Venturing Outside

As we got our double vaccine doses and the weather got better, we are venturing outside more often. As most visitors of this site may know, I am a fair-weather photographer. The improving outdoors makes outings more pleasant for me. And there are additional benefits besides the exercise, which is not one of my favorite things. Even my doctors know that! (All the images are clickable for larger versions.)

Unexpected Photography Opportunities

On one of our outings, we went to Jamestown to have lunch at the East Ferry Deli. The weather was quite nice, but all the tables outside were full. Luckily, they had a couple of indoor tables isolated by thick plastic curtains.

We waited in line with our masks on with proper social distancing. When our turn came, we placed our order and sat at one of the tables behind the thick plastic curtains next to the exit door. The low optical quality of the plastic gave an interesting look to the scenery outside. I took a couple of photographs of which you see one below. On the way out, we went down the few steps to the sidewalk and I saw a small rock painted in blue with a word on it: Hope! Fitting for the troubled times.

Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.

One of my walks was after a rainy day which created puddles on the road. When I come across them, I look for interesting reflections. Sometimes I get lucky, and this outing gave me a couple of more photographs of the reflected world, upside down!

Venturing Outside, Find New Things, Colors, and Shapes

When I walk at my usual slow pace, I tend to look in all directions, not only to the right and left. Many things I find on the road level offer interesting shapes and colors. I even find the manhole covers interesting. Can you imagine any other shape for them with a cover on top? As we visited Providence in early April, we crossed the Providence River over the new pedestrian bridge. In addition to the nice panorama over the river, I also found a polished metal square on the wooden path. I also learned that there is a place called Plant-Based Food Hall & Market, probably a new eatery-market combination.

As the flowers started popping up, everything got more colorful, even the sidewalk next to my feet. The creeping phlox with a yellow intruder caught my eye. As I walked a few more steps, next to a patch of blue Muscari was a similar stretch of phlox resting confidently as a perfect Gaussian distribution curve, at least 95% of it! Continuing the walk on Fair Street brought me next to a nice branch of dicentra or bleeding heart in a sidewalk garden.

An area in the neighborhood has always been like being in a wilderness, a thickly wooded area with a spring flowing through it. Many trees were under siege by sturdy climbers like bittersweet. The new owner of the unbuildable land had the area tidied and created a nice pathway. It does not go anywhere, but with the newly planted azaleas and daffodils, it has become a pleasant view. I hope they did not clear all the wild roses! Another wild plant I noticed was a damask violet with a nice head of a four-petaled bunch of flowers. Back at home, a nice large white daffodil was waiting to say hello.

Repeat Experience of Familiar Things

On one of my paths is a Church of the Latter-day Saints, a plain-looking modern building. I have photographed it many times from similar vantage points. But, depending on whether it is a single shot or a stitched panorama, I may get a different feel in the photograph. With its straight lines, the building offers me material to sharpen my architectural photography tools and vision. Even the inclusion of a tree branch covering a part of the sky may change the feel.

Another building I have photographed numerous times is the Asbury Methodist Church, with a huge tree in front. In the spring, the smaller trees add more color to the scene.

As the sun got stronger, I started taking some infrared photographs of these churches. In monochrome, they look very different and striking.

At the corner opposite the LDS church was a large cluster of rhododendrons in bloom. I thought the one in front of our house was large. But with that in front, the house shows some attitude!

I Learn New Things

As mentioned earlier, I had no idea about the Plant-Based Food Hall & Market. I still don’t have much, but I can learn more about it in the months to come. Also, I had to look up the name of the wildflower, damask-violet before presenting it here; another thing I learned from running into wild things. Most importantly, I have learned to be patient and observe my small neighborhood. Every day, there is an infinite number of photographs out there. Some ought to be good, I am patiently searching for them! The same is true for your neighborhood too. Check it out! Just don’t go out to photograph a specific thing, let the photographs find you.

For your information, if you have a plant you want to identify, there is a nice site PlantNet. Its plant identification page is quite easy to use. Drag and drop a photo of the plant, indicate the part of the plant shown, and it will give you the answer. There is also an app for your mobile phone if you like. You can even take a photograph of the plant while in the application.