Tips For Photographing Wildflowers

Six great wildflower tips for photographers from the National Wildlife Federation:
Six tips for photographing flowers - National Wildlife Federation


After capturing your masterpieces submit them to the LBJ Wildflower Center's Wildflower photo contest!

Poppy field image: Rob Sheppard

~The Nature Coach :)

The Salton Sea

Inspired by a previous prompt “crunchy.”

The Salton Sea
I shut my car door and walk back upon the
familiar feel of the salty, crunchy blend
of fish scales, bones and barnacles shifting
and crumbling beneath my desert-worn soles.

I stand at the sea surrounded by desert,
yet there is not a grain of sand
at this beach made of 'once living things.'
The sun-bleached remains are prolific.
It is a place poised in death, of desert-worn souls.

Mingling among smooth, mute bones
are coarse stones of frothy pumice,
an ancient colloidal foam of primordial creation,
solid and floating upon a parched and
bloodless beach, a dessicated, worn sol.
~M. Hedgecock

Save the Sea! <--learn about the Sea :)

Nature Time: The 5 Senses

With the new "Nature Time" awareness exercise posted in the sidebar, the previous exercise comes over for any feedback:

Inspired by Leah Piken Kolidas’s April challenge (The 5 Senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch). I invite you to create something that stimulates at least two senses. Whether you paint, write, cook, dance, teach—how can you integrate an additional sensory experience? If your work already connects people through more than one of their senses, challenge yourself to add another. How does this affect your creative process?

Nature's Palette: Box Canyon Geology

This week’s nature palette is created with a glimpse into our past. Our geologic past. Not only does this slab from the Pleistocene show the immense buckling and pressure you can find in our local Box Canyon area of the Mecca Hills, CA, it inspires a soothing palette with a splash of blue that has an intensity that matches its ancient creation! [click image to enlarge]
 

Like another palette? Be sure to see this beautiful photo contributed by Laura Huff, found via TwitPic in 140 characters or less @thenaturecoach - Inspiration from the graceful sea, check out today's nature's palette! How will you be inspired? http://twitpic.com/1h4t4x

An Artist Must Possess Nature

“An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.”
                                                           ~Henri Matisse
 

The Joy of Life, Henri Matisse, 1905-1906

Your Idea!

I've been getting some great feedback about the Nature Awareness Exercises in the sidebar. Some of you have told me about your experiences and have even expressed a desire to share comments on them. It is so fun and helpful to learn how others turn these exercises into personal activities that have helped in unique and clever ways! In an effort to encourage this type of sharing, I've taken your comments to heart and will now be adding these as posts.

The sidebar tasks will stay as is, however once the new awareness exercise appears, the previous one will be posted for comments. I've included the two most recent in this post and will pull some of the more popular exercises from the past to include as occasional posts as well. I look forward to your feedback--your words just might be what someone else needs to hear!

Create A Water Mandala
The next time you water your plants, clean out your pets water dish, or cook hard-boiled eggs or pasta, pour some of the excess (cooled) water—strain through cheese cloth to remove soapy water, pasta, plant or pet bits—into a wide, shallow bowl or extra large plant saucer. Collect older flowers from your garden, along with a variety of leaves. Gently float petals and leaves in a pattern or arrangment that emerges from your inner nature. After a day or two, remove the petals and leaves and pour your mandala water over some plants.

Moon Sketching
I’m a lover of the full moon—hiking in her bright light, camping, gazing…feeling its energy and invitaion for personal reflection. Try this under the next bright moon. With a sketch pad and some chalk, find a natural place to sit comfortably, such as a campground picnic table, your backyard hammock, a boulder-strewn area to sit or lean against the stone. No flashlight allowed. Let your eyes adjust to the night and begin writing, mapping or sketching your surroundings, or draw something that you feel, or catches your moonlit eye. Placing yourself in a different setting like this (if this is different for you) can really stimulate the creative process. Let the energy of the moon pull and tug at your creative flow and see what is revealed.

(If you are having trouble adding a comment, and you wish to post one--please feel free to send your comment to me and I will post it exactly as written, on your behalf.)