Macro Monday: Peach Pit Boat

It's Macro Monday! And here's my entry for the week:



Here's one from my archives. It's a little boat carved from a peach pit, purchased by my uncle when he served in the Korean War. There are several interesting things about it, aside from its size.

First of all, those windows actually swing open and closed. Secondly, there is something written on the underside in tiny, tiny characters. I suspect it is the story of the Eight Chinese Immortals sailing to a banquet, carrying the peaches of immortality.

And thirdly, this photo - MY photo - has been snagged and used all over the Internet. Go ahead. Google "peach pit carving" and see what you get. Some link back to my Flickr page, and I guess I'm OK with that though I would have appreciated a request or a credit. There was one place, though, that offered this item for sale! For $400! I wrote them about it and the site disappeared soon after, though I never got a reply.

I always thought I'd be flattered to have a photo good enough to be stolen. But it really doesn't feel so hot.

Anyway, here are a couple more shots that show the amazing carving and the relative size. And if you are coming in from Google and want to use any of these, PLEASE ASK?

Shadow Shots: Light Hearted

Another random camera shot in the ongoing Phantom Photographer experiment begun last week.

Look deep into the crystal ball ... is there a future in this project?

** P.S. May 30 ** Would you be interested in participating if I made a meme out of this? I'm thinking about it, since it seems to have struck a chord with some of you. Leave a reply in comments, please, as I rarely check email. Thanks!

* But Wait! There's More! Coming in from a photo meme? See the rest of this blog.

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Shadow Shots: The Book of Marvels

It occurred to me one day to wonder what my camera sees when I'm not paying any attention to it.

I carry it around a lot, just in case something interesting happens along, and it gets set down in all sorts of places. As an experiment, I'm beginning to turn it on and press the button without moving it. It's showing me some surprising things.

Here it's sitting on a book that's lying in front of my bedside alarm clock. The front of the clock is curved, and it's given such a funhouse flair to my bedroom that I can't even recognize much of what's in the reflection.

Best of all, look at the book. The title is THE BOOK OF MARVELS. "THE BOOK" is right-side up. "OF MARVELS" is upside down. How cool is that?

(I suppose this isn't really about shadows, but the mood is shadowy, so. It is what it is.)

* But Wait! There's More! Coming in from a photo meme? See the rest of this blog.

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It's Aliiiiiiive!

U.S. scientist have succeeded in creating the first artificial life form.

They've used laboratory chemicals to create synthetic DNA modeled on that of a simple bacteria, modified it, and inserted it into an existing cell. The lab-created genome took it from there, and the new organism is happily replicating itself.

The hope is that organisms can be engineered to produce new fuels, clean up oil spills, produce vaccines faster, and eventually even to interface with computers. (Apparently, these guys missed the whole Matrix trilogy. I'd hold off on that one.)

This is being hailed as the dawn of a new industrial revolution by some and the Beginning of the End by others. Amazing and promising as it is, even Craig Venter, the head of the team, allows there are safety issues and potential for abuse. (Ya think?)

Read all about it at the BBC World Service and at Science.

What's your take on it? I'd be interested to hear your opinions.

Shadow Shots: Butterfly Morning

These little guys were all over my driveway yesterday. I don't know what they found so attractive in the gravel there, but I had to go slow to let them fly up and away without running them over or having them hit the windshield too hard.

My internet search turned up no matching images, so their name is still a mystery.

* P.S. Further research indicates these are Red Admiral butterflies. This particular one stayed on my windowsill for most of the day, so it's a male defending a territory and waiting for a lovely female to come by. It kind of spoils the magic, but they feed on bird droppings, which is probably the big draw in the driveway. More about them here: Animal Diversity.

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Macro Monday: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Dust bunnies: Ignore them at your peril. Leave them alone long enough and evolution kicks in, unleashing an infestation of Moses-knows-what.

(Nah. It's just a thistle seed head from last year.)

For more close-up photography, visit Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

*Note: I apologize for not getting around to everyone who commented last time. It was an extraordinarily rough week. I love that you all stop by and visit, and I promise to do a better job of checking out all your great blog entries this week.

Shadow Shots: A Little Sip of Sun

Mothers' Day on the deck: lying in a hammock in the sun with a glass of wine within reach, a blue sky above, and family all around. Hope all of you had a day this good, too!


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Macro Monday: The Best Things Are Free

A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said "I've a pretty rose tree,"
And I passed the sweet flower o'er.

Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
To tend her by day and by night;
But my rose turned away with jealousy,
And her thorns were my only delight.

-- My Pretty Rose Tree, William Blake

Violas have escaped from someone's flower basket or border, slipping away to dance in the grass.

The number of deer and groundhogs in my area make flower gardening impossible. However, all is not lost. The woods and fields abound with wildflowers, and I spend many happy hours finding and photographing them. They are tiny, most of them, and seem so impossibly fragile. Yet they thrive, needing nothing from me, and they are riches aplenty.

Sometimes, even leaves are a treasure.



*Note to LifesHighway: This one's for you. Sorry about the spider. ;-)


For more close-up photography, visit Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.