Yes, this is one from way earlier in the year, but I thought maybe a snow and ice picture would make me feel cooler instead of melting.
Tag: Nature
Daylily Stamen
Lit By The Sunset
I honestly haven’t a clue what plant this is. Most likely some sort of weed. Whatever it is, it is covering all the newly created lots in the newest part of my housing development that are still waiting for foundations. I think there is even some wheat mixed in. I wouldn’t be surprised as it was all farmland at one point.
Black And White Rose
Pale Pink Rose of Sharon Bud
Daylily Pollen
Purple & Yellow Siberian Iris
Portrait of A Big Cat
This is an old one, but I shared it in another place recently and it reminded me of how much I love this picture, so I thought I’d share it here as well.
Speckled Hydrangea
Purple Rose of Sharon Bud
Black and White and A Brag
Had to slip this in here… MC got his AP stats score back, got another 5!! For those keeping track, that is now a 4 (last year’s AP Lang) and 2 – 5s. Mr. Smartypants is hitting every single one of his high school goals. I can’t be more proud of this kid!
Pink Geranium After The Rain
Pretty In Pink: Rose of Sharon
Watercolor Siberian Iris
I’m calling it a Siberian Iris because that is what I’m pretty sure I was told it was when it was given to me, but I’ve yet to see any pictures of those anywhere with the inner petals that do the funky twisty part that this one does. I love the way this looks like a watercolor painting with the way the yellow sort of bleeds into the purple.
Another Beautiful Sunset
Black And White Splash Zone
Today is a two photo day because the book review I was hoping to post was yet another DNF. When I get to the point where I have to ask myself why I’m still reading a book I’m really not enjoying in anyway, it is beyond time to put it down and walk away.
So I decided to play for a bit instead. I’ve always really loved the high contrast black and whites, probably more so after Hubby and I got our engagement photos done in that style. It is possible that I like it for the same reasons I like macro; it forces you to really look at the details. Funny how I don’t often play with getting that effect with the photos I take, but I’m trying it out on more of them.
This one was particularly interesting and fun because one part of this appears really high contrast while the other part is more just a grayscale..
Rain Kissed Pink Geranium
Rainy Day Thoughts & Indie Book Marketing
So much for the pool. Maybe later I guess. Instead, I’ve been tossing around ideas and concepts with regards to indie authors and book marketing.
I have seen a whole lot of hurdles, not just for me but for other indie authors, with regards to even getting your book in front of other people. I do recognize that this is coming from a narrow perspective and I’ve probably just not yet found the right groups or people to give me a better perspective, so this is potentially a bit skewed.
I’ve seen a lot of talk about supporting other indie authors. As I’ve mentioned before, this tends to be a bit cliquish. Authors tend to support other authors in their own genres or those they are friends with. If you don’t fit into one of those two areas, you don’t get that support (and I don’t entirely disagree with this). You also see a lot of groups dedicated to supporting all indie authors without regards to genre, but they seem to only have indie author followings.
Another side of this lovely book marketing coin is the readers, which seem to be left out of the equation. Not all authors read all genres. Some authors may not even be readers (this kind of breaks my brain but it is a truth). So why are all of these groups and support systems targeting only other indie authors? Why are they not attempting to connect those authors with readers or book bloggers who have an interest in the genres for the books they are trying to promote? Those are the ones that genuinely have the ability to get a book noticed.
If you were to look at this from just about any other business marketing standpoint, this system wouldn’t make sense. You wouldn’t cultivate support and a following for say video games among other video game manufacturers, because they aren’t going to be the ones buying your games. You would want to connect with the gamers.
That isn’t to say an indie author should not support another author, just that it kind of feels a little like barking up the wrong tree. Like that whole support system is unbalanced and energy is too heavily focused in the wrong area.
The idea that there should be some way to somehow create a group of both readers/book bloggers and indie authors and pair them together based on genre interests is something I’d absolutely love to pursue. The problem with that, for me at least, is one of the same roadblocks I have with marketing my own book. That is the lack of connections to get it all off the ground. That and I am struggling to find bloggers that are willing to even look at indie books and authors.
I’d love to find out if it is even possible or if others, from either the indie author side or the book blogger side, would even be interested in a set up like this, if they felt like it would be of use to them. If you have thoughts or suggestions, please chime in!
Detritus Of A Daisy
Because apparently uploading so many images yesterday wasn’t enough photography for me, I had to take 100+ more images when I was done. All because I saw my Gerbera going to seed.
I’ve seen it do this before, but it had been so long since this bloomed, I’d forgotten it behaves similar to a dandelion, with the little seeds being surrounded by fuzzy spikes.
It is interesting how many of these seeds stayed attached to the petal. I wonder if that helps it fly or hinders it? I’d think the weight of the petal would make that hard. Not all stayed attached, so it more than likely just hadn’t broken away yet.
Every tiny movement knocked more of the seeds and petals off. I’d taken this outside to get better light and I lost so many of them. When I’d gotten all the shots I wanted of what was left, I didn’t want to drop them all over the place on the way back in, so I knocked it against the railing. Nearly everything fell off and flew away. Only a few determined stragglers hung on to make it back inside.
Gerbera Daisy Going To Seed
Gerbera Daisy Going To Seed
My Day: Uploading 90+ Photos
It took forever and I found that some of my images were actually too big (first time for everything) and I had to do some adjustments. That said, I’m now sitting at well over 400 images on my Pixels photo print site. Including all the stunning water shots I got the other day.
Playing with manipulating some of my photos was so much fun, I’ve now got a collection of “art” images that are photos I’ve played with. It is still a small grouping, but I intend to grow it over time.
As always, though, the majority of the images are macro shots of flowers, which continue to be my obsession because some of the most interesting and beautiful parts of the world are in the little details you have to get up close and personal with to see.
