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Thisteldown Raceway


Thisteldown Raceway
Photo Information
Copyright: Bob Shannon (eqshannon) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1900 W: 186 N: 6641] (19639)
Genre: Plants
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-07-10
Categories: Flowers
Camera: Leica D-LUX 2
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-07-10 14:36
Viewed: 350
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Have you ever heard of a Finch Magic Thistle Sock Sack Bird Feeder? Great! Neither had I till I started looking for something original to put in my notes. Thistle is so common that putting a picture of alone up on TN feels like posting a picture of my big toe. Anyhoo....there is such a "magic" sock which is supposed to be filled with thistle seeds...It appears that finches love thistle seed. someone must get all the silk off of it first eh? Not sure how it works..but it does exist.

My first interaction with the word thistle came in 1949 when my mother and father took me to a pace called Thistledown. It was a raceway for trotting horses. Back in the olden days it was quite the site for a young man almost still a toddler. I saw the horse and people and buggies but what I saw mostly was the very thing the track was named for...acres and acres of thistle...and at certain times of the year, the air was totally filled with the down of the thistle, blowing every which way in the wind. It isn't something one forgets when it has been ingrained at such a young age...

Many years later, in the wilderness, my kids made a regular habit of eating the purple blossom when it was ripe. They had been doing this for over 2 weeks before I was told of it....and from what I remember, they called it bubble gum plant. well it certainly isn't poisonous to humans. Th opposite is quite true. It is a blood cleanser and so much more. And beyond that, I simply find it a beautiful plant which folks today call weeds. I reckon we call come from different perspectives...

Leica 3:2
Manual Mode
Hand Held
f8.0
1/500
ISO 200
lousat, ramthakur, Evelynn, CeltickRanger, tuslaw, jaycee, marhowie, Art_R, Jamesp, Pitoncle, haraprasan, goldyrs has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi,
On the road, just marking excellent pictures.
Thanks
Pekka

I guess you are quite right, Bob; it's the way we look at things that makes the difference. Thistle may be an ordinary weed but your "experience" of it is its reality for you.
Going back into my own younger days in the hills, you can't imagine what we ate or tasted directly from nature -- safe berries, fungi, fruit -- and sometimes not all that safe too! There was this aromatic plant with tender shoots in spring which we would just pluck and gobble. Your note takes me down the memory lane . . .
The Thistle flowers in different states make a lovely collage in your picture. The stages of decay -- but why does the word 'decay' come easily to mind? Why not 'transformation' or even 'transmigration'? See, how programmed we are in our thinking!
It is 6 in the morning here in India and I am beginning my day with this confused stream of thought by way of my reaction to your note and picture, Bob. Hope it made you yawn ))))
Ram

I really like the textures and colors in this lovely thistle bouquet. One can see much of the life cycle. It's interesting as well as pleasant to look at.

TFS
Evelynn : )

hello Bob

fine image of these flowers with excellent luminosity,
great sharpness and details, i love the contrast that is doing
between the 2 different tones of the flowers colours, TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • tuslaw Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 236 W: 8 N: 600] (1905)
  • [2008-07-10 19:21]

Wonderfully composed shot Bob,
Not being a die hard fan of horse racing I prefer this type of thistledown to the latter.
Very colorful array of blooms and silky seed pods make a great image.
I'll bet if you stayed any length of time you would have seen some finches coming around for a meal or two. The gold finches here in Ohio seem to love these thistle plants. Well done!!
