After a few halcyon, summer-like days the spring blossoms are in full splendor. When I managed to get out with my camera it was mostly grey and overcast and I came away feeling like I had not been able to work the true beauty into my camera. I often find a way to work with poor light but sometimes nothing feels quite right.
There is a spectacular tree in blossom at the arboretum at the moment and you can see its twisted form in a couple of the above photographs. I photographed it from the ‘inside’ because the entwined branches drape around you in such a way that you can’t really imagine a more perfect place.
My images don’t do it justice in any way. Often, I find it necessary to spend a long time with a subject experimenting with different ways of photographing to capture a real sense of the subject or my experience of it. Sometimes going back several times in different light and conditions. But the blossoms are so fleeting it makes it difficult to do this. It is one of the challenges I love about making images, though – finding, and working with, the ephemeral.
There are times where I merge images together, layering and adding ‘ghosts’. I do this with in-camera double exposures, and sometimes afterwards in processing (in this case images 1,3,4). It is not that I want to tell an untruth with these images; more so the opposite. It is an attempt to express the sense of an experience that I have haven’t managed to capture. Adding layers to an image the way we add layers to our memories.
© Karen McRae, 2013
draw and shoot 
The top image here is the one that caught my eye just now on Freshly Pressed, Karen – very well done! The pale colour palette is just right for this, and my eye sees that single in focus flower first, before moving on right into the wonderfully out of focus dreamland – good stuff! Adrian
You have done a much better job than I have capturing spring blossom. I like the idea of adding layers to the photographs as a metaphor for the way we do that with images in our heads. I try to do the same with music. It’s all interesting endeavour, thanks for sharing 🙂
I love the little moments of clarity you bring up.
These pictures are enchanting Karen! Thank you!
The first is so delicate of line and colour, so beautiful.
Beautiful! I feel like I’ve been sent a Mother’s Day bouquet….thank you!
It really is a halcyon moment! I remember the ice and snow not all that long ago.
Oh, I don’t know 🙂 I think these pictures do justice to your subjects. They are beautiful. Gorgeous pastels! Smiling.
Love.
This is it. What Zen said “It’s there as it’s not there”.
Not a day in halcyon, but the eyes and the mind is in halcyon.
( I have no idea why this word got its meaning though, this must be
the exactly same situation, “Halcyon is there, hence nothing there
to talk about, fuss about. This is it” = ultimate open mind ! )
(Yet, not enlightened man is still wondering abut, what is those white
flowers are —– white magnolia ? )
They’re all just so beautiful Karen. The layering technique produces such a lovely result. Happy Spring!
I love these images you shot especially because you put so much effort on it to make the the way they are Karen. thank you for sharing them.
So peaceful… Fantastic.
Beautiful to be able to wrap myself in that tree visually through your lens. Isn’t it amazing how much importance we attach to this metamorphosis of nature? My take on the double exposures – you are layering the way artists also do with words and paint. It takes it into a depth and third dimension. It is examining the facets of something that is never just flat. It is seeing more and only an artist who knows what questions they are asking can do that.
So beautiful, Karen! I really love the shots with double exposure. Light, peaceful and simply fantastic.
You manage to find your own angle in every motif and have such a sensitive imagery. Whenever I visit your blog I leave it smiling, full of admiration.
I can recognise your photos even before I read the blurb Karen. Beautifully individualistic.
These are wonderful images Karen, so personal but so universal as well. I can FEEL spring through them!
Bonjour Karen ,
La fleur de ton regard , c’est ouverte en chemin ,
Sur cet être aérien , portant de verts miroirs ,
Ses branches contant l’histoire , d’une vie passé en liens ,
A croire en chaque matin , s’ouvrant à prendre part .
~
NéO~
~
Becs à ton Arbre de Vie
The top image is so very ethereal and almost precious. Love it.
Karen, I’m rarely able to capture exquisite beauty with a camera. When I think about how to do it, what it could/should be, your images come to mind. I know what you mean about the blossoms and that tree, but I DO see it.
