Author: Gary Wilson

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Flowers – Untitled #111

This is a picture of the central portion of a sunflower. There is a community garden near our home where a variety of flowers and vegetables are grown.

In July 2023 I took a stroll to the garden and surrounding area and took 80 pictures. In this image, my love of nuance and subtlety are shown; those parts of wonder that lie all around us but go unnoticed unless we are intentional of becoming aware of what is already here for us to enjoy.

Of the 80 pictures taken that day, one other image made the cut and is proudly displayed in our Etsy Shop: Flowers – Untitled #41.

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Landscape – Untitled #110

This picture is, more or less, a “companion” picture to Landscape – Untitled #108 where you can find all of the particulars about the when, where, and how, behind the pictures.

The attraction, to me, of this picture is the way the tree seems to make multiple suns through its leaves and branches. I found it quite fascinating when I uploaded it to the computer and it gaves me fond memories of that time spent near or on Douglas Beach in July 2023.

Pictures from this same date that you can find in our Etsy Shop are Flowers – Untitled #99 and Landscape – Untitled #108.

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Landscape – Untitled #109

This is a picture of Meadow Lake within the confines of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.

As I have often said in these posts, the Arboretum is one of our favorite places to relax, read, enjoy the flowers, fields, and forests, and, to take pictures.

This scene is one perspective of this well-known lake. As I took this picture, immediately behind me is the Visitor’s Center. Near the main parking lot, visitors walk by this lake to get to the Center. Often you will see chairs set up by the lake for special events and exhibits are found here throughout the year as well.

Inside the Visitor’s Center you will find the Ginko Room where guests can eat and are treated to this view through an extensive stretch of windows.

This scene was photographed in May, 2023.

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Untitled – #108

In July of 2023 we took a trip to Michigan to visit friends. On the way back home, we had made plans to visit one of our favorite places, Saugatuck, Michigan.

Very near Saugatuck is the town of Douglas. Both lie in very close proximity to Lake Michigan. We wanted to see if we could get some good sunset pictures, so, we decided to drive the short distance to Douglas. Never having gone there to find the beach, it turned out to be quite a trial-and-error adventure. Much of the property along the beach in Douglas is privately owned and inaccessible but after some searching we did find a small stretch of beach that was open to the public. We parked the car on the heights and took the well-maintained wooded steps down to the beach. There were a couple places built on the short decent, like decks with benches, where you could sit and enjoy the view.

Sitting on one of the decks I got this view of the sun peeking through the tree and reflecting on the water as it began its final trip of that day toward the horizon.

Other pictures taken that day that you will find in our Etsy Shop are Flowers – Untitled #99 and Landscape – Untitled #110.

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Untitled – #107

We took this picture on a very hot, humid day in July of 2016 at Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County, Illinois. It is a black and white rendition of the form and texture of a rivulet of water in one of the many stream and riverbeds in the park.

It hadn’t been particularly rainy during this part of the summer and the heat had aided in evaporation, so that what were once ample water supplies coursing through the streams and rivers, due to the late winter melt-off or the abundant spring rains, were now absent.

We had considered putting this picture in our Etsy Shop for many months and we finally relented. I love, particularly, the pattern of the “waves,” for lack of a better term, and the rhythmic function, certainly with a mathematical, waveform feel to it.

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Untitled – #106

When I’m shooting pictures with my camera, my focus is usually straight ahead at some object or landscape, or down while capturing the image of a flower or plant but, comparatively seldom am I looking up. I have had to train myself over the years to see what’s going on above me.

I took this picture in May of 2023 at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois near Lake Marmo. It is simply a grouping of trees along the path that gave me not only pause but a literal and spiritual sense of something bigger, greater than me; a looking up, if you will, to consider those lovely things that seem to be out of reach and yet, ever so attainable.

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Landscape – Untitled #29

Within the confines of the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, is Crabapple Lake. One will find an abundance of crabapple trees as well as a host of other trees, plants, and flowers. On one end of the lake there is as a relatively steep hill which we climbed to get this elevated view of the lake and fall-colored backdrop.

Taken in October 2022, it is one of two, out of over 130 pictures we took that day, that we have in our Etsy Shop. The other is Untitled #102.

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Untitled – #48

This picture was taken in November 2008, in Disney World, in Florida. Besides its serenity and beauty, this memory is of special significance to me.

I was still learning much about my, then, new camera. There were many challenges, as many photographers face, but “slowing water down” was especially problematic until this picture. Rather than “freezing” the water, I learned how to manage the camera settings to allow for a feeling of motion in the waterfall.

It was a turning point in honing my skills and a lesson that helped me, in some way, in my understanding of what I could get my camera to do to bring the best, most faithful experience of the moment.

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Untitled – #47

Rodgers-Lakewood Park in Valparaiso, Indiana made for an excellent, day-long, get away for me on that colorful, peaceful autumn day in November 2011.

The lake, that is within the confines of the park, offered many beautiful colors, textures, and shapes reflected in its serene waters.

In this picture, I was able to find an angle that allowed me to get a mirror reflection of that fallen tree in the lake, framed by the fall colors.

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Untitled – #94

If you have read many of our stories you’ll know by now the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, is one of our favorite places for pictures, rest, relaxation, beauty, inspiration, enjoying nature and each other, reading, and so on.

Every year the Arboretum has a weeks-long event called Illumination. In very general terms it is a light/laser light show, in the trees and sky, accompanied by music. Frankly, it is beyond the description of words and my general description doesn’t begin to do justice to the genius and hard work that must go into its preparation.

This picture, taken on the last day of the Illumination event of 2022-2023, January 7, 2023, to be exact, shows the moon, which had a significant presence in the midst of all of the other lights, framed by the limbs of a tree tinged in blue from one the lasers, that were in abundance that beautiful, mystical, colorful night that was filled with discovery, awe, and visuals beyond imagination!