New Photo: Japanese Maple Leaves

Japanese Maple Leaves © 2011 Patty Hankins

I’ve recently added a new photo –  Japanese Maple Leaves – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Taken the same morning as my Sweet Potato Vine Leaves photo, the leaves on this Japanese Maple Tree immediately caught my eye. The leaves were a wonderful combination of red and green. The leaves were still wet from a few days of rain – which gave them an almost purple tint. It was just a great combination of colors and shapes. I couldn’t resist photographing it!

This photograph is available as a 12 X 8″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Japanese Maple Leaves from my website.

Magical Maine

Fall Color Reflections © 2011 Patty Hankins

One of the highlights of October for me this year was a week photographing at Acadia National Park in Maine. I was there for a workshop on the Contemplative Landscape taught by George DeWolfe & Lydia Goetze.

Visiting Acadia National Park in the second week of October was amazing. I haven’t seen fall color like this in a very long time – probably since I was in high school. What I quickly realized was that in New England some of leaves of the Sugar Maple trees turn a magnificent shade of red that we just don’t see here in the Mid-Atlantic area. My guess is that I’ll be heading back to Maine for more fall color photography in the coming years.

Kelp on the Rocks © 2011 Patty Hankins

As wonderful as the scenery and colors were in Acadia – the best part of the trip was the Contemplative Landscape Workshop. During the workshop, I was challenged to think about my photography in ways I’ve never thought about it before. Really starting to consider – what am I trying to say with my photographs? What emotions and feelings am I trying to convey?

In addition to taking us to some incredible places to photograph, the instructors, George DeWolfe and Lydia Goetze, talked about how both Western and Eastern landscape painting traditions can influence how we compose our photographs. We also discussed how practicing mindfulness can help our photography.

 

Acadia Sunrise © 2011 Patty Hankins

It was a fantastic workshop – so good in fact – that I’m seriously considering heading to Death Valley to repeat the workshop in February!

Sumac Leaves © 2011 Patty Hankins

 

New Photo: Sweet Potato Vine Leaves

Sweet Potato Vine Leaves © 2011 Patty Hankins

 

 

I’ve recently added a new photo –  Sweet Potato Vine Leaves – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.

Who knew that the leaves on a Sweet Potato Vine could be so fascinating to look at??? I certainly didn’t. I spent a morning recently photographing at a local garden – my goal was to see what signs of early fall I could see. You can imagine my surprise when one of my favorite subjects was the leaves of the Sweet Potato Vine! I thought the combination of the shape of the leaves – and all the various shades of greens and browns made a wonderful image! Usually when I think about fall color – I picture the wonderful reds, oranges and yellows of many of the maple trees. What I discovered this year is that there are so many other ways that fall color shows up in nature. I can’t wait to see what else I can find . . .

This photograph is available as a 12 X 8″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can orderSweet Potato Vine Leaves from my website.

Fall Color – Close to Home

One morning last week I looked out my office window and realized how beautiful the trees in my neighborhood are this year. I could see all sorts of colors that I don’t usually see here in the fall. So I did what any photographer would do – I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I spent a little over an hour just walking around photographing. Here’s what I found

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse of the leaves from my neighborhood. They were a great reminder to me that I don’t have to travel to find incredible beauty in nature – sometimes all I need to do is head out my front door!

Fall Color Collection – Special Offer Ends on October 31

Just a quick reminder – my special offer for my Fall Color Collection ends tomorrow night (October 31) at midnight. The set of three photographs (Japanese Maple Leaves, Autumn at the Pond, and Sweet Potato Vine Leaves) are available at a special price of $ 157 (save $ 100 off the regulare price).

Each photograph is presented as a gallery-wrapped canvas – 12″ X 8″ or 12″ X 18″. Each arrives in your home ready to display.

Click on images to see a larger copy

Or if these aren’t the photos for you, you can create your own personal Fall Color Collection for the same special price of $ 157.

I hope you’re enjoying the wonderful colors of fall this year!

Celebrate Fall with my Fall Color Collection

I don’t know about you – but for me – there’s something wonderful about fall. The crispness in the air, the cooler weather, and all the wonderful colors in the leaves all make autumn a special time of year.

To help celebrate fall – I’m offering a set of three fall color photographs at a special price of $ 157 (save $ 100 off the regular price) until October 31. The three photographs are Autumn at the Pond (12″ X 18″, regular price $ 147), Japanese Maple Leaves (12″ X 8″, regular price $ 55) and Sweet Potato Vine Leaves (12″ X 8″, regular price $ 55).