Wonderful shots
An exquisite sequence. I especially ike the delicate beauty of 1 and 4. I feel I have shared your experience.
These are lovely, whether you’re fully satisfied or not…I know that expressing the essence of something isn’t dependent on a faithful recording of the “truth” the camera sees. Also, I get what you say about needing to return to the subject at different times, in different lights, different moods – sometimes the first tries are clumsy. But blossoms don’t wait, and of course that’s a good part of their magic. I feel that essence, especially in the 1st & 4th photos, and the under-the-tree shot works, too, the way the blossoms are loaded heavily around the edges, with more light in the middle – feeling tenderly enclosed but with the light/possibilities above at the same time. That’s one gorgeous tree – I think trees accrue nobility as they age, and the contrast between those slowly acquired bumps and twists and the delicate, fleeting flowers is delicious.
Karen, It’s interesting to see the tree that are in bloom up there in Canada now here in Kentucky the redbuds have already bloomed and are now into mid cycle of opening their leaves. The dogwoods are almost finished too and now it is the Locust Tree’s turn to flower. I love spring with it’s many scents and colors alongside the luminous green of young plants.
Your comment about getting so little time to study the subject really rings true. Last spring I missed the Iris blooms but this year I am already shooting them. It’s like tasting the first fresh strawberries of the season; you recall why spring tastes so good and how fleeting it is.
Golly Gee so many typos… Let me try again… It’s interesting to see the trees that are in bloom up there in Canada now. Here in Kentucky the redbuds have already bloomed and are now into mid cycle of opening their leaves.
Beautiful images, Karen…and I enjoyed your explanation, too…helps bring us closer, understanding where you are….thank you.
Impressive series Karen, just great!
I wondered if you did these in-camera or post production. I think the results are beautiful and I agree with you about the effects of layering. I think it can provide a more complex and satisfying visual experience too.
Beautiful, as always
the second one is my favourite, I find it really stunning!
This is such a wonderful sequence, Karen. I love your double-exposure technique as well.
Another chapter in the book of poetry. I love them!
“Adding layers to an image the way we add layers to our memories.” Well said, Karen. You did an amazing job!
Those merged images – you do it so subtly, that it creates a whole new layer, a little like your reflection photos. Excellent, Karen.
Not sure about the seventh, but the first six immediately were considered a pleasure by my eyes. : )
Beautiful!
the first one for me is a true gem – a wonderful balance between the concrete and the abstract – yet, both capture the delicacy very well
Spring has always been my favourite time of year. I miss the distinct seasons in Australia.
These are gorgeous! My favorites are the first two, but they’re all beautiful 🙂
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I love the different perspectives you capture, the angles, one might be what a landing bee sees and the other a half-concealed deer. Beautiful images.
Exquisitely beautiful,…stunning images of spring. Love the softness in the colors..the light.
It’s somewhat peculiar to see photos by you that aren’t framed in ice but I really am enjoying these.
Wow, lovely lovely! Amazing colors.
Beauty, Beauty, Beauty..x
Love it like in a dream
“It is not that I want to tell an untruth with these images”. You do not need to say that – you are making art. It is nice when magicians explain their magic, but they do not need to justify it.
I started photographing the cherry blossoms on the trees around me recently just for my own enjoyment, but I know exactly what you mean when you say that the blossoms are only available to us as fleeting moments. All the trees have now turned full-leaf, so I’m truly enjoying seeing your photos, Karen, and appreciating those short-lived Spring moments!
The layers work beautifully Karen. It’s somehting I keep meaning to try but I fear I am spending too much time taking photos 😉
I enjoyed this walk in your garden this morning … thank you for these beautiful colors and scents … beautiful day to you…
Fine series. The first one is very special; wonderful shot!
yes, we are trying to capture the ‘thingness of the subject. I’m not sure that says it, but the authentic essence of it. – something like that.
I really like your pics, very beautiful!
Your layered images are really really beautiful, love them ! And the tree… What a majestic and superb tree. You captured it so beautifully Karen 🙂