2021-05: April Shower Bring...
May is famously a time of blooming flowers. If you're feeling floral, this is the post for you! And if you're not... Well, maybe stop a moment to smell them anyway!
All of the photos in this entry are presented in chronological order. We begin on May fifth, in a cozy garden beside someone's front stoop in Halifax. Daffodils are among my favourite early-Spring flowers.
Olympus E-PL9: f5, 1/250 sec, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
This statue in a South-end Halifax park symbolizes the hospitality that infuses Ukrainian culture. It is a marker of arrival of Ukrainian settlers in Canada, a process that began in the late 1800s. Today, only Ukraine and Russia have larger Ukrainian populations than Canada.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Unfortunately, the Spring of 2021 will go down in Nova Scotian history as the era of a second wave of Covid-19. The swelling in the pandemic outweighed our first wave and the so-called "second wave", which was really just a minor increase (But certainly a full-blown concern in many other parts of the country). As a result, I escaped home to the country as we entered a second deep lockdown. The circumstances are unfortunate, but the scenery is quite nice.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 500
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
I absolutely love my job, and my coworkers. I do look forward to seeing them in person when things open up again... But I really, really love my water view!
Olympus E-PL9: f5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
I fear this photo does not do justice to how pretty (and how large!) the carpeting of delicate blue flowers is. In person, they look like a river.Particularly with the trees above in blossom, they make a colourful and unique corner of the world. It's a beautiful sight out my kitchen window.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
The lockdown rule in Nova Scotia is that households must not mingle. That said, single people and couples are permitted visits from a single person (or a couple). For me, my "plus one" is my parents. The next few pictures are taken in their village. Starting off, here's a tree in a wooded patch with a fascinating pattern of fungal growth.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.5, 1/400 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Seeing (and smelling!) apple trees spilling over with flowers is a sure sign of Spring in Nova Scotia. The nice sight is tempered a little by the knowledge that the pandemic has cancelled the Apple Blossom Festival again this year.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 500
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Shocking as it may be for a former Ottawan to say, I must confess that I am not overly fond of tulips. I find that their long stalks make the ground surrounding them look bare, and I find their short time in flower too quickly turns into a macabre slow-dropping of petals. Nevertheless, when they are at the perfect full bloom, it's easy to forget any criticisms. This outstanding one was growing wildon the side of my parents' postmistresses' driveway. Before the pandemic, she was a regular guest at a weekly board game night; I hope those times comes again!
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/16050 sec, ISO 2000
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
It's hard to resist bluebells. As a child, my sister had a book of faeries or some other garden variety sprites, all of whom wore different flowers as hats. I'm fairly certain one of them sported a bluebell.
Olympus E-PL9: f5.93, 1/500 sec, ISO 500
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Spring wouldn't be complete without the sweet fragrance of lilacs. These ones in my side yard are not all open yet, but they already smell great. While preparing to upload this picture, I was struck by how very lucky we are to live in an era of colour photography.
Olympus E-PL9: f7.1, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Time for a quick break from all the flower shots. In May I tried to shoot several birds (with my camera). I have a decent photo of an eagle in flight that's a little too far away to be really good. I have one of a crow that would be fine, if not for a blurry branch arching across the middle of the frame. And then, there's this one. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that one of my many snaps of this bird turned out nicely.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 2000
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
It's so peaceful to walk by the estuary... There's very little traffic noise, and no construction. I appreciate those points more after a few months in the city!
Olympus E-PL9: f7.1, 1/640 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
As the month of May turns its face toward June, the local tide of the pandemic is beginning to turn, too. With any luck, the Summer will see travel opened up so I can more easily balance the bustle of the city and the breath of the country.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Remember that river of blue flowers I can see from my kitchen window? Here's a closeup. The individual flowers are so tiny that it's difficult to capture them. Seeing such beauty at so small a scale,then glancing up to see the wide world all around, one is struck by how much there is to experience in the universe.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 640
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
To end off my May 2021 post, I figured it would be poetic to return to a dandelion shot. This is not the very same plant as the one from my first photo in Antigonish County, but each are emblematic of the other. Flowers are fleeting, they spring and they fall - just like everything else, including pandemics.
