James H. Brown Sr. April 11, 1924 – Feb. 25, 2011.

James H. Brown Sr., 86 years old, married to Betty for 63 years, father of 3  sons, grandfather of 5, great grandfather of 2, … my dad, died on Feb. 25, 2011.
He was buried at Fort Jackson National Cemetery.
A “NAVY” guy!

My dad once told to me that he liked this photo that you see above.
He said, “I wonder what it would be like to fly like a dragonfly and sit around a pond?”
It just so happens that my father-in-law who is a retired Rev., carried out the funeral service for the family and had this story to tell during the service.
It seemed so fitting!

The story goes something like this:

A large family of dragonfly nymphs were living in the waters of a beautiful pond, just a foot or so below the water’s surface.
Over time, members of the dragonfly family noticed that some of its family members were disappearing.
Some family members were seen moving towards the surface of the pond, moving to the top portion of the water and into the sunlight, where they vanished, never returning and telling the rest of the family what they had seen, or experienced.
The remaining dragonfly family members were concerned, and decided among themselves that if anyone should happen to go to the other side of the water’s surface, that they would try and return to tell the others about what was there, … what they had seen.

Just a few days later, one little dragonfly nymph had the urge to move upwards, to the surface, to the beautiful light above.
He swam up, breaking the surface waters, then climbed up a narrow strand of grass.
There he soon had wings, and the urge to fly began.
He happily flew around this new world that was full of amazing things he had never seen before.
Then he remembered that he was suppose to return and tell the rest of his family what he had seen, … what he had experienced.
He tried to get back below the water’s surface, but he could not.
He tried over and over again, … but never once could he break below the surface, to return to his family and the world that he knew.
So, … he flew away, never seeing his family again as he once knew them.
He never forgot his cherished family and the love he had for them, … but he was in his place now.
It was a glorious place to be!

This is where I see my dad now. A glorious place.

The night before he died, my youngest son Joseph and I went to the hospital to see him.
He was very talkative, but for the past three days no one could understand a thing he was saying because of the mask he was wearing and the sound of oxygen being forced into his mouth/nose. He had two air embolisms within his lungs and they were trying to get them to move into a filter that was placed within just a day earlier.

We stayed for about 90 minutes.
Little did we know that Joseph and I would be the last to see him alive.
Joseph told him good bye, then I leaned over and kissed him on his head, telling him in his ear that we were leaving and would see him the following day.
I then told him, “I love you daddy”.
Some way, some how, my daddy said very clearly to me, “I love you too son”. Joseph heard it as well.

He somehow had managed to say it loud and clear to me.
I believe now that he knew.
I believe that was the way it was suppose to be.
I believe that was the way God planned it.
I take great comfort knowing that those were the last words he ever spoke to me, … and I heard it.

So daddy, … your sons lifted a toast of old Irish whiskey to you.
We pray that heaven has Grits and RedEye Gravy, good guitars, country music, and that God will allow you to fly with the angels wearing your Zoot Suit!

I love you daddy!

Naturescapes Cover Photos.

Naturescapes.net recently chose a image from my “In Their World” series for their August cover. The image chosen was of a beetle sitting deep within the throat of a daylily.
The other image used back in 2005 was of a layer of orange/gold rose petals in more of a abstract form.
Visit “Naturescapes.net” to see, … to discover.

“Macro Art In Nature” – Website

Now On Facebook!

And yeah, … I have not figured out the best way to use it yet!
Just signed up at Facebook, and it is already asking me the “become a friend” questions and I’m not really sure what I am joining or inviting.
Man, … I am way behind the times it seems!

Mike

When It Rains, ….. *** (UPDATE)

*** The police found the car about 3 miles from our home around 3:00pm today.
It was a bit dirty, a full tank of gas was gone, smelled of pot inside, a man’s shirt left inside, the license tag had been replaced with a dealer’s tag, and a small kids school backpack left in the back. No damage, and the police say that they know who it is. Now, … just finding him!
**********

As that saying goes, “When It Rains, … It Pours”.

Yesterday morning, I go outside to crank mine and my wife’s car up to let them warm up a bit in this cold weather we have been having.
I come back inside, grab some things to get ready to leave, and in less than 5 minutes time, my wife’s new SUV is gone.
DAMN!
Yep, … somebody stole it right from our driveway, right from under our nose!

If anyone out there who has been having some good luck, and has some left over, … could you please send me some?
You can FedEx it if you like, and I will gladly pay for it too!

