The Beauty of Ferns

FERNS BEAUTIFUL FERNS

I have always loved ferns.  In my area, in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, fern growth is a sure sign that Spring is here as they unroll their young fronds.  And the ferns are everywhere.

Ferns are beautiful.  As an addition to your garden, as a houseplant, or as a decorative art piece in the home or office, the pleasant yet simple beauty of the fern is pleasing to the eye.

I have taken perhaps hundreds of pictures of ferns through the years, a few of them are below.  In spring, summer and in the fall, they always offer the artist or the photographer great subject matter.

Below I have published a few facts about ferns.  You might find them as interesting as I have.

• There are about 12,000 species of ferns
• Ferns have been around for about 360 million years
• Ferns are older than land animals and far older than dinosaurs
• Ferns were around 200 million years before flowering plants evolved
• At one time ferns were the dominant plant of earth's vegitation
• Ferns do not reproduce from seeds or flowers but rather from microscopic spores that are too small for the human eye to see
• Most ferns grow in moist areas and can be found from sea level to 15,000 feet
• There are species of ferns that can grow in just about any condition on the planet
• Ferns are relatively delicate plants
• Ferns are grown as food and as ornamental plants
• Some ferns can remediatie contaminated soil and some ferns have the ability to remove chemical pollutants from air
• Ferns play a part in mythology, medicine, and art
• Ferns are generally not known to be poisonous to humans
• Some ferns are noxious weeds or invasive species
• Some fern plants are vividly colored
• Many organizations exist that focus on the beauty and care of ferns

 

The Ferns of Spring 3 

 

The Ferns of Spring 2

 

The Ferns of Spring 1 

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Taking a Good Sunrise or Sunset Picture

Taking good pictures of a sunrise or a sunset is not about the sunrise or the sunset.

Sunrise and sunset pictures - or pictures of shoes for that matter - are a dime a dozen.  There are billions of them.  If you don't want your pictures to be lost in that crowd, you need to do something different.

Granted, pictures of sunrises or sunsets with flowers in the foreground are not terribly original, either.  But the following picture is nice because in this picture of a sunrise, the subject is not the sunrise but rather the beautiful yellow flowers that fill the frame.  And it is about the brilliant, colored morning light of the rising sun that is splashed upon these flowers.

When you are standing on a mountain looking at a sunrise, don't take pictures of that sunrise.  Instead, look around you and notice what the beautiful light does in the environment in which you stand.  Or turn around, away from the sunrise, and see what the light has landed on.  That is your picture.


This picture was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina in the Doughton Park area.



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Good Pictures are Taken not Given

A good picture is taken, not given. Good photography is accomplished, not presented. Some photographers think good pictures are all about location. That a trip to a national park or a special scenic location will automatically guarantee they will get good pictures. But taking good pictures is not about location, it is about good photography.

Good pictures can be taken right where you live - a local park, in the city, or even in your own back yard. There are many things right where you are that have all the elements needed to create a good photograph.

The following fine art photos were taken at a local park, right down the street. The subject is mundane. There is little that can be more commonplace than the trunk of a tree. But the pictures have good composition. They contain exquisite textures like in the bark of the pine tree and the pine needles on the ground. And with just a minimal of processing which included vignetting to bring the viewer's attention in, they turned out to be rather nice photos.

So before you pack the ice chest and gas up the car for a long drive to who-knows-where, take a look around you. All the elements of a good picture may be right where you stand.


Taken in a park near Greensboro, North Carolina:









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North Carolina Coast Fine Art Added to the Gallery

I have added some new fine art to the gallery. Some of the pictures are among my favorites. They include pictures taken in the Croatan National Forest as well as in Seaport, North Carolina. Both locations are coastal North Carolina, and the art is of the coast / seascapes.
Here is one of the images:



For a more details, read this blog.

Dan Carmichael fine art photographer & artist:
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New Fine Art Prints Added

I have added a diverse batch of new fine art prints to the online sales gallery.  They range in subject matter as well as color and black & white.  See some of the images here:

http://picturenorthcarolina.com/north_carolina_pictures/diverse-new-fine-art-prints/



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New seascapes and landscaped added to the gallery

I have added two new images to the fine art gallery.  One is a seascape from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the other is a landscape of rural farm country in North Carolina.  To read more, click the link.

Inspiratiional Photography and Messages

In 2009 I envisioned a series of graveyard pictures and inspirational messages.  I created a series of fine art photographs and art and inspirational messages to accompany them.  The series gathered attention because it offered inspiration, and those who were aware of it liked it very much.  But I made no real effort to publicize it and eventually pulled the series from public exhibition.

The series was lost for a couple of years, but I recently rediscovered it.  I began to read the inspirational messages and instantly tears were brought to my eyes.  The thoughts are so powerfully emotional - about life and death, about forgotten memories, about great joy and deep sorrow - that I decided to publish the body of work once again.  My hope is to inspire others.

The project consists of fifteen images and inspirational thoughts, and spans almost 5 years of work.  Pictures were taken in historic graveyards during the Autumns of 2006-2009.

The blending of graveyard sadness and the lively colors of Autumn is symbolic of the mysteries of life and death.  The colorful leaves, as well as ourselves, both eventually become the enduring dust of the universe.

If you would like to see that art and read the inspirational messages, it can be viewed here.

"In Memory of Cooper" from "Whispers from the Grave"

"In Memory of Cooper"
There is splendor in the graveyard.  Tread lightly on the grass.  The worries that we carried have been buried in the ground.  Our spirits are unfettered.  We have breached the earthly barriers.  There is nothing to hold us down.  Cooper has risen.  He soars forever.