British Columbia

[cyan_blue]

I like how the sun shines through these leaves, and how one leaf shadows in front of another, to create a stained-glass effect...






I love the shapes of these flowers, and the millefiori effect of one flower being comprised of a bundle of tinier flowers. The brilliant colors are also wonderful - somehow "sunset bands" of yellow, orange, red and purple take on a special glow all together. And I like the soothing background of dark green leaves... the color explosion would be too overwhelming were the leaves brighter or lighter.



I know that sunstreaks are technically a photography faux-pas, but I like to use them to give a bit of drama and flare to a photograph. These mountains are part of the Tantalus range. I stopped to photograph them because of their impressive height, which alas doesn't come across so well here. They are over 8,000 feet high, which is more than double the height of our local Mt. Diablo.



"Taro leaves!" said emmett_the_sane, when he saw these. "Really?" I said, fascinated. Growing up in NYC, I had never seen a taro plant, but I had enjoyed the sticky taro buns that the Asian bakery sold. So it was good to finally meet the source, as it were. I like the contrast of their blackness against the paler greens behind them.



I like how the stamen and pistil look like a beckoning hand from inside of this pink flower. The petal veins are also very pretty, and the dewdrops of water give it even more of a sense of freshness.



I like the featheriness of these leaves, and I have a fondness for the little "pollynose" seed pods (samara), which my mother showed me how to pull apart and stick on my nose when I was very young so that I could look like a little parrot. They also make impressive propeller twirls when dropped from high up.



I love the "lounge effect" of this photo of Emmett in our hotel room in Vancouver (we stayed at the Listel on Robson Street). I think he was reading Girl With A Pearl Earring there, with some sort of fizzy fruity soda drink.



The black leaf silhouettes look lacy against the sky, here. They remind me of the black beaded picot-lace necklace that I made for n0ire once, which we had to keep away from her sharp-eyed macaw.



And these are some mountain peaks in Whistler... aren't they glorious? We took a gondola tram up high above the town, and enjoyed breathing the fresh air and looking at the splendor all around us.

Comments

[caldarelli.livejournal.com]

Extremely cool

[caldarelli.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the first and second pictures. The colours in the second one are gorgeous.

Re: Extremely cool

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

Man, the mountains in Whistler don't look real.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean... they look almost like a graphic! But they are real.

[adamchristopher.livejournal.com]

These are absolutely gorgeous too. I always love your descriptions as well. The second one and the big pink flower are my favorites this time. The oranges and browns in the Emmett shot are warm and beautiful too.

lovely!

[firecat]

I like the orange flowers, and the sunstreaks (especially how they make a giant arrow with the mountain acting as an arrow in the other direction), and the strange color of the taro leaves (and the composition of that photo).

[magid.livejournal.com]

You take such beautiful pictures, both interesting subjects and well-composed.
I hadn't known taro leaves were so black; what a surprise.

I think the flowers in the second photo are lantana, which bloom from the outside of a cluster in, and the flowers change color as they age, starting out yellow, then orange, then red.

[auros]

I've seen leaves like that before, but never knew that was taro.

And are the leaves edible at all? I know the root is -- and quite tasty, at that. Fried taro fritters with various dipping sauces (chili, sweet and sour, peanut) is a nice appetizer. Had it at the Lao place on the corner of Cedar and Shattuck once.