My Fall Color Collection allows you to

• Create an indoor garden of your own
• Bring the beauty of nature into your home or office
• Celebrate fall – even if Mother Nature has a little more warm weather in store for you

Each photograph is presented as a gallery-wrapped canvas - either 12″ X 18″ or 12″ x 8″. Each arrives in your home ready to display.                  

Click on images to see a larger copy

Or If these aren’t the photos for you

You can create your own personal Fall Color Collection

Choose any one medium photo (12″ X 15″, 15″ x 12″, 12″ X 18″ or 18″ X 12″- regular price $ 147)

and any two small photos (10″ X 10″ or 8″ X 12″ – regular price $ 55 each) for the same

Fall Color Collection price of $ 157 (save $ 100 off the regular price)You can order my Fall Color Collection for the special price of $ 157 (save $ 100 over buying them separately) until midnight on October 31.

Early Fall at Brookside Gardens

I spent a few hours over at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland recently. I never quite know what to expect to find in early October – some years – there are still some flowers in great shape to photograph. This year – the flowers were OK – nothing special – but I did find some wonderful early fall colors to photograph.

The first plant to catch my eye was a very small Japanese Maple tree. Some the leaves were turning red – and with the rain we’ve had recently – there was lots of water still on the leaves.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

In the Fragrance Garden I found all sorts of wonderful leaves on some sweet potato vines to photograph. Not only so the leaves have incredible shapes but they also are found in all shades of greens, red, and purples.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

And then I found some wonderful red sparkleberries to photograph! A member of the holly family, Sparkleberries have bright red berries that last all winter – or at least until the birds eat them.

© 2011 Patty Hankins

© 2011 Patty Hankins

Fall is a wonderful time to photograph at Brookside Gardens – lots of leaves that change colors at different times. I’m looking forward to heading back there in the next few days to see what else I can find.

Fall Color at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge

One of the great things about Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge is the variety of trees located in the refuge. In the fall, their leaves all change color at different rates, and to different colors. So wehn Ivisited there in late October, I saw everything from green leaves that hadn’t started changing color yet – to lots of trees that had already dropped their leaves. I also found lots of wonderful combinations of leaves to photograph. Here are some of my favorite photos of fall color at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge.

There were many trees with leaves that were a wonderful combination of yellow and red. The top leaves in a group were red – and then the lower leaves were yellow – where the top leaves had partially covered them. I saw some wonderful patterns created by the combination of colors on the same leaves.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

There were some trees where all the leaves were yellow – with created wonderful bright spots in the refuge

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally a grouping of three different colored leaves against a tree trunk

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Three Lakes Park in Richmond

When I was in Richmond for the Craftsmen’s Classic Art & Craft show in early November, I made a couple of trips to Three Lakes Park. It’s a very nice little park – with three lakes and a trail that goes around the lakes. Lots of interesting things to photograph in a pretty small area. In other words – a perfect place to visit after setting up my booth for the show – and before the show on Sunday morning.

In addition to the Hearts A Bursting photos that I posted a few days ago, I took several other photos that I’m pretty happy with at Three Lakes Park. Here are a few of them

Some orange leaves on a branch hanging over one of the lakes

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Some incredible red sumac leaves and berries

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Some wonderful green and red leaves lit up by the sun

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Red & green leaves in the same area – in the shade

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

These might be the leaves of a sweetgum tree -  I loved the leaves in shades of pink and purple – with a few yellow ones on the same tree.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Some neat fungus growing on a tree stump

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally a bee resting on a leaf of a butterfly bush

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Three Lakes Park is a wonderful spot for a photowalk. I hope to return to the park in the spring when I’m next in Richmond for a show. I’m hoping my visit will coincide with the spring wildflowers.

A Walk in my Neighborhood

Yesterday morning, I took a walk in my neighborhood with my camera. I’d noticed that there were lots of trees with wonderfully colored leaves on them – so I decided to head out an photograph some of them. Here are a few of the leaves I photographed.

A few last red leaves on the end of branch

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

A fantastic group of red and orange leaves

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Lots of wonderful red leaves

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

And finally three photos of the leaves on the same tree. I was fascinated by how many different colors of leaves there were in one area of just one tree.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

9c) 2009 Patty Hankins

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins