5.31 - Roadside Daisies

5.31.12 Roadside Daisies • © Margaret Helthaler

The humidity has lifted and the sky is a crystal clear blue. A fresh, cool breeze kissed my cheeks and danced among the daisies…

5.30 - Wild Rose

5.30.12 Wild Rose • © Margaret Helthaler

This morning I was treated to the sight of a tiny newborn deer nursing from its mother. It wasn’t within the range of my iPhone lens for a good shot, but its presence, along with the significance of the date reminds me of the cycles of life. Today my husband and I celebrate our 13^th anniversary – so this wild rose seems an appropriate choice for the image of the day…

5.29 - Morning Mist

5.29.12 Morning Mist • © Margaret Helthaler

A warm humid morning - mist sits on the water in front of the Rondout hydro electric plant and offers a slight coolness when it moves across the road in wispy tendrils.

5.28 - Buttercup

5.28.12 Buttercup • © Margaret Helthaler

I’ve enjoyed a lazy Memorial Day weekend – taking a much-needed break from my regular routine. But by day three I’m feeling hard pressed for subjects in my yard, so I decided to break out my Nikon D40 DSLR camera and revisit the buttercups along the perimeter in macro mode…

5.27 - Blackberry Blossoms

5.27.12 Blackberry Blossoms • © Margaret Helthaler

The threat of rain and thunderstorms has given way to a lovely warm day with the promise of summer. I found these blackberries growing in the cool shade along the edge of our yard - nestled amongst maple saplings, buttercups and jack in the pulpits.

5.26 - Chive Blossoms

5.26.12 Chive Blossoms • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

It's a warm, muggy, lazy Saturday - the bumblebee in this shot is feeling much more motivated than I am... He buzzes from flower to flower while I meander around my yard.

5.25 - Misty Field of Buttercups

5.25.12 Misty Field of Buttercups • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

Another foggy rainy day - I managed to go for a walk without getting poured on. This field of buttercups has been catching my attention when I drive by on Big Hollow Road, so I decided to really push my luck and walk a bit further to capture their bright yellow mass in the morning mist.

5.24 - Daisies Along The Rondout

5.24.12 Daisies Along The Rondout • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

The weather remains questionable with low lying clouds and high humidity. I managed to get out for a meander along the Rondout Reservoir without getting soaked. These bright daisies were a cheery accent along the quiet gray shoreline.

5.23 - Threatening Skies Over Route 17

5.23.12 Threatening Skies Over Route 17 • © Margaret Helthaler

Traveling east on Route 17 - the sky was filled with puffy white thunder clouds...

5.22 - View from Big Hollow on a Rainy Morning

5.22.12 View from Big Hollow on a Rainy Morning • © Margaret Helthaler

Another rainy morning with lots to do - I captured this image while driving my daughter to school. I never tire of this view...

5.21 - Purple!

5.21.12 Purple! • © Margaret Helthaler

The carefree sunny skies of the weekend have given way to a cloudy, busy Monday morning. I only had time for a short stroll around my yard, in search of some brightness. Purple is my new favorite color so this new addition to our garden caught my eye…

5.20 - Rondout Rest Stop

5.20.12 Rondout Rest Stop • © Margaret Helthaler

Another gorgeous day – we took a quick bike ride along the Rondout Reservoir. This shot was captured at a scenic pull off on Rte 55A. We usually park by the eagle’s nest and ride down to this spot, but today we parked here and rode further down the road – hitting a couple of good hills…

5.19 - Swooping Swallows

5.19.12 Swooping Swallows • © Margaret Helthaler

Perfect day for a bike ride – the temps are in the low 70s, there is no humidity and the sky is clear and bright. We traveled our regular route along the Rondout Reservoir, stopping at all our favorite places. The swallows nesting under the Rondout Bridge on 55A were swooping en masse above the water.

5.18 - Brooks Hill

5.18.12 Brooks Hill • © Margaret Helthaler

Another beautiful morning with bright sun and crisp, cool air. We walked up Brooks Hill road in Sundown. It was a steep two mile climb that was tough on the heart and lungs going up and tough on the knees coming down. But the views were gorgeous...

5.17 - Heart Tree

5.17.12 <3 Tree • © Margaret Helthaler

It is a gorgeous, clear, cool, bright, sunny morning. We discovered this unusual hole in a tree trunk during a hike in the woods. The walk was lovely, but tick infested in the grassy clearings. I must have pulled at least thirty wood ticks off my pant legs as we went along... I definitely need to spray my ankles with repellent next time!!

5.16 - Green!

5.16.12 Green! • © Margaret Helthaler

The sky is beginning to clear after heavy rains over the last couple of days. The fields and trees are becoming lush and green...

5.15 - Dark Morning

5.15.12 Dark Morning • © Margaret Helthaler

Another dark, rainy day. I am missing my morning walks. This image was shot from my front porch - looking east in search of the sun... I am still enjoying the iPhone and Hipstamatic app, but I always add my own flavor in Photoshop.

5.14 - Buttercups

5.14.12 Buttercups • © Margaret Helthaler

Busy rainy Monday morning... I stepped outside quickly to capture this shot of the buttercups blooming along the edge of my back yard. This image was captured with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app.

