So I finally decided to go outside for 10 minutes of stress relief and enjoy my flower garden today.  I took the camera and had some fun with macro photography.  These are some of my faves from today.  I had so much fun I think I will do this weekly and really get to pay close attention to how the garden changes over the course of the seasons.  That’s what I like about macro photography… it lets you discover things that would normally go unnoticed… the smallest of details.  The salmon poppy flower has brought me joy all week… standing proudly very tall above the base of the plant on a long, skinny stem – waving delicately in the air.  It is so cool… it looks like it’s made of paper!  The little yellow flowers are the size of a pea and are growing on a barberry bush which is known more for the bush and not so much for the flowers.  But once you get close enough (with a macro lens) you can see that even the teeny-tiny little flowers are beautiful, too.  The name of the white one has escaped me, but it’s about the size of a nickel. I love it because it looks like fireworks!  The blue/purple one is called muscari and I actually found it growing wildly in my yard this week and I have no idea where it came from… most people buy them in bulb form from the landscaping store.  They, too, are about the size of a nickel.  I love these shots because they reveal detail that I couldn’t see with my own eyes.  It took the zoom power of the macro lens to capture it and reveal it to me.  What a fun exploration!!  Whew… that was some much needed relaxation time.  Now it’s time to gear up for the back-to-back weddings we have this weekend and 9 hours of driving.  Wish us luck!!  More macro shots to come next week…

– Courtney