JessicaRicco.com » Nature Photography

Hydrangeas, Etc.

jessieessiejay — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:48:11 +0000

I bought my mom some pretty hydrangeas for her birthday. I used the natural light from the windows as the only source of lighting.

Here are some fun pictures I took today while walking the dog. I like to call the first one “Reclamation.”

Blizzard of 2010

jessieessiejay — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:46:42 +0000

I cannot remember another storm of this magnitude in my lifetime – I guess maybe the blizzard of ’93, which happened on my birthday is the closest runner up. As I type this Orange county, New York is under a state of emergency and we have 20″ of snow in my front yard with higher amounts in other areas. The best part is it’s still snowing and has been since Wednesday night. It is hard to describe the magnitude of this storm without pictures, so here goes:

Those are supposed to be our cars.

This is where my driveway is supposed to be.

The snow is so heavy that it broke several limbs on this tree.

Below: check out the dog trying to play fetch in 2 feet of snow!

Making the Forest into Fairyland

jessieessiejay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:50:19 +0000

This morning I woke up to a backyard full of fog, dampness and random rays of sunshine. The morning/sunrise and the evening/sunset make for the most interesting light, so, forgetting my other obligations for the morning (finishing a report, going to the bank…etc), I grabbed my camera and ran outside.

I find that using a macro lens in the forest makes everything look like there should be Fae or little gnomes running around, sitting on mushrooms or laying on ferns. Something about the light this morning also enhanced this feeling for me. What do you think?

I love when the background is so out of focus that it is just soft colors that blend together…

Maybe this is someone’s home?

No matter how many photos of water drops I take, they never come out crisp. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my tripod was gently balancing on layers and layers of wet leaves = not so sturdy. Someday I will get the perfect water splash…but that day is not today…

That’s all for now!

~more later…

The Butterfly Garden in Montreal

jessieessiejay — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:40:08 +0000

Canada truly is like visiting a closer, mini Europe. Different signs on the road, different language (most people still speak English, thankfully), cool old buildings, etc. Well, Montreal and Ottawa are the closest cities to Clarkson University, where I went to college, in Potsdam NY.

One of the most impressive things to see in Montreal is the Biodome and the Botanical Gardens. For a couple of hours you can pretend you are in the rain forest, the arctic, or under the ocean. My favorite part though, is the butterfly garden and the greenhouses that lead up to it.

The butterfly garden is greenhouse style atrium that you can walk through. There are hundreds of butterflies that gracefully and playfully weave in and out of people as they walk by.

The butterfly garden is also covered in huge, beautiful hydrangeas.

Here are some of the flowers and plants in the greenhouses leading up to the butterflies.

That’s all for now…

~More later