Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Kiss of Sunshine

Kissed by sunshine
We live in Florida, called The Sunshine State. It continues to amaze me what the sun can do to ordinary things.


A few days ago, I noticed this flaming red leaf in the corner of our yard. The late afternoon sun was shining through and totally changed the look of the dead brown leaf on the staghorn.



It appeared to be on fire and I stood totaly amazed, shooting a dozen photos of it.

I took this photo the next morning with the sunshine coming from the early rising sun. Same plant, both beautiful, but what a difference in morning and evening sunshine.
(click to enlarge to see the details the sun brings out)
*

The Rising Sun     by: Sri Chinmoy
The rising sun
Blesses my mind
With joy.
The setting sun
Blesses my heart
With peace.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

great blog it is amazing how the leaf appears to have veins like humans.
Light is everything, to the camera
and the photos.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pics! Your Florida climate is just perfect for some pretty amazing varieties of plants and animals. I suspect it gets a bit too hot and humid for delicate humans though!

Pam said...

You have gorgeous photos on your blog and are very talented. The staghorn fern is beautiful but it would never survive here. You are so lucky with all your warm weather!

Sunny said...

"The kiss of the sun for pardon. The song of the birds for mirth. One is nearer to God's heart in the garden. Than anywhere else on earth."
I forgot who said that but it popped into my head when I saw the title of your post.
Wonderful pictures, at first glance, I thought it was a squash blossom.
☼ Sunny

RoeH said...

I love seeing all of the veins in a plant leaf. Maybe it's the thinking that was put into the creation of things.

DawnTreader said...

Beautiful. That first one could almost be a stained glass window...

Unknown said...

It's so amazing what a difference a few hours makes, isn't it? Lovely shots!!!

Ginny Hartzler said...

Yipes!! I'm stunned, in awe,and impressed, I'm having many feelings right now! First, amazing, shocking pictures! You are actually showing the sun take a dead thing and bringing it back to life, if only temporarily. I'm glad you included the last shot, we had to have it to see how amazing the effect is. The poem is perfect, and is pretty much how it makes me feel. You don't even have to leave your yard to take us on amazing voyages.

George said...

That first picture is absolutely stunning. Thanks for reminding us that sometimes we can create beautiful art by shooting toward the sun.

Dawning Inspiration said...

Lovely color and texture - mwah!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Very interesting comparison, Sandra.... Amazing what the late afternoon sun can do to that old brown leaf....

Hugs,
Betsy

SquirrelQueen said...

Gorgeous shots, I like that you did a comparison with and without the sunlight.

I remember studying the veins in leaves under a microscope back in college and I still find myself looking at them on the tree lit from behind by the sun. Very fascinating stuff.

The little pineapple is growing fast.

Barbara said...

Lovely photos! My first visit to your blog, so glad I found you!

Anonymous said...

I love your eye for true natural beauty! We are all surrounded by such beauty, but only a few take the time to really "see" God's free gifts. jlpros

Kilauea Poetry said...

So true..its just timing I think and being there in that moment..chasing sunlight! These are really pretty Sandra! I'm still slowly getting around (was gone all day yesterday- doc visit and errands), so I'm also writing via my phone until I get up some more energy to park my caboose in front of my computer! Lol:)))

Tipper said...

Wow what a difference the sun made in the pics-I love the red!

MedaM said...

It really is a big difference. This huge leaf really looks amazing in evening sunshine. You took fantastic photos of it. I especially like the first one that looks like beautiful stained glass.