Seriously though, … seems like I couldn’t buy any breaks if I had all the money in the world.
From my truck getting totaled by a drunk driver 2 years ago, the hot water heater causing a huge mess, a hiking/shooting trip in Georgia that resulted in me getting a couple of teeth knocked out, a lawn mower that blew up, the loss of huge trees on our property from two different storms, a sink hole on our property, ….. I truly can’t catch a break.

Hopefully I will post something again one day. Maybe something that will inspire both you, ….. and me! God knows I need some quick inspiration.
Right now, it is pretty tough to write anything at all, … other than a bunch of curse words! :)

Hope that everyone had a great New Year, and that 2010 will be the best ever.
I’ll come around one of these days, ….. and soon!

Michael

True Saturated Colors In Macro.

Yes, I will admit that I am fond of shocking a viewer.
I like to shock a viewer who believes, … “that can’t be real”.
The viewer who thinks, … “man, you must have jacked up the saturation in that shot!”
But there are many who are not that familiar with certain flowers and their characteristics in nature or in a garden setting.
There are those who do not understand the makings of certain flowers.
How much moisture they hold within their petals, the diamond dusting on certain petals, how certain flowers will absorb light, etc., … and the effects that those characteristics have when recorded on film or recorded digitally.

Now if you look at the following image, a daylily (hemerocallis) abstract, most will think that indeed the saturation was boosted up.
The colors and saturation as you see it here are just as they were recorded.
This shot was recorded with two small reflectors on each side of the flower, and natural early morning light coming from behind the flower, giving the yellow throat area that bright neon type of glow.
The daylily flower and its petals, are full of moisture. This is what gives it such rich and saturated colors depending on how the light is.
There are other flowers that has lots of moisture within the petals as well, … some with a bit less, … and then there are those with not much moisture at all.

So, before thinking that maybe a particular image was given a huge boost in saturation, that this flower is made that way, … and that just maybe it’s the way it is seen in the world of macro photography and with the right kind of lighting involved.

© 2008 – Michael Brown
* Copying/downloading of images is prohibited
Red Daylily – Abstract

Thanks for stopping by everyone,
Michael

Michael Brown – Photographer
“Macro Art In Nature” – Website

Daylily Abstract – “Silent Whispers” Series

This is a image that was recently added to my “Silent Whispers” Series, a series of images that is slowly coming along, … a series that I am picky about.

This was taken out in my garden among the dozens of daylilies of various sizes, shapes, and colors.
I had plenty of time to plan things out, surrounding this particular daylily with 3 white reflectors and using the Lensbaby.
Using the Lensbaby and a version of the old “Cram It” method works well with floral abstracts.
Fun, … and easy to do!

© 2009 – Michael Brown
* Copying/downloading of images is prohibited
Daylily – “hemerocallis”
“Silent Whispers” Series

Everyone take care, and thanks for stopping by.
Michael

Michael Brown – Photographer
“Macro Art In Nature” – Website

“The Watcher”

My youngest son and I had decided the day before to get up early and head out to the Congaree Swamp National Park.
The weather forecast called for cloudy weather, which was perfect for what I had in mind.
But, … not a cloud in the sky from the moment we got up and on to sundown.
A “blue sky” day for sure!

We headed for a area where I new there would be plenty of shade, shade produced by the largest remnants of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on the continent. State and national tree records are held in this national park!
Before leaving the boardwalk and getting onto the backwoods trail where I wanted to photograph some reflections of fall colors in the tea colored waters, I decided to create some up close abstracts from the leaves that were along side the boardwalk.

Down on my stomach, head and camera along with the Lensbaby only about a foot away from the oily waters, I started to compose.
The very first view that I had, I noticed something in the middle of the frame which seemed a bit odd.
It looked like a figure, a person, … someone who was standing in the dark and oily waters, … watching me.

© 2008 – Michael Brown
* Copying/downloading of images is prohibited.
“The Watcher”

I kept thinking about that very first image of the day, and was anxious to see that image on my screen when I got home.
Here is a part of the image cropped and enlarged.

Looking at the original on the screen, I could see the area that possibly could look like a face.
Then I cropped and enlarged the area even more.
Whoa!

On this day, I had certain ideas in mind for images I wanted for my files.
On this day, every where that I turned, there was something that I had never experienced before in this swamp.
On this day, it turned out that it was the best creative day I’ve ever had in this swamp.
On this day, … I could not help but to wonder, …… what was leading me to these intriguing spots?
What was telling me on this day to abandon all that I knew?

Only moments after this image was created, the waters of the swamp had slowly moved bits and pieces around to where this image looked drastically different, … and that figure in the waters of the swamp, was now gone.

Maybe the Watcher wanted to move on, urging my son and I to follow.

Michael

Michael Brown – Photographer

“Macro Art In Nature”