Fine Art Friday Pick: "Summer Path"

You might have noticed that a number of my pieces feature fully bloomed, or even the remnants of echinacea flowers (sometimes called coneflowers).  Simply put, it's because I love them.  Their shape, their height, the way they contrast with the blue sky, all have lead to my probable over-use of them in photos.  This particular shot, shows a floret that had seen better days, but was standing so tall amongst its grassy neighbors, even though the warm, humid wind kept pelting it with intermittent gusts.  That's also why I decided to add this Robert Frost quote to it, as well.  The floret seemed perfectly content sticking its neck up and letting the breeze catch it, even with the risk of any one of the waves of wind passing through breaking its stem.  Not that it exactly had a choice, I guess.  This print is on sale, through the weekend, at www.astoria-photography.com.  Use code FRIDAY at the checkout for 10% off.

Fine Art Friday Pick: "Voie Ensoleillèe"

I took this photo a couple of years ago, at a wetland conservation in rural Worth County, IA.  I have a few shots of this structure that partially crosses the waterway, but I'm not entirely sure what it actually is.  It reminds me of a bit of Greek architecture, and even though it obviously serves/served a particular function in managing the wetland (of which the mechanics are surely above my ability to understand), it was still very beautiful in its design and contrast against the nature around it.  The text is the last verse of the poem, "To One in Paradise," by Edgar Allen Poe - which is one of my favorites of his.  This photo is one sale for the weekend at www.astoria-photography.com -enter code FRIDAY at the checkout for 10% off your print or canvas order.

Tiny bit of trivia: see if you can spot the human in this photo...he was headed down to go fishing.  I didn't think he'd be visible since he was a ways away...but, nope- there he is! 

Fine Art Friday pick: "Missing Page"

This was taken at an abandoned (dairy?) farm in rural North Iowa.  The farm had clearly, previously been equipped with electricity, but everything - from the buildings to the contents in the tiny home- looked so primitive.  Except...there were a few torn pages from a book that were scattered across the entrance of the disheveled house, and a couple more that had been carried by the wind, out onto the unkempt lawn.  The book the pages belonged to is title Mystery in the Tropics, which, according to Barnes and Noble, was written by Irving Speed Wallace, published in 1941.  (Lo-five to the author for his middle name being "Speed.")  This is the last photo I took at the farm...beautifiul as it was, peppered with history and a life's work, the place, frankly, gives me the willies.  This photo is on sale in print or on canvas, all weekend long.  Use code FRIDAY at the checkout to take 10% off your order.