Bokeh Sunday

The caption of my post my sound unfamiliar for bokeh cannot be a Sunday nor Sunday can be a bokeh for both are different things - but for me the last Sunday, that was yesterday, it made sense. For it was Sunday and I wanted to try the bokeh feature of my One Plus 5T cellphone my son gifted to me awhile ago. So it was a Bokeh Sunday or was it a Beautiful Sunday as was sung by Daniel Boon in 1972 when I was in my teens !!

And thanks to my wife who has maintained a beautiful garden loaded with flowers and trees. Though it is too early for our garden to bloom as spring is still a month away, some dying and blooming flowers and bushes gave me enough canvas to shoot my Bokeh Sunday !!

For those who are not familiar with the word Bokeh, the Wikipedia defines it as: In photography, bokeh (/ˈboʊkeɪ/ BOH-kay;[1] Japanese: [boke]) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.

So scroll down and see whether I really made good my Sunday in trying the bokeh feature of my smartphone - I am sure I will get a thumb up from you. And for me it is some achievement as I am just a novice in photography.

Let us start!!

 

 The remains of past glory

Now coming to the roses. Though the season is already ending for the full blown roses, some still remained for me to try on my bokeh Sunday!!

 Yellows

Varying hues

 Monochrome

 White beauty

Cineraria

One thing before I end. While looking for some close ups, I came across this delight - honey bees busy making a Honey Mall. Well that was some excitement for I will have pure bee honey in a short while. And when I shared this photo on Facebook, many friends started collecting bottles to drain out the honey in the making. For the time being I asked them to bring droppers for there would hardly be any honey. But I think in the end it will be looted away and I will left with nothing.

Do tell me my Bokeh photo shots - why don't you share yours?

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Awesome Colours of Autumn - the Mellower Season

Spring is the most loved seasons of all when there are flowers everywhere, multicolored, eye catching and sweet smelling. But ever wondered the beauty of autumn when ever leaf is a flower?

 

 Yes, I really mean it. When the cold winds of winters start to blow and the leaves start to fall, they cover the entire landscape with such beautifully coloured leaves of varying shades of pale and yellow that one is left spellbound.

Autumn is also called the fall which commences from late September continues through early winters. It is the time of transition of green leaves  to light yellow, deep gold, orange, crimson and dark red. The landscape looks so beautiful that compelled Albert Camus to say: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. “ 

 

Though the falling leaves are dying, they die with such a grace that saying goodbye to them is difficult. John Barrows say: “How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” Yes the last days are fascinating. And walking over these colourful leaves with the chirpy cries of the dying leaves  beneath one's feet is a fun of another kind.

Autumn is the season when the poets and writers are at their best for the sadness coupled with beauty is much more difficult to describe than the freshness of spring. Stanley Horowitz describes the autumn season the best: “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.”

 

The autumn leaves have a language of their own. The Autumn leaves tell of a season of letting things go, it can also be a season of renewal and rebirth. For every goodbye is a harbinger for many welcomes, smiles and happiness. When it is autumn, do go out and walk on the dried leaves, for they had once adorned the trees with varying shades of greens. Though one can feel the nostalgia of someone going, springs erases such melancholy and renews life once again.

“Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year’s end and day’s beginnings.”  – Terri Guillemets

Photos: A combination of shared photos from Pixabay and self taken autumn shots
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First Super Moon of 2018

The new year 2019 started with a big super moon as a goodwill sign from the Nature. While the New Year's celebrations painted the skies around the world with multi coloured fire works and their bursting and cracking sounds, Nature preserved this surprise for the world a day later on the first day of the year.

While there will be many full moons later this year, as per NASA, this was the "biggest and brightest" one for the entire year.

As an avid lover of sunsets and moons, I was there to catch the last setting sun of the year which slowly went down taking along itself many tragedies and happy moments from across the universe. and I am sure all sky gazers and astronomy lovers would have been there on their rooftops or among the Nature itself somewhere in a desolate place, a lake side or a hill top or even the window of their houses watching end and begging of the two years.

