Jessica Riehl Photography Blog » Flowers

The Farmer’s Market | Ballston Spa, NY

Jessica — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:43:07 +0000

Here’s a little happy for today! These are my finds from Saturday’s Farmer’s Market in Ballston Spa, NY. These flowers are from the Adirondack Flower Farm. I could stare at these all day long.

Thanksgiving

Jessica — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:36:18 +0000

Yesterday on the spur of the moment, after grocery shopping, I wandered into Rena’s Fine Flowers in Saratoga Springs. I had peeked through the window several times later in the evening after visiting near by eateries, but had never stopped in. Oh, what wonderful and beautiful flowers awaited me. I have two flowers that I have never, ever been able to walk away from…ranunculus and peonies. I have even inherited my mother’s devious personality trait of stealing peonies. It was an abandon house, they were in full bloom, beautiful…what was a flower child to do? And, what a wonder, but that Rena had some beautiful pink ranunculus from Holland. Of course, I had to buy them. I also bought a bit of freesia, eucalyptus, and scabosa pods (which I have never seen before). Since I bought 1/3 of the ranunculus, so there isn’t much left to buy, I will share mine with you.

My trip to the flower shop reminded me to be thankful for the gifts in life. They come at unexpected times in the smallest packages. Today of all days is a day of gratitude.
Love,

Jessica

{The Bloom’n Arboretum}

Jessica — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:00:15 +0000

I recently visited the Chesapeake Arboretum and this is what I found in bloom:

{The Peony: A Portrait}

Jessica — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:30:04 +0000

Norfolk Wholesale is one of my favorite places to shop. I love flowers and they have a lot of flowers. I bought my wedding flowers from them and most of the flowers I photograph in my little studio upstairs. While running errands last week, I decided to stop in and see if they had any peonies, one of my favorites. This is the season for them and I was not disappointed. I came home with 20 gorgeous flowers. Once they opened up, they filled my house with the most beautiful floral smells. Ahhhhhhhh….

I drink a lot of tea from the Yogi Teas and they have beautiful little sayings on their teabags. I thought I would pair the sayings with my peony portraits, they seemed to belong together.

I present to you…the peony.

Cheers,

Jessica

Practice kindness, mercy and forgiveness.

Understanding is found through compassion.

Our intuition lies in our innocence.

Love your soul.

May this day bring you peace, tranquility and harmony.

{Holding On}

Jessica — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:14:35 +0000

{Questions For An Overcast Day}

Jessica — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:58:12 +0000

I’ve recently fallen in love with photographer Robert Adams. The first time I saw any images by Robert Adams was at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. His images were shown as a joint exhibit with Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz called Oceans, Rivers and Skys. Robert Adams photographed the ocean part of the exhibit. I don’t know why, but I could have stared at those images all day. When I looked in the book store I came across one of Adams’ books called Questions For An Overcast Day. I loved it. It is a photographic essay of one tree on one very overcast day.

Since last weekend was so rainy, I decided to do my own photographic essay inspired by Questions For An Overcast Day. This tree is in my backyard and we have several bird feeders, so we get many different kinds of birds including cardinals, woodpeckers, tit mouse, and finches. We have seen three different cardinals at one time and against the white blossoms they are beautiful. But, in keeping with the inspiration, all of these photographs are presented in black and white.

Isn’t it amazing the beauty you can find in your own backyard?

Enjoy,

Jessica

{Daffodils}

Jessica — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:16:46 +0000

The thing I love most about the change in weather from winter to spring are the daffodils. I think I love them because they bring such a burst of color in an otherwise pale landscape of my yard. You just can’t help but notice them. They are amongst my favorite flowers; the others are dahlias, peonies and ranunculus.

I experienced a love hate relationship last week. I absolutely love snow and grew up in an area where a white Christmas was normal, so when the snow came last Monday, I was delighted. That was until I looked at my daffodils outside. They were completely frozen! The petals were stiff and they hung over with the weight of the ice. I brought one inside to photograph because I was sure they would not last until I returned from my week in Portland.

I ended up having a little help with the photography from my assistant. She likes to help with typing, using the mouse, checking the arrangement of flowers, blocking my light, keeping me on schedule, laying on papers to keep them warm…you know, the normal office/photographer’s assistant type of stuff. Her highly unoriginal name is Little Girl. Not so little I know, but she was so tiny when we got her from the shelter. I’ll let you in on a secret. We also call her “fluffy butt”, because she has more hair on her hind legs than anywhere else. It makes her look like she’s wearing pantaloons. It’s really funny when she starts running.

Enjoy,

Jessica

My assistant, Little Girl, showing me what the flower looks like if she blocks the window light.