DlmtleArt

All photos in this post are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy in any form. Prints are available for Purchase in Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery.

I recently took a hike down into the forest beyond our property with my family. Of course, a hike just isn’t a hike without taking along my camera and getting some pictures on the way!

Sunlit forest reflections shimmer in the water of Fox Creek as it meanders past banks of moss covered rocks and boulders, under the fallen log bridge, on through the ferny forest towards the radiant sky overlooking the unseen Columbia River.

I love how the eye is drawn through the photo: the rocky creek bed visible through

the clear, rippling water, on to the tranquil reflections of forest and sunlight, ending in the shimmering light of the sky seen through the trees in the distance.

I also played around with the macro function on my camera for the first time. I am not including my first attempts here, but I do like this close up of a moss covered rock in the middle of the water. For those who like optical illusions, try clicking on it and take a look at the amber colored pebble just to the lower left of the big rock which looks like a face.
I came across and interesting tree with ferns growing in the moss all the way up the trunk. Notice there is no ivy on it anywhere . Luckily the ivy has not invaded this far down into the forest. The trees are much prettier without it. and there is a great variety of native species where the ivy does not choke everything else out.

I have spent hours daily on the backbreaking work of pulling the ivy out on my property, with slim results so far. There is now about 4 square feet of ivy free dirt now. the roots have runners and I have found i have to soften up the ground with a shovel really good and yank hard! LOL.

So if you are thinking about planting English Ivy as ground cover–yes, it works great; however, unless you want to spend hours of labor keeping it from taking over everything and then have somebody 50 years from now wishing they knew who planted it so they could curse your name –DON’T DO IT!

I have found out from my neighbor who was kind enough to call the county extension office for me, that the best way to remove ivy is to cut the runners that are climbing the trees at a little over a foot off the ground and then make sure to get every scrap of roots that are clinging to the tree. The part up the tree is what flowers and makes seeds, so if you don’t get that first you’ll never get rid of it permanently. depending on the weather it may take up to several weeks for what remains on the tree to wither and die. Then, once you have it off the trees you can effectively remove it from the ground.

Dawna’s Fine Art Prints

Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery for photographic prints, cards and more

I noticed several people found my series of posts about how to build your own custom frame by searching for how to cut an oval mat. so, I thought I would write a more detailed article about how to draw or cut an oval. the easiest way would be if you already have an oval that you can trace. there are also several products available at art and craft stores that will cut a perfect oval; however, these are a bit expensive unless you need to cut a lot of ovals and need them perfect.

With some practice and a few simple tools you can get a pretty decent oval without breaking the bank. Most people probably already have all the necessary tools at home. You’ll need a pencil, ruler, scissors, eraser (optional), and some paper to practice with.

First fold your paper in half. Then Fold it in half the other way. Measure half the width you would like your oval to be from the folded corner and mark that distance on the lower edge with your pencil. Next measure half the height you would like your oval to be, and mark it on the other fold. now this is the part that will take practice. draw a curved line that connects you two marks and then unfold your paper.

If it does not look right there are several ways ways to fix it. You can either trim it slightly or place another paper under it ( or put tracing paper over it), then make corrections to the uncut paper and try again. I usually end up trimming a little to round it more where the paper was folded.

This does not always produce a perfect oval, but with some practice you can make one that looks pretty good. Once you have a satisfactory oval, simply trace it onto the surface where you wanted it, and VOILA–you just saved $80 on not having to buy a contraption to make one for you

Dawna’s Fine Art Prints

Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of unique gift items.

I have received some requests for information about the weather conditions at the time I took the “Early Morning Sun Rays” photographs, so I thought I would post some pictures of the sky that I took out from the road that morning.

The weather was frosty and cold with a light, misty fog, but not rainy. The sun was brilliant with a white silvery light behind an extraordinarily thin layer of cloud cover. My original idea was to capture a photo of the sun because it was so pretty and silvery like the moon; however, by the time i got home and could whip out my camera the clouds had thinned a little more and the trees were in the way (fortunately for me ) Now I wish I had taken more pictures, but I got too cold and went inside. I think if I ever get another opportunity like that I’ll take a hike further down into the forest.

All images contained in thes blog are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy in any form. Prints are available for purchase in Dawna’s Zazzle gallery.

Photographs contained in this post are the intellectual copyright Of Dawna Morton. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy in any form. Copies are available for purchase in Dawna’s Zazzle gallery.

Here is my next installment of Early Morning Sun Rays Photos. I hope you enjoy them. If you like these pictures you may also enjoy part 1 and part 2.

