Sunday, February 17, 2008

Day 49 The Shape of Things to Come

My blog name has the word "oasis" in it, but Debbie (a fellow pea) and I found a Real oasis yesterday. We found one of those "invincible summers in the depth of winter," that Albert Camus talks about (see my digiscrapping layout on January 26th). We found a steamy world exploding with color, tropical sounds from a fountain in a pond and the "Qwahh! Qwahh!" from cockatiels! Camus was talking about inner strength, but this little trip to All Seasons, a local nursery, with a dear new friend, was a very welcome oasis in our winter yesterday!


All of these pictures were shot in manual mode using my 18-135 mm lens, custom white balance, ISO 200. The photo above was shot at 62 mm, exp 1/30/ f/5.6.

These prickly guys were shot at 100 mm, but also f/5.6 and 1/30.
And the photo above was shot at 35mm, exp 1/50, f/5.6. If you look closely at this photo, you'll see I'm actually on theme! The hedge type thing is cut in the shape of some kind of being with "arms", pushing the cart with the flowers. Hopefully, it's a hedge, or I've really insulted an unfortunate employee. (When you click on this photo, the frame blends into the background, giving the impression, almost, that you're outside. Oh, lovely delusion!)

For those who asked about the size of the statue yesterday; it's approximately life-sized.
Thanks for looking!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

That first one is WOW! Love the clarity in these! Great shots.
Cari

Debbi said...

These are fantastic, Angela! Your photo of the "being" is great. I got it from a different angle and yours really shows him pushing the cart better. I also LOVE the colorful cacti - you can feel their prickliness (is that a word?) in this photo. I definitely want to go back and try again! Isn't it amazing how we were in the same spot and saw/shot things from different angles? Thanks for the fun outing! It really brightened my spirits to see some color and signs of spring!

ScrappyGuy said...

Angela,
I found an oasis like this too at Callaway Gardens in southern Georgia. Loved the butterfly garden there! You're pictures are so gorgeous.

Kristi said...

Wow...that first one is INCREDIBLE!!! Awesome take on the theme!

Unknown said...

Cool shape captures.. The colors are just wow as well!!! Thanks for sharing them!

pakosta said...

i just love the 3rd one!!!
tara

Alicia Barry said...

Great shots. I love the colours in the second one.

Farrah Jobling said...

Awesome shots! I love the first one.

Jeanette said...

Wow! I love them all. Lots of great colors.

Becky said...

How cool that you and Debbie got together to shoot. So fun seeing your shots of this little oasis. Very pretty. I can almost smell that greenhouse smell.

Kari said...

Beautiful colors!

Becky said...

Hi Angela, Thought I'd pop over and take your poll. You've got a lot of great shots. Beautiful photos!

Tera Fraley said...

oh these look lovely!! So full of color and very vibrant!!

For Over 29 Years... said...

How fun that you guys got to do this. I love all the green of these.

Amy said...

Very nice! The plant in the first photo looks like starfish on top of each other. Love the colors in the second photo and hedge person in the third!

Trina said...

LOVE THEM ALL!!!! Oh how I yearn for spring!! Great angles and color!!

Donna S. said...

WOW. Amazing pictures!!!

Reds said...

Love them! So bright, so full of colours!! Great shapes too!! ;)

Sara said...

The color is so vibrant! It's refreshing to so color and greenery. Thanks for posting these lovely shapes!

Bobbi said...

These are so beautiful! I love all the color. I really love the color in that 2nd one :)

April said...

oh..those are gorgeous..i love the 2nd one.

pat said...

Oh nice!!! What a wonderful place to retreat in the depths of winter. The "employee" is a hoot!!!

Ann said...

Beautiful photography. I like how you tell us your camera setting. I try to duplicate them.

Merilee said...

Beautiful colors! I would love to find a little oasis like this.

emilyc said...

Love the color on that second shot. Everything looks so warm. I think I need to find my own little getaway like that. The weather here is turning into a real downer.

Amy said...

Hi Angela, you asked me a question in my comment area and I'm not sure how else to answer it! :)

My aperture (f/5.6) on the Russian nesting dolls was the same for both photos, I just manually changed what I was focusing on.

Thanks for checking out my photo! Amy