It is the Small Things

Perhaps it is because I am a plant nerd and field identification is one of my great loves that I zero in small details so much. Of course it could be wired into my DNA as I'm from a long line of people that never failed to notice or forgot anything from the tiniest details to decade old feuds. (Thankfully, I am not cursed with hanging onto grudges forever.) And so to me, "God is in the details" - it is the small stuff that means the most and always catches my eye.

On a walk through Sonnenberg you can't help but to see the big things - the Italian Garden, the Mansion, the fountains, the ponds, the Tea House, and more. They are the iconic things, the historic treasures that thousands of people come to see every year. But in my walks, those are just backdrops. I see the tiny and ever changing minutia of the gardens and Nature in general. A bit of bark on moss. A green katydid on a daylily. Dew on a leaf and the patterned spread of lichen on a rock. Each with their own amazing beauty and incredible stories to wonder at.

I urge you on your next visit to stop for a moment and look. Really look. Become fully present in that one moment of seeing. You will be amazed by what you see when you drop - or elevate - to that level of seeing. Your visits will never be the same again.

Spring 2017

Self-planted violas sprinkled with evergreen pollen

Tulip tree's young leaves reaching out

Aloe in the Greenhouse

Paper Birch bark on pine needles

Weeping beech leaves opening
and looking like tiny fans

Copper Beech with blooms hanging
like earrings

Morel mushrooms in a quiet corner

The brick walkway dusted in
pollen from the Pinetum

One final thought....

Enjoying the view? If so, bring along some young people and share looking at the tiny stuff with them. The group of you will have a whole safari of exploration and fun. And young kids are really great at this kind of seeing and will undoubtedly point out things you never saw. I'll guarantee you that priceless memories will be made by all.

Photo Tip: Patience is a Virtue

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and bumble bee (Photo: K. Burkard)

Having taken thousands of photos of natural subject matter, botanical photos are my favorite. Other than movement caused by wind, plants are some of the best behaved subjects you could ever take a photo of. They can wait patiently for hours in the same pose and they never deny you when you wish to take their portrait. They are more than happy to accommodate.

But the fauna that visits that flora? They are a jittery bunch. They flit from bloom to bloom with reckless abandon rarely pausing long enough for a good view let alone a well-composed photograph. So how do you get shots like this one?

First watch the flowers and you will see the rhythm of the pollinators. It is much like a dance from flower to flower. You'll see that they visit each flower in turn and that no flower is unvisited for long. Then pick your floral subject. Pick a beautiful, perfect bloom. Now see the photo you want in your mind. Set your focus, get the sun and shadow to fall as you need, and whatever else you need to do to get that envisioned shot. Now the hard part, quietly wait. Your shot will come if you have the patience for it.