20 February 2010

Winter flower by the seashore: Gardening Gone Wild Picture This Photo Contest

For months now, our friends at Gardening Gone Wild have been presenting the Picture This Photo Contest, which challenges bloggers to open their eyes to the wonder of the world around us, and to catch a little of that wonder with our cameras. Then share it with others.

I haven't entered before, partly because I'm in Canada and even if I had a winning shot, they couldn't ship plants here without going through enough security checks (phytosanitary certificates, etc) to put us in qualification for a G20 conference. But I wanted to participate just to show support for the folks at GGW and all the information they, and their guest judges, have given us over the past months.

So I'm offering up this little picture for the theme "Winter Light".
I went down to the wharf here in Scotts Bay a couple of weeks ago, on a day when the sun was out, it wasn't blowing 95 miles an hour, and it wasn't as cold as our priminister-bot's heart. It was getting close to sunset and the shadows were long, but I encountered this frozen stem of a Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota) flowerhead while walking along the rocky shoreline above the water, and took its photo.

What I especially like about this photo is the glistening hints of rainbow in the crystals of snow behind the plant, and the echoes of light in the relatively calm waters of the Bay just behind this cliff. Plus although the seedhead is frigid, its seeds all but gone, there's a whisper of spring promise in the fact that the seeds ARE gone. Plants will bloom again here on this stony promontory.

It works for me. I hope you enjoy it, too.

37 comments:

  1. Thanks for the reminder there is life and beauty in our snow swept landscapes!

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  2. Beautiful shot, it looks so cold & desolate. I've been having trouble getting opportunities to take photos of winter light, as it's been so cloudy most of the month. Then when we finally got a couple of sunny days, I was running around on family business. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of winter. It has ceased to inspire me.

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  3. Beautiful shot, Jodi! (Though, gulp, it does remind me of our backyard in its current snowcapped state.) And let me just say how wonderful your new-to-and-enjoyed-by-you blogs feature is. What a service, not just to the bloggers you highlight, but to all of us who'd also enjoy reading them. Thanks so much!!!

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  4. Now this is a wonderful photo Jody. I like how you captured the rainbow colors. A lot going on here. You also got the sparkle on the snow. I love to see snow that looks like someone cast diamonds all over it.

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  5. Nice pic. Always fun to visit. jim

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  6. All the sparkle of winter with the promise of spring - lovely!

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  7. I do love Queen Anne's Lace and the one you managed to capture is so beautiful with the snowy background. A great submission!

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  8. Beautiful, Jodi. Looks like a lovely place to snowshoe, too! :)

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  9. Jodi that is such a wonderful sparkling shot. Love the sun coming across the water in the background. Good luck with the contest and have a wonderful weekend.
    Lona

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  10. A beautiful reminder that although it is winter, the sun does shine and spring will return. Thanks, Jodi.

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  11. Brrr, I'm cold just looking at your lovely photo! Good luck Jodi, it's a pretty one indeed.

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  12. That's so beautiful. Awesome submission!

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  13. Wow - wonderful photograph! It sure looks cold!

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  14. Beautiful picture. I like the glint of the snow - and it looks very, very cold!

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  15. Oh, I adore it, Jodi. When I click and make it larger so these old eyes can see the details, the diamonds in the snow and diamonds in the water are breathtaking. Love the Queen Anne's Lace silhouette as well. Well done, dear!

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  16. lovely jodi
    quiet and serene...sigh..
    enjoy your day
    tabby

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  17. Jodi, it's an enchanting shot, or maybe mystical. We dont have winter light but we have all year round light and SUN as in FULL sun.

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  18. Gorgeous, Jodi! I think the ray of light suggests hope,too, which is a good thing, because I'm afraid winter has ceased to inspire me.

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  19. It's a lovely shot, Jodi! Good luck in the contest!

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  20. Indeed lovely, jodi ... I like it too, very much! It reminds me of what I am looking at here at the lake, except it's frozen!

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  21. Lovely Jodi. And how wise of you to see that the seedless flower head represents hope for spring flowers.

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  22. Wow! That is such a beautiful shot Jodi. Love it!

    RO xx

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  23. Jodi, this is just full of sparkles. Your description made me cold....oh those winds!! Brrrr!
    I think they should figure out a way to offer a prize to those outside the US. Good luck.

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  24. Great photo! Hey, I always join and hope that I don't win ;-> I try to plant California Natives mostly, and even when they had the Natives contest, the prize was a bunch of water-lovers from the East Coast.
    It's kind of like the Olympics, just participating is already a great thing. That said, I couldn't come up with a good "winter light" shot, so I'm actually sitting this one out.

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  25. I love the way that the light makes an almost static scene so dynamic. Well done!

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  26. That is just beautiful Jodi, what incredible lighting. Unlike many of your snowbound readers I'm enjoying it as a cooling image :)

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  27. I love the rainbow crystals of light that bounce on snow shots, too and this one is really lovely~ Good luck in the contest~gail

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  28. Now that is a picture to savor. Simply beautiful.

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  29. I love this picture. I love seeing the sunlight reflecting off the water and the crystals sparkling in the snow.

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  30. Winter light it is. Just lovely.

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  31. Jodi, the echo of the sparkling light in the bay and in the snow is so beautiful. Queen Anne's Lace has been one of my favorite flowers since childhood (and one of the first I remember easily recognizing), and it is wonderful to imagine that hillside under a different kind of white blanket, one more frothy and soft, and responsive in a different way to the sun and wind.

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  32. How beautiful! You captured a special visual moment, and otherwise few if any people would have the privilege of experiencing it. I also very much enjoyed your last post with the winter and summer photos. Such gorgeous scenery!

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  33. Very lovely photo. Best of luck with the competition.

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  34. Beautifully familiar shot, jodi! A sure winner, to me. I love the light on the snow, and the "stark skeleton" of the Q.A. Lace. Lovely!

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