Monday, March 05, 2007

Roses are red...


Fleur rouge
Our kitchen table, London, Ontario, March 2007 [Click for extreme closeup]


I don't bring flowers home as often as I should. Ideally, I'd bring them home every day. My wife deserves a tangible message of how I feel about her at least that often.

But life often gets in the way. Groceries need to be bought, the car's tank needs to be filled and the kids need to be clothed. So by the time we're finished doing the things we need to do, the wants often get left behind.

Still, when flowers do end up on the kitchen table, I often feel a pull to explore them with the camera. Even if it's just a photo or two, it saddens me to think that these beautiful creations of nature will be history in mere days. At least here, their beauty lives on in some form.

Your turn: Capturing perfection; stopping time. Doable?

26 comments:

Anna said...

One word comes to mind here...

PASSION...

I could feel it in every word you wrote about her.

And wonderful image.... :)

Memories Catcher said...

Beautiful shot.I like the details and textures.Very good light and composition.Good job!

awareness said...

hi Carmi.......

beautiful!

Flowers always come before feeding the children. :)

When a bouquet of flowers are carried in through the door at my house, my husband always tells me that he loves looking at them as much as I love receiving them.

Flowers, especially at this time of year liven up a whole house. A promise of spring....

I'm visiting family in Ontario and am seriously thinking of taking in the Flower show in Toronto at the end of the week. Canada Blooms? I have always wanted to go, just to walk into the convention centre and take in all the beauty of colour.......and the wonderful interwoven floral scents....

delicious........photo Carmi.

Em said...

Fabulous photo! I'm not sure we capture perfection or stop time...but we certainly preserve the memories of that time.

CG said...

Red roses on the kitchen table - that's a beautiful image that somehow conjures a happy yet practical homelife. I hope your wife enjoyed them!

Nestor Family said...

Capturing perfection; stopping time. Doable?

--- Photos are interesting this way... they can prolong a sight that can incite a memory. Memories can live on when communicated. Sharing fond memories show love, in a way. Love is timeless.

Wonderful photo... precious story to go with it.

Anonymous said...

Which is "perfection"? The memory? Or the "hard copy" (photograph) of the rose? Which evokes the deepest emotion? They are intertwined, as the memory is BOTH "frozen" AND "fluid", while the photograph is a "still-life", unchanging. What follows, as the flower begins to wither and darken, this is not remembered, as you contemplate this photograph. The intention, passion, devotion and love that is so clearly obvious...THOSE are what speak the strongest...beyond the exquisite image of this "perfect", incredible red rose. The flower is a mere "reflection" (symbol) of the affection you have for this woman whom you love - this mother of your children, who has your devotion & admiration.

I agree with the previous post - it is the LOVE that is timeless. And the ways that your love blesses one another, your children, and all those whose lives your lives touch... Like "ripples in a pond". On and on.

Elaine said...

Beautiful rose, well captured.

Anonymous said...

Aww, aren't you sweet. A wish to give daily flowers even. Awwwww. :)

Klatuu o embuçado said...

Flowers can teach a lot to mankind.
Nature can teach us many most valuable lessons.

Anonymous said...

I really like these last two macro shots.

And unexpected flowers, just because, does a lot to liven up the everyday routine. (and you know if you brought them home everyday, they wouldn't be nearly as special...

tj said...

Very beautiful and it is nice to keep the passion and romance alive...

long after the flowers go dark .

Anonymous said...

You just did. :)

Great shot, yet again. I feel like a broken record, but honestly Carmi, there are choice few of your photos that I could even consider "not great."

Karen said...

Well, you'd be very happy photographing our house right now - we have more flowers than a flower shop...seriously. But they are beeyootiful. Just like your photo.

Hi Carmi.

And no, perfection is not doable nor is it worthwhile. Imperfection is where life is really happening.

Marie said...

The camera's a must... since all living beauty is only temporary. That flower looks like velvet!

rosemary said...

On a simple level....because there aren't really words to describe the rose....I save those little packets of dessicant that come in shoes boxes, medications etc....and can dry the few flowers my husband brings to me. I also hang them upside down near the stove and they dry as well...so, I do keep his thoughtfulness "alive" in a way.

Lee Ann said...

Very lovely, and very thoughtful you are.
I always take photos of flowers when I get them. It is the one way I can enjoy them forever.
Have a great week!
~xo

Lori Schmidt (LoriProPhoto) said...

Interesting question. We freeze an object or a moment in time and it may mean one thing to us personally but it will envoke a different feeling, emotion or memory in each person who views it. That is what I enjoy about your photos, they get me thinking but then you have to suffer the verbeage that goes with me thinking and wanting to write it down LOL.

Your wife is a very lucky woman as are your children and in the same respect so are you. It is a refreshing change to see such a happy family unit that are obviously so in tune with each other.

I have to agree with one of the other commenters that if you brought flowers home every day it would not be as special as receiving them once in a while.

Beautiful shot, like velvet.

Lori

Anonymous said...

Sure it's doable Carmi...you just did it!

By the way, you sir are a class act. I appreciate the kindness you showed Bobkat in your comment on her blog. You're a good guy mister!

Anonymous said...

somehow i have a feeling your wife doesn't need flowers brought home on a daily basis to know how you feel about her.
i'm actually not too partial to roses. my favorite flower would be a white calla lily, to me, that's perfection. and it lasts alot longer than a rose.

photowannabe said...

I think its doable because you did it with this post. You are a very romantic man and a loving husband. Bouquets to you, too.

srp said...

We can't stop time only capture the memory on film. This at least keeps us from forgetting... although, even memories shift and sift and change themselves over time. We re-run our memories through the filters of time, space and experience and more times than not, they change or our perceptions of them change.

Final analysis? Time doesn't stop. Change is continuous and inevitable.

But the rose...still smells sweet.
And I still want to know what specifications you have on your macro lens.

michelle said...

flower shots have to be my favorite photos.

i think thats why we take pictures so we can stop time. my husband used to think i was crazy always taking pictures of our boys. then i had to explain to him that they will never be the way there are in that exact moment you shoot the picture. now he just runs and buys all the ink and paper i need. i love this hobby.

picperfic said...

I just knew you'd be the sort to buy flowers...I've got one of those and it's a magical thing, especially when you least expect to get some. I always photograph my flowers too but roses always get the better of me, I like your shot but to me it still looks a bit like a red cabbage lol...I really love daisies, raggy daisies like Meg Ryan in 'You've Got Mail' which is a story that is rather like how Barry and I met, bacause of photography being a big passion in both our lives...:^) I would hate flower buying to become routine, the surprise is the best part!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

BEAUTIFUL Carmi! Years and years ago I spent a lot of time with my Close-up lens and two extension tubes in my friend Larry Park's garden....A thousand pictuers later...Mostly slides...I ended up doing 4 or 5 very complex red rose paintings....Seeing this picture reminded me of all those photographs and those paintings, too.
That is one gorgeous picture, Carmi!

David Edward said...

doable, yes.
yet sometimes you have to NOT look through the viewfinder, and just be content to let the beauty wash over you. the beauty of life with and without digital capture devices.
Roses are red!