Color Culture

Fairly soon after we moved here, I planted lots of tulips and daffodils out on the berm.  Although the berm often looks more like a weed garden than anything else, the tulips show up every spring, plugging away with steadfastness of spirit and a splash of color, undeterred by their ugly neighbors.   (I feel a blog post about weeds coming up.)   Incredibly, this is the first year that I cut some and brought them in to add color culture to our kitchen.  After putting them into the vase, I could hardly take my eyes off of them, which naturally  led to lots of photos, trying to capture in permanence what I see only temporarily.   I don't know about you, but beauty just makes me ache sometimes.  It's a good sort of aching, but an aching nevertheless.   This isn't a world that just came along by accident and stumbled into beauty.   I used to think that -- bought the whole evolution package and never thought to question it.  I mean, they taught it in the schools, it must be true, right?  I took a human physiology class in college and the doubts started creeping in...how it is possible that the evolutionary process made all of these complex systems that work together so harmoniously?  Think about it.

Meanwhile, back at the tulip vase I decided to try an experiment with black cloth which I had learned about in the first photography books that I bought, a trilogy by Scott Kelby (The Digital Photography Books 1, 2 and 3).  First of all, if you enjoy photography and haven't read Kelby's books, I recommend them, especially if you like to laugh.  I'm sorry I don't have a hyperlink to Scott's website here, but I'd have to ask my daughter (again) how to do it and it's too humiliating.  Anyway, Kelby recommended black velour cloth as a background, but I ended up having to get black felt.  Don't tell me if it's obvious that it's only cheap felt in the background - I'm pretty sure I won't believe you.  I actually used two tricks of Scott's on this one: the black cloth and the spray bottle to create a dewy look.  I tell you that in the interest of full disclosure and with the hopes that you are not saddened by having to discard your illusions that I cut these in the early morning dew.




I call this one Contemplation of Setting Sun Shining and Sparkling on the Translucent Petals of Apricot-Colored Tulips and their Leaves.  Just kidding.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! 

in wisdom have you made them all: 

the earth is full of your riches.

Psalm 104:24