This year will have many moon sightings, the one at the at of this month on 31 January when we will get a chance to see first Blue Moon of the year. For the information of those not having any idea of what super moon is, here it is how it happens: The phenomenon "super moon" occurs when the moon becomes full on the same day it reaches its perigee, the point in the moon's elliptical orbit when it is closest to Earth.

As for the Blue Moon, the simple definition is that it is a type of Full Moon - looking blue. It is caused by a rare type of dust in the atmosphere. However, sometimes Blue Moon may look red, because it will cause a total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon. So stay tuned and be ready to witness the first Blue Moon of the year on 31 January 2018.

Photos by me !!
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Fun of Instant Photography

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There is no fun in photography than instant and impromptu photography. While previously it was rather difficult for the amateurs photographers as they did not always carry a camera - but now with the camera mobile phones, instant photography has become much to easier.

I, being an amateur photographer, am too facilitated by my mobile phone to catch instant moments and nature. The photo above that of a double rainbow is one such moment that I was able to capture while waiting at a traffic signal.I could not take many shots, but of the two I took, this one was rather clear and better.

Do you as amateur photographer take instant shots too - it is simply fun. Isn't it?

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Top Creative Natural Living Pictures

Art is all about creativity and aesthetics - these two aspects when combined together make artwork immemorial and praiseworthy. While we still appreciate the beauty of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, the developing art in the digital age has its own beauty and attraction.

I recently came across some amazing photos in gif format from a photographer from the Netherlands and was really awestruck by his creativity and aesthetics. Since the country is lower than the sea water around it, one can understand the photographer's love and closeness to water, which is evident from most of his photographs.

Take a look below of this amazingly creative photographs that would leave you awe stricken too:

Herein under are some more of the Dutch photographer's art work:

All photos above are shared from Funzug

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Sun brings the spring

'Here comes the sun' is one my favourite songs by The Beatles. Whenever I listen to this song, which I do very occasionally, it takes me back into my memories of good old days when I bought this 45-RPM record long time ago. Herein under are the beautiful lyrics of the song, which once you read will find out the relevance of the song with the caption of my post today (I have edited and shorten the compelte lyrics so as not to make it long for the actual post down below):

Here comes the sun
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clearHere comes the sun

As narrated in the lyrics of the song above, it is about the sun coming out of the clouds after a long cold winter - a winter that we had this time in Islamabad, which is said to be one of the coldest in the recent past. It really made us shiver when outside and when inside the house, it restricted us closer the fireplace  all day long.

But in this cold winter, my wife who had a passion of gardening, was outside planting seeds and saplings to blossom in the coming spring. and with the sun coming, here is the much awaited spring that my wife prepared our lawn in the cold winter last year.

And today, a sunny day after a long spell of clouds took me outside and see how have we welcomed the warm sun and the accompanying spring - and wow!! I was amazed and dazed at the colourful flowers that have sprang up all over our garden and lawn. I cannot describe the joy I saw on my wife's face as it radiated the same glow as being displayed by the fresh and colourful flowers. While I appreciated the beauty and the gift of the Nature to us, I took a few shots from my cellular camera for sharing with you. Here are some:

And this reminds me one of the beautiful verses:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I am counting the days

that I can finally

see you

A little digression from the traditional poem, but counting of the days is over as it is spring all over with its multitudes of hues and colours and so soothing fragrance spread into the environment, a making one happy, joyous and cool. and  thanking the nature for all the seasons and the suns, specially the spring. 

Do fall in love in the hobby of gardening and you would know one day what is real joy seeing the sapling and seeds you planted, cared for months during the severe winters and finally seeing these sprouting into beautiful colourful flowers, with butterflies hovering these.


Originally posted at Jaho Jalal

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