iPhone Photography

What’s The Story Here?

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This afternoon, with my sister Donna, I visited the newest Afghan arrivals sponsored by the Jubilee Group here in Halifax. We spent a lovely hour engaged in conversation – I was trying to asses their English capabilities so I might know how to help them out. As Donna and I were leaving their downtown apartment (just off Gottingen Street), we saw these shoes just “standing” there.

How do you suppose they got there? Why would someone just step out of their shoes in the middle of the street? There is an intriguing story here, for sure.

Flowers In Bloom

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Bradford Pear In Bloom

The street leading from my apartment building has a line of Bradford Pear trees. Last week they were just starting to bloom. I love seeing the flowers come out. They’re strong and showy and the trees become a mass of white.

Orchid Cactus
Orchid Cactus

Then my friend Marlene had two orchid cacti blooming in her greenhouse – the flowers are gorgeous. However, fully open, they last but a day. These two obviously bloom during the day. She has a white one that blooms at night – it’s a special trip to see the open flower.

I haven’t taken many photos this spring. Not sure why that is. We’ve had some lovely sunny warm days but I haven’t been motivated to wander with my camera the way I was last spring.

Here are a few I’ve taken:

Forsythia
Kerria japonica
Blue Flag Iris
Amelanchier ovalis – Serviceberry

I need to pull out my camera more! Pay more attention to what’s around me.

More iPhone Photography

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Ice Fall

I was heading out to do a bit of shopping yesterday when I noticed the wall of ice beside the road. I didn’t stop then to take any photos but I did on my way back home. Quite striking, really, to see the frozen groundwater. The colour of the ice is what caught my eye in the first place.

Then today on my way back from the pool I saw the sun peeping from the clouds so I pulled into a nearby empty parking lot to take some photos.

Winter Day

There is actually a communications tower which looms over the hillside – I removed it from the image using an editing tool – Retouch – I didn’t think it added to the feel of the cloudy day with the sun peeping through the clouds.

Then sun came out more as I reached my driveway:

Winter Day II

I liked the snow hat on the rock and the shadow of the building bringing out the sunshine.

Late Afternoon Sun

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Late Afternoon Sun In My Studio

I get late afternoon sun in my apartment – but something you need to understand: my windows face NE! Not west. The sun shines in strongly – bouncing from west-facing windows in the building up on the hill across from my apartment. Depending on the season the bright afternoon sunlight can last for a few minutes to more than half an hour. It has no warmth but it brightens the rooms noticeably.

Today, as I was walking by, the shadows of the orchids on my studio/livingroom window ledge caught my attention. Difficult to photograph because the large Pfaff embroidery machine on the desk blocked me. Nevertheless, the photo is about shadows and those stand out – even their reflection in the plexiglas surface of the desk.

Another day, I might move the machine to try getting a better shot. Today, I was wanted to capture what I could before the reflection disappeared.

Japanese Maple

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There’s a lovely Japanese maple tree beside the Canada Games Centre. I glance at it every time I go by. As fall has progressed the colour has changed from a very deep red to a much brighter colour. And then the other day it was covered with a light dusting of snow.

Two days later most of the leaves had dropped.

When I went to edit the image I couldn’t miss the soffit vent in the roof overhang. I did my best to edit it out but couldn’t make it work. The only solution – crop the image.

So here you have a lone Japanese maple leaf with water droplets on the bare branches. A harbinger of the winter season to come.

A Double Rainbow!

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Complete Double Rainbow!

I was at my cutting table just how tracing a jacket pattern when I happened to glance out the window – an astonishing complete double rainbow!

The sun had come out behind my building with the rain still falling in front of me allowing the sun to create this amazing sight. Can’t remember when I last saw a rainbow like this.

I used the wide angle lens on my iPhone 12, adjusted the vertical alignment of the building on the right, but otherwise the photo is unedited; this is the colour in its full glory – a glowing rainbow against a dark sky.

The Two Halves Of The Rainbow

I took a raft of photos while the sun shone – it didn’t last long – the rain has returned, the sun gone behind the dark clouds behind.

For a moment it was compelling – I called a couple of friends to share the event.

Fall Day

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Yesterday we had a wonderful late fall day. Remembrance day. A friend and I took a drive which took us past the Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial in Bayswater NS. I didn’t take any photos of the memorial itself, but just as we were walking away the sun came out and highlighted some oak leaves along the pathway. The moss on the trees on the other side of the path was also enchanting. The photos were taken with iPhone 12, no editing.

  • Shades Of Fall
  • Oak Leaves
  • Shadows

While I was taking the photos the sun went behind a cloud and I left the spot but as I got back to the car, the sun returned – I quickly went back to capture the golden colour of the sun on the leaves. The glints of late afternoon sun o the trees and rocks on the other side of the path caught my eye as well.

I saw lots of other potential photos but I was driver so I made a mental image but didn’t stop to capture the views.

The Last Lily – 2021

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Last Lily 2021

I stopped by Chelsea Lane to visit my friend Joan. Parked in the cul-de-sac and as I started up the path there it was – the last Stella Doro Daylily peeking out from the fallen leaves. They bloom profusely, and although we haven’t had any actual frosty nights, they stopped blooming locally around the middle to end of September. What a nice surprise to find this lone bloom standing bravely against the autumn background.

I spent a bit of time editing the image, cropped it, tried intensifying the background colour. And then I happened to produce this:

Edited with PhotoRoom

What a difference setting the bloom against a black background with just wisps of green/yellow foliage. A rather dramatic rendering.

An Orange Autumn Sunset

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Autumn Sunset

An amazing cloud colour – bringing out the colour in the buildings below. Caught the moment quite by chance. A few minutes later the clouds were dark, all orange had disappeared. I haven’t edited the image except to crop it a wee bit. I thought about cropping it further to remove the cars and power lines as much as possible but found I wanted to keep the green foreground for contrast to emphasize the wonderful orange of the sky.