Monday, August 31, 2009

Cactus Monday - Shadows II

Happy Cactus Monday!

This week I experimented with "catching" shadows of plants on paper. It was fun to see how tilting the paper would change the shape of the shadow and it was challenging to keep myself and the camera out of the picture.
I cropped some of the pictures later:

But for most of these I left at least part of the plant in the picture with its shadow.


The next two cacti are both referred to as "jumping" cholla cactus. It is easy to tell the fuzzy Teddy bear apart from the chainfruit cholla just by the shadows.

This old cholla cactus skeleton looks like a dragon to me:


For a switch, here's the shadow of the paper on the cactus pad:
Naturally, after doing these experiments I kept noticing shadows everywhere. I posted more shadows that I found on my other blog, Desert Colors, if you'd like to take a peek.

To see other Cactus Monday posts, mosey on over the Teri's Painted Daisies. Have a great week. :)

32 comments:

Cathy S. said...

Shadows look great and so does all the cactuses, Happy Cactus Monday!

-Cathy

Sunny said...

A clever idea! The shadows are quite interesting.
Sunny :)

Lynn Cohen said...

What an interesting idea. Now do you paint the cacti by using the shadows?

Stephanie said...

Vertical shadow! I like the 5th shadow... you made the cactus that looks like grass became a big monster. This reminded me of how we use our hands to create shadow of a butterfly, dog, rabbit etc. Have another exciting day yeah!

Diane AZ said...

Hi all, nice to see you, thanks for stopping by :)
Lynn, I was thinking of making a stencil for printmaking from one of the shadow shapes.
Stephanie, I'm not sure what kind of plant the 5th one is, not a cactus, probably a Desert Broom.

Warren said...

Great shadow pics! I especially like the chainfruit cholla shadow. It is a challenge to stay out of the pictures, isn't it? :)

Julie said...

This is soooo cool! I like the black and white of the shadows, but some have great detail that shows through!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You are having such fun with those shadows. It makes me look around for shadows too. HCM.

Ashley said...

What a fun idea, and the images are wonderful! I love the shot that is third up from the bottom, it is beautiful!

Glynis Peters said...

what a great post and idea! Very artistic.

Jen said...

I think you're hooked on shadows. Love the dragon.

Angelika said...

What a great idea.

Leslie said...

These are wonderful!

Unknown said...

Just when I thought your last Cactus Monday was the best portraying shadows, then you outdid yourself again. Wonderful experiment, so cleaver. Judy

Teri said...

wow, you are so creative with your camera!!! Love this.

HCM!

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said...

Very creative, Diane! I will have to try this some time!

Phoenix C. said...

What a great idea! The shadows look really interesting - I'm going to have a look at the others on your other blog now!

yoon see said...

Happy Cactus Monday Diane.
Wow! I am so please to see these creative shadows of cactus.-All with different shape, composition and mood!
You have inspired me again friend, thank you for your kind comments.
The last photo is my favourite...because of the green!
I also love 7th, 9th, 10th photos a lot!!!
Thanks, thanks, thanks!

penny said...

There you go again with that wonderful eye you have, Diane. I love the shadow shots, what a unique idea:)

Cody Redmon said...

Brilliant...

Gaelyn said...

Diane, these are so fun and creative. What a great idea to experiment with. I like how the detail is enhanced in the shadows. The Cholla skeleton does look like a dragon. Excellent!

betchai said...

you are so creative diane, for having thought of such. the shadows are very interesting. HCM

Rajesh said...

The cactus and the shadows formed by them are beautiful. Grate shots.

Ezhilan said...

Good idea. I have never thought about this.It gave some interesting photos.The shadow in the photo (eighth from the top),looks like, some type of dinosaur's head.

Prospero said...

I like the third to last one, Diane. Really nice.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Wonderful idea and images Diane. That one does look like a dragon. :)

kesslerdee said...

More wonderful pictures- you are so good at seeking out the little things that make interesting pictures!

Silver Fox said...

I love these shadows - both the earlier ones and these where you've inserted paper. They are like profile pictures, and very artistic.

Unknown said...

Wow, that's a very creative and very imaginative mind you have. Gives me an idea and will teach this to my li'l girl, for sure she'll love it. Thanks for the visit Diane.

yoon see said...

Thank you for your kind comments and I hope you are fine. Take care Daine:)
Bye bye and see you again:)

j said...

The shadow pics are fabulous! I will have to try that.

I saw your thumbnail pic in the comments of another blog. Very pretty!

Thérèse said...

I like very much these kind of experiments.
And your photos of shadows render very well on the paper.