Jul 27 2009
Lotus Life
On Saturday, July 26th, I attended a half-day photography workshop hosted by Wil & Donna Hershberger, a couple of dedicated wildlife photographers and sound recordists who live in eastern West Virginia. The workshop was held at Lilypons, a unique nursery for aquatic plants just northwest of Washington, DC. I went expecting to concentrate on water lilies, but ended up being captivated by lotuses. It’s easy to see why this huge flower is a favorite object of contemplation–its easy to lose oneself in it hues and its geometry.
Shortly after sunup, we fanned out along the dikes containing the lotus ponds. What follows is a sampling of lotuses in various stages of their bloom cycle from bud to seed. If you’re having a distracted, harried sort of day, just turn on some nice soothing music, feel your breath, relax your muscles (but not so much that you can’t use the scroll wheel) and join me for a little trip through lotus life. You can click on any image for a larger view.
Cool plant, huh? Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful and soothing!
Bee U T full! Great shots…very zen!
Jeff,
Is it ok to use one of the photos as my desktop background? or do u Copywrite?
I would like to use the pink one with the bug..
Dawn–
Firstly, I’m flattered. Thank you.
You’re welcome to download images of mine for your own personal, non-commercial use. Thanks so much for asking.
As far as copyright, any image anyone takes is automatically © the photographer. Allowing personal, non-commercial use in no way voids this copyright.
All the best,
Jeff
Those are wonderful, Jeff!
I’ve seen the American Lotus, sort of creamy yellow/white, but never these pinkish ones.
So pretty–I especially like that seed pod!
Absolutely beautiful. And I was going to ask the same question as Dawn! Thanks for your gracious sharing. I’m not a real computer savvy grandma, but if I can figure out how, I’d like to use one of these as wallpaper too. It’s such fun to experience the world through others eyes, and your vision is very appealing.
Sue–Let me know if you have any trouble. I can help.
Those are some mighty beautiful shots there.
Stunning shots, Jeff. Love the scale given by the hovering sweat bee.
Jeff,
These are really neat photos. Thank you for sharing. In particualar they make a great scene on a Texas 105 day.
Very nice shots Jeff. I need to get out and do some more macro work, thanks for the inspiration!
(Am I seeing things wrong or are you now shooting with a 50D? Congrats!)
absolutely beautiful photos. thanks for sharing.
Hello Jeffrey,
I am very taken by your photography on your lotus life page.
We, my wife Teressena and myself have been living in Hot Springs, AR for the last seven years and photography and birding are some of my own hobby’s, that have grown over the years. We also organize sacred journey’s to the Olmeca / Mayan lands and intend a tour this early fall again.
I also create web-sites and am looking to use recently learned Flash knowledge to upgrade our sites.
Here is where your artwork may come in. I would like to create a flash from a closed lotus to an open one and would like to know what you see as recompense for using low res images of some of your lotus-work, (because it is for the net).
Please let me know if you are open to sharing them this way.
With kindest regards,
Martien Bakens