transitions

Shapeshifters

| drawandshoot

Things are not always what they seem. Sometimes when I am making pictures I notice that the plot is thickening. Other times, I don’t notice until later.

The camera though, it is a keen observer. It has spent a lot of time looking. It has developed a sense of humour. It understands how I love double meanings, a good pun, or an interesting metaphor. And it sees what I am looking for. Sometimes it is the one to point things out.

The lens. It knows how to make the tiniest of adjustments. It knows how shallow or how deeply I want to go into a subject. It makes sense of the light, filters it carefully. The lens is meticulous.

The subjects. They are generous with their time. They are frequently in transition and often surprising. They too have a sense of humour. And they are always teaching me. Showing me how to look at things. Showing me how things are and how they are not. But also, how they could be.

Do you see the things I see here in these images? These shapeshifters?


All images © Karen McRae, 2012

Transitioning

| drawandshoot

There is something about the transitions of the flora this time of year that I find just so lovely. I think it’s the subtle tones and changing forms that I keep coming back to. The possibilities seem endless here in this tiny world.




All images © Karen McRae, 2012

From the Curiosity Cabinet: A Cicada Cast-off

| drawandshoot

 

This little cicada shell was gleaming in the sun like a miniature bronze, and naturally it beckoned to come home with me. It is the moulted shell from the final  stage in a cicada’s growth. You may have happened across a similar empty shell tentatively clinging to a tree branch. You’d bring it home too, wouldn’t you?


The escape hatch. A little tear up the back.



*If you are curious about method, this cicada shell was photographed on a mirror.

All images © Karen McRae. 2012

Playful

| drawandshoot








These little transforming seed heads each seem to have their own bit of personality when you look at them closely. I am absorbed with the details of form, depth of field, and light (of course!). And they are very cooperative subjects. It is really the breeze that is most playful.

All images © Karen McRae, 2012

Windborne

| drawandshoot

At the risk of being boring I am posting more seed heads, but there is just a small window of time for capturing these before they dissolve into the landscape.  I am playing with light and form and the fleeting nature of the seasons themselves.

There is already a hint of change in the winds that scatter these little seeds.





Note: I am not sure what type of seed heads these are but all the florets together are only about 1cm in diameter.

All images © Karen McRae, 2012