Nasturtiums

I don't think I mentioned that on the last day of school (June 25) I twisted my knee and have been hobbling around all summer. I initially twisted my knee three summers ago, it healed, then I twisted it again last January and since then it has been very weak. An MRI is scheduled for September 10, and my doctor thinks I may need surgery to repair the damage. Apparently it is minor surgery and usually 100% successful. As a result of the injury, I haven't been hiking or taking as many photographs as I normally do during the summer. However, I have been photographing the plants and flowers around my yard and will share some of those images over the next few days.

Four years ago, a person gave me a bag of nasturtium seeds that he collected from his yard. I planted them around my property and they grew well providing beautiful yellow and orange blossoms from mid-summer to the first frost. I collected seeds and have done the same each summer since then. Last year I collected many seeds and, despite the fact that I gave away LOTS, I still have thousands left. I have many nasturtiums growing around my property this year and really enjoy the colours this time of the year. I'll probably collect some seeds later, just in case those I have left from last season are no good.

The photos I am sharing today were taken under different lighting conditions. I have mentioned previously that a bright, overcast day is good for flower photography, but if you want strong backlighting on the leaves, you need to get out in the early morning light. Occassionly, I will make photos mid-day (see the Tangled Garden series I uploaded to my Blog in July) and have gotten very beautiful images. If you want to make photos of flowers and plants, I suggest you experiment. Since most, if not all of you, are shooting with digital cameras it costs nothing to experiment.