!
thanks for the reminder Petrea!
and ditto on the books, you know, in your spare time! ;-)
Awesome! Brilliant stuff, P.
Were you on your belly when you shot this?!
Nice shot, love the close-up detail and the hint of what lies behind. Hope you got one of those angled LCD screens if not... well I'm doubly impressed
Gor-ge-ous!
You go girl, you show us how to shoot this right! It's fantastic - the angle, the color, the crips lines. The pinks are my favorite...next to the orange...and purple...and :) (Thanks for the editing tip too.)
Thank you all for your nice comments! I've had a long day and it's lovely to come home to your good words.
Answering questions:
Ann, I was not on my belly. I don't actually recall, but even I would not get on my belly in a gutter. I was probably sitting next to the curb.
Deb, I don't have an angled LCD screen and I feel like an amateur because I don't know what that is. It's okay, because I am an amateur.
Thanks, everyone. A special thank you to the flowers, for being spectacular.
Thank you, Margaret. I've been told I'm a Summer but I think I'm really a Winter.
http://www.colormebeautiful.com/seasons/
Such brilliant purple! And I like your story, too. Maybe the good old witch would make doggie treats, too, in her magic oven. :-)
Oh, and I know someone who will eat them, too, Ms. M, no matter what horrid bits they're made of.
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