There is a variety of evergreen trees here. We have quite a few fir or pine trees, as well as a good number of cedar and maple. Interspersed sparingly are some holly. We have ivy everywhere and climbing up everything. Ivy is not native to Oregon, but for some reason we have it climbing up all the trees at my house. I plan on borrowing some goats, who love to eat ivy (yay ), seeing as I don’t want to weed 1/4 acre worth of forest by hand. I have a hard enough time keeping up with every thing else I’m doing (such as getting the garden ready to plant and keeping up with the other 1/4 acre of yard).

Aside from the ivy, the other issue that needs to be addressed, although thankfully enough, not apparent in these photos, is the garbage that people have dumped down there over the years. Most of the time the Ivy covers everything so it’s not visible, but around February and March the ivy has died back enough that I can see it all . I went down there last week and spent quite some time hauling up buckets of bricks, broken bottles, scrap metal, and several tires.It hardly made a dent in what is down there. I am trying not to get discouraged and apply Flylady’s principle of “I can do anything for 15 minutes.” It was exhausting hauling the tires up my steep ravine. They were only about 5 feet down there, but you would not believe how heavy they felt trying to push, pull, shove, roll, flip and basically wrangle them up that hill. I was worn out enough that I did only one tire on one day and the other several days later.

On the long term what I would love to do is to make some hiking trails down there for the kids (and myself too of course ). It’s going to be a long and slow process, but it will be worth it. Hopefully I can find some native plants that will provide good ground cover and keep the hill from eroding, without being invasive like the ivy.

I’ll be posting updates as I continue to make progress. In the mean time please enjoy some more photos in part 4…

Check out Dawna’s Fine Art Prints at Imagekind.com

Dawna’ Zazzle Gallery of Photos and Gifts

These photographs, and other blog content, are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy. Photographic prints are available for sale in Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery. Those who are interested in using Dawna’s photos in the media or other ways may contact Dawna by leaving a comment and she will respond to you privately. Thank you.

.
.
As I mentioned in part 1, once I was satisfied with the photos I had taken of the sunburst through the trees, I then moved on to capture some of the more subtle effects of the sun rays on the forest.

I love how the sunbeams create a heavenly light in these pictures. Lighting really does make all the difference in the mood and feeling of a photograph. It can make an ordinary scene into something truly spectacular.

Notice how the focal point is not the forest, but the light itself. It seems to radiate a peace and joy and warmth as its radiant glow illuminates the forest. Soft and ethereal, the sunlight turns an ordinary forest scene into something truly glorious.

These images seem to beckon, inviting a quiet morning walk of tranquil reflection and spiritual reawakening. Moments like these stir a desire to find the divine within us and to strive to attain a higher level of excellence. feeling at peace and harmony, we can then be rejuvenated and re-energized in our efforts to become better.

More Photos in part 3,part 4

If you liked these you may also like my post, sunlight in my forest.

.

.

Dawna’s Fine Art Prints At Imagekind

Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery

These photos are the intellectual property of Dawna Morton. All Rights reserved. Do not copy without permission. To purchase prints visit my zazzle gallery, or contact me via comments for terms if you would like to use my photos for reference or in the media.

I suppose I have to thank my kids for missing the school bus the other week.

Why? Because, on the way home from the school I noticed the sun shining through the fog and decided to whip out my camera. ( Luckily I had my camera on me. I am trying to get in the habit of taking it every where. I can not count the times I have missed a great picture because I forgot to bring it along, like the morning on the way out of the school parking lot when it was foggy and the sun came out and illuminated the fog behind a grouping of trees. I was kicking myself all the way home for having forgotten my camera that day). You never know when you will come across something that moves you and the artist in you demands you take a photo for reference later.

The sun was so bright streaming through the trees that I had to shoot virtually blind on most of these. I would aim as best as I could toward my desired focal point and click hoping I’d gotten it, without really being sure because all I could see through the viewfinder was a bright glare.

It is really important to make sure to check the settings on a digital camera. I normally leave mine on the highest resolution setting as possible, however I had recently put it on low resolution for some

pictures I took with the sole purpose of illustrating my blog posts on framing and for my post on recycling candles. I had already taken several pictures when I realized I had not returned the settings to high resolution. which is too bad because the second of these is one of my favorites of the ones I took that day.

I love how the sunburst causes such a contrast with the deep early morning forested shade. It is all so peaceful and ethereal in its beauty. The light is not often so perfect for taking such great photos. I got a bit carried away and took around 40 in very short order. The refracted light in the camera lens also caused interesting patterns of red and blue hexagons to appear in the sunburst images.

Once I had several images that I felt captured the gloriousness of the bright sunburst I hiked in a bit further and started taking pictures of the more delicate effects of the sun rays themselves.

more of Dawna’s photos in part 2,
part 3part 4

My Gallery of Fine Art Prints at Imagekind

My Zazzle gallery of unique gifts and cards