5.13 - Mother's Day Bouquet

5.13.12 Mother's Day Bouquet

My daughter presented me with this lovely bouquet this morning - these flowers may not have a fragrance, but they are really sweet! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the Moms out there - especially mine. :)

5.12 - Japanese Peony

5.12.12 Japanese Peony • © Margaret Helthaler

Improvisation is one of the basic principles of process-oriented creation.

- Sean McNiff, Trust the Process

It is a beautiful, bright sunny day and the Japanese Peony tree by my mother-in-law's steps is at its peak. It boasted fat buds only yesterday and in a few days its big, beautiful blossoms will be gone. This image was captured with my iPhone 4, using the Shake It app (which mimics the Polaroid process - including shaking the print to make it "develop" faster!) 

5.11 - Orange Bug

5.11.12 Orange Bug • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

The senses don’t just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern. 

- Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

You just never know what you are going to see when you take a walk in the Catskills. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. 

5.10 - New Leaves

5.10.12 New Leaves • © Margaret Helthaler

Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are. 

- Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces

There was a cool breeze this morning, but the intermittent sun was a welcome sight. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app.

5.9 - Horse at Frost Valley

5.9.12 Horse at Frost Valley • © Margaret Helthaler

When external cues are minimal, memory and creativity take up the slack and often improve. It is the luxury of being able to tune in to this quieter private frequency, usually swamped by external static, that people find so restorative…

- Winifred Gallagher, The Power of Place

Took a 3 mile walk along Frost Valley Road this morning. The weather continues to damp and misty. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. 

5.8 - Claryville Reformed Church

5.8.12 Claryville Reformed Church • © Margaret Helthaler

Landscape’s most crucial condition is considered to be space, but its deepest theme is time.  

-Rebecca Solnit, As Eve Said to the Serpent

Another rainy day. I had to drive my daughter to Frost Valley YMCA this morning, so my meandering was done in the car along the winding back roads in Claryville. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app.

5.7 - Dandelion

5.7.12 Dandelion • © Margaret Helthaler

In America today, almost all of us spend almost all of our time inside, breathing recycled air and absorbing artificial light. And as our internal systems begin to react – badly, more often than not – to this new environment, we become aware of their existence. 

- Tony Hiss, The Experience of Place

Another cloudy, questionable day... This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. 

5.6 - Watering Can

5.6.12 Watering Can • © Margaret Helthaler

The creative process, then, is the ongoing oscillation between the mind’s ability to form a hazy big picture and then to sequence the details to clarify and ‘hold’ it, then to redesign, and to clarify further.

- Gabriele Rico, Writing the Natural Way

Another busy weekend – with little time for meandering… But as I rushed from the car to our front door my eye caught sight of this old watering can my husband had left under the Japanese Maple tree in our yard. This image was captured with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app.

5.5 - Japanese Maple

5.5.12 Japanese Maple • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

The search for homeplace is the mythical search for the axis mundi, for a center, for some place to stand, for something to hang on to.

- Lucy Lippard, The Lure of the Local

I haven’t ventured past my yard this morning… With Mother’s Day approaching I wanted to capture the glory of this Japanese maple on our front lawn. My husband planted this tree as a Mother’s Day gift when we purchased our house in 1999. The tree was barely knee high when it was put in the ground. Like our children, it has grown sturdy and tall on this piece of land we call home.

5.4 - Spring Growth

5.4.12 Spring Growth • © Margaret Helthaler

Much of life becomes background, but it is the province of art to throw buckets of light into the shadows and make life new again.

- Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

The recent rains are making the leaves and spring grasses “pop” here in the Catskills, creating an ever-changing palette of colors. We had thundershowers last night and more in the forecast for today. The air was damp and the sky was filled with low-lying clouds during my walk along the Rondout Reservoir. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app.

 

5.3 - Forgotten Wishes

5.3.12 Forgotten Wishes • 8x8 • Limited Edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

We cannot separate the function of the miniature from a nostalgia for preindustrial labor, a nostalgia for craft. 

- Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Minature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection

We took a long walk along Terwilliger Road this morning and while I captured images of a decaying old barn and beautiful panoramas, this little well house is what really caught my eye… This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop.

5.2 - Trees Amongst Fog

5.2.12 Trees Amongst Fog • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

In order to store long-term memories, nerve cells might grow more branches and thereby form new or stronger connections. As a memory fades, the nerve cells might lose these branches… 

- Larry R. Squire and Eric R. Kandel, Memory from Mind to Molecules

I went for a nice walk on this foggy morning with misting rain. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop.

5.1 - Rondout on a Gray Day

5.1.12 Rondout on a Gray Day • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

Can the beautiful be sad?

- Julia Kristeva, Black Sun

It was raining this morning and I had errands to run – so no walk today. Instead I drove to an overlook on the southern side of the reservoir where I don’t usually walk. I braved the increasingly heavy rain for a few minutes to capture this melancholy shot of the mist-shrouded landscape. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. The Hipstamatic lens and film combinations offer a great starting point for further digital darkroom “developing” in Photoshop…