softness

Soft light in the morning

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Summer is usually filled with bright and vivid colors – the deep blue of the sky, the lightest whites in the clouds overhead, the bold red geraniums, the intense orange tiger lilies, and the vibrant gold of sunflowers. Yet this morning when I stepped out into the garden I noticed a welcome softness. Maybe it was the cooler temperatures or the haziness of the sky blocking some of the sun’s rays. The purple cornflowers were the same color they had been yesterday but there seemed to be a touch of delicateness in the garden – a softer light that spoke to me more than the primary colors of summer. It was as if it was telling to me to breathe deeply, and to enjoy the summer and this very moment.

Spring’s softness

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Last week’s photograph was of vivid red tulips.  In the bright sunlight of spring, colors often become bold, striking, and rich in contrast.  But there’s also a flip side to the season, and that’s the softness that’s found in the spring palette.  When the sky is overcast, or in the early morning or late evening there’s a calming and quiet hush that sometimes settles over the gardens.  It’s almost as if nature is resting after all its exuberance in bursting forth after winter.  In trying to photograph this softness and hush I’ve chosen to take this image with a slight blur, making this more about the shapes, tones and feelings rather than the direct representation of the tulips.