Thursday, December 07, 2023

Explosion at my feet

Flash of orange
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram


The scene: on a cloudy Sunday afternoon in October, I wander the path through the woods in search of something - anything - that will catch my eye.

There isn’t much to be had. The leaves have been slow to change colour this year, and the landscape looks like a riot of ratty-looking grasses interspersed with barely-alive trees and bushes. This is as far from a glorious autumn as we can possibly get.

As I head home with barely anything worthwhile on my memory card, I spot a tiny flash of color in my peripheral vision and bend down for a closer look. It’s a single orange flower, growing almost defiantly out of the half-dead grass and leaves.

I probably would have walked right on past, but somehow the universe had other plans. There’s nothing else remotely worth shooting around here, yet this single flower somehow overwhelms the trashed landscape around it.

I shoot a few low-angled photos of it before heading for home. The entire way back, I can’t get it out of my head the strength of a single flower to reshape the narrative despite everything that surrounds it - and the fact that the lesson I’ve just been taught clearly has nothing to do with flowers.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #leaves #flowers #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
The Color Purple, August 2010
Fall flowers, October 2007
Life, defiant, January 2006
Soft and fluffy, December 2004

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