Photography: The Magic of Shooting in Low Light

This is the second in a series of posts about photography. Click here to read the first.

I love visiting the ocean, and having time on the beach. To me, there is something about the rhythmic crashing of waves, the wide feeling of timelessness, and the gentle scrubbing of the saltwater and sugary sand to wipe away all of the world’s cares. I love being at the beach.

Sunset on Italy's Maremma, over the Mediterranean

When I brought my first camera to the beach, I made the classic mistake time and time again. And I was always disappointed with my photographs. The colors always appeared washed out, my subjects were always squinting, and the objects I was trying to capture for remembrance always turned out pale. One morning, when I was up with the sun, I watched the woman staying next door to us, out with her impressive camera. After she was done taking photographs, she chatted with me for a moment, and made a comment I’ll never forget. “At the beach, don’t even bother to take photos when the sun is high. Only shoot at sunrise or sunset.”

The day's first light, on an Aromatherapy rose

 

Since then, I have found her words to be true, for more than just taking photos at the beach. Because when the lighting is low, the colors are rich, and the photographs become magical.

The same type of rose, under high light

When I had a garden in the United States with many roses, my favorite time to be in the garden was at dawn, with my camera in hand, as the light turned the dew into diamonds, and the roses and other flowers sparkled like gemstones in the low sunlight. 

Lavendar Illusion daylily, with low light

I began comparing the photographs I took in low light with the photographs taken in high sunlight, or with a flash, and the difference was unmistakable. 

Lavendar Illusion, taken at midday with a cloudy sky

Lavendar Illusion, again with low light

 

Starting the Conversation: Can you see the difference? Do you have examples of times when you’ve noticed your photos are better than other times? 

Please, leave a comment, and / or send in your own photos, of a scene that you love, and I’ll post it in a future blog and link it back to you. Just email your favorite photo to me at photos at jenniferlynking dot com. I’ll be collecting them over the next several weeks. I can’t wait to see your work! Thank you, Jennifer

Dandelions Can Be People, too

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John Fitzgerald Kennedy

It’s dandelion season here in Prague. Yesterday, with the help of a long metal weed-puller, I dug hundreds of the yellow, thick-rooted weeds from a tiny area of our Prague backyard. (Good therapy, sometimes.) But, when I finished, hardly any grass remained. The section had been all weeds.

I feel like I’ve been digging weeds in other areas of my life, too. Sometimes Dandelions sneak into my life and take much more than they share or give, and I find myself feeling overwhelmed and off-balance.

I think people whose focus is on what they get and believe they deserve are like the Dandelions. Dandelions may look pretty from a distance for a time. But soon, the pretty yellow flower turns into fuzz. And under the surface, their roots sap the nutrients and water from other nearby desirable plants, and are almost impossible to pull. They live to take. Like the physical weeds in the yard, some people harbor deep feelings of entitlement—that they deserve much more than they are getting, and that what they have is never enough.

Dandelions feel cheated. Often.

Surely, we all feel like dandelions sometimes—like we aren’t getting what we need or deserve. And then we begin to take. People might tolerate the taking for a short time, while the weed is small. But no one really wants a dandelion around for long.

Instead, focusing on producing something beautiful, like a grateful and kind spirit—more like the elegant Tulip, this time of year—will help our dandelion tendencies to turn around. From Taker to Giver.

Weeds take. Flowers give.

I can’t think of a more noble cause today—to give and refresh another in this already-difficult journey of life. To discover gratitude instead of resentment, and to spread joy instead of frustration. To be a flower to someone we love.

Starting the conversation: Do you often feel cheated? Do you have ways you turn a frustration into a heart-felt gratitude, and are able to live it out? Find ways this week to show gratitude...

Friendships, Tulips, and Dreams

"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." -Anais Nin

It has almost been a year since my husband and I first visited Prague, to consider moving here with our family for a couple year expat assignment with his job. I remember those initial emotions, the excitement, the fear. What would such a giant leap bring?

We wondered how all of us would make friends. We all left friends and family and flowers (my gardens ... and hummingbirds ... and all the small things we build into our lives over time in one place).

Now, we have lived in Prague for nine months, and our lives are settled and have fallen into a rhythm. We are so grateful.

Amazingly, we have made great new friends. And family enjoys coming to visit. And several of our new friends have given us flowers--tulip bulbs from their native Holland (photographs taken here, in my Prague gardens).

Beauty and dreams and hope and the sweet things in life even come in a new country.

I'm taking notes so I can remember ...  When we toss our hopes and dreams up like a kite to Heaven, I need to remember that the fear isn't necessary-- God has much bigger plans in store than that of my small fears. Unless our dreams include a few miracles, they're just not big enough yet.
 
Starting the Conversation: What little fears hold you back from big dreams?

Stop and Smell the Flowers

"Don't hurry. Don't worry.

You're only here for a short visit.

So be sure to stop and smell the flowers."

-Walter Hagen

In the whirl of a wired world, business never slows, time never stops, and we find little rest. Life passes quickly, numbing our hearts and wearing us down to exhaustion. But our lives were made for more ...

Sometimes, we need to slow down, take a deep breath, and smell the flowers beside our feet, whose scent lingers on sweet breezes and whose faces lift our hearts up toward the sun.

In this post, I'm sharing a series of Spring garden flowers, to brighten your day, and to remind you of the small things that bring life, and laughter, and love ... To this season of New Life, of Renewal, and of Spring.

 

"The best and most beautiful things

in the world cannot be seen or even touched.

They must be felt with the heart."

-Helen Keller

 

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,

we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,

an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring:

all of which have the potential to turn life around."

-Leo Buscaglia

"I am beginning to learn that it is the

sweet, simple things of life

which are the real ones after all."

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

"One of the most tragic things I know about human

nature is that all of us tend to put off living.

We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden

over the horizon--instead of enjoying the roses

blooming outside our windows today."

-Dale Carnegie

"Love bears all things,

Believes all things,

Hopes all things,

Endures all things,

Love never fails."

-The Book of Corinthians, Chapter 13

"Love comforteth like sunshine after rain." -William Shakespeare

 
Starting the conversation: What parts of Spring do you cherish most? How do you slow down and remember to smell the flowers?

Beauty Is ...

"Beauty is not caused. It is."  -Emily Dickinson

Lately, as I write, and rewrite, and rework my novel, I have thought much about beauty-- in stories, in relationships, in the way things look and feel, and the way words sound when read. But beauty and achieving it is not something easily done. Anyone with a blank canvas and a handful of brushes knows that beautiful art is not easily created. Anyone with a keyboard and a blank screen knows that excellent writing cannot quickly be hammered out. But somehow, beauty is ...

Often, I turn to photographs for inspiration. I thought I would share a few with you, flowers I photographed in our former gardens.

Beauty is ...

one of my favorite combinations of garden roses in bloom

a beautifully-painted Black Swallowtail butterfly on Echinacea

the jaw-dropper of a daylily, about twelve inches wide

my personal favorite: Bellaroma rose dazzling in dew at first morning's light

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting ... "  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Starting the Conversation (leave a comment below):  What do you think about beauty and art? Can beauty be created? Or like Emily Dickinson said so eloquently, do you believe that "beauty is"?

A Shot of Floral Color for the Dead of Winter

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December." -J.M. Barrie

Every year at about this time, my eyes feel deplete of color. Whether this year it's from the thick froth of snow blanketing my world white, from the soft gray European light, or from the daily veil of Prague fog, I don't know ... but this January, I need a shot of color. So I thought I'd share ...

This floral beauty is the Lavender Illusion daylily, from our former backyard (top photo, also) in the States. Somehow, creation flaunts hues impossible to replicate by humans. This color, a lavender veined in soft lilac and highlighted with delicate pink, has a magical sheen in the sunlight-- as if a fairy sprinkled each day's lily with enchanting pixie dust. Adding the vibrant lime-colored throat and neon stamens, the whole flower is a carnival of color.

Thanks for enjoying a taste of summer's beauty with me.

Starting the conversation: (leave a comment below) What are your favorite flowers from summer?

The Simple Joys of Summer

“Live Simply, Live Well.”

In our kitchen, we have a sign hanging above the doorway with the quote: “Live Simply, Live Well.” For some reason, those four words strike a harmonious chord down deep within me, and probably in many ways sums up the values I hold close—family, friends, love, laughter—the simple things.

Summer is the season for simplicity, I think. Sun, warmth, barbeques, pool-side conversation, splashing and playing, and, of course, garden flowers and fruits and veggies. There is nothing better than slowing down and soaking up some sun, joining friends for great food, and enjoying the simpler things. Living simply, living well …

We’ve been harvesting our best crop ever of garden raspberries. Maybe the abundant rain mixed with sunshine has done the trick, as opposed to other years with hardly any rainfall, but the boys and I have picked a couple gallons of raspberries this June (which doesn’t include the handfuls we’ve consumed right off the vine!). It’s been a sweet time, a delicious month of enjoying some of life's simpler things.

Also, since I love to photograph the living canvas of blooming art outside our back door, I’m pasting in a few shots that capture some of the beauty I’ve been enjoying.

The Back Border garden coming to life: Pandora’s Box daylilies, lithrum, Russian sage, scabiosa, Becky daisies, Greetings rose, miscansis grasses.

Lavendar Illusion daylily, one of my favorites

Heirloom Tall Garden Phlox, with a fragrance that perfumes the entire yard!

Enjoy your summer, and don’t forget to make time to savor the simplicity of the season ... :)

-Jennifer