“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.” Abraham Lincoln
Beautiful plant, 4 to 7 feet high, the flowers are 3 to 4 inches across. As you can see by the thorns, it has an excellent defense system.
Quote found at http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/thistle/
“Miracles are the retelling in small letters of the very same story that is written across the whole world is letters too large for some of us to see.” C.S. Lewis
This guy was REALLY big – I guess over 12 feet. If you look closely there are young gators on the right side of the photo. They are living dangerously, since the biggest predators of alligators are larger alligators.
Quote found at http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/large/.
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art” – Leonardo da Vinci
Quote found in the book The Zen of Creativity by John Daidi Loori
“Usually we don’t even look at anything at all” – Chogyam Trungpa
Although these guys seem to be looking at you!
Of course the emu is captive, the cormorant was nesting in the rookery.
Quote found in the book The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori.
“I shut my eyes in order to see: – Paul Gauguin
Gatorland in Orlando has a wonderful rookery. And while it may not seem logical, gators and nesting birds have a symbiotic relationship. Nests are made in the trees above swimming gators. The birds lose an occasional egg or two, and in turn get protection from the rest of the creatures.
Quote found in the book The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori.
Couple of flowers that showed up in pairs. The first is a spiderwort – in keeping with today’s spooky theme – my other post.
For edge and alignment I stuck with nature, The coral honey suckle projects in an inverted fan, and the palm frond upwards. Both pictures were enhanced in photoshop to deepen the lines.
And thanks to photo 101 – I have been dying to use the palm frond picture since I took it, not sure why it struck me.
“Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen” – Minor White
Another Minor White quote, this one found in The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori. More on Minor White at https://picturethisbyfrank.com/2015/02/22/with-minor-white/
This little guy is one of the wild flower treasures in Central Florida. I believe it’s Mimosa Pudica. Although it’s a non-native species I am delighted every time I stumble upon one. They remind me of a fireworks explosion, they are also the source of some magnificent puff balls at a later phase of their life.
It always gets me on the ground – macro lens in hand – snapping away.
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein Just finished The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori, He was a Buddhist monk, photographer, and artist. Very insightful book. Great follow up study to Frederick Franck’s work. Perhaps in a couple of months if I get over the wonder of new discovery I will be able to focus more on the art side of photography. Info on John Daido Loori can bve found at http://www.mro.org/daido/ . More on Frederick Franck https://picturethisbyfrank.com/2015/01/14/more-inspiration/ and https://picturethisbyfrank.com/2015/01/30/the-awakened-eye-by-frederick-franck/ The quote was in the book.
Picture This by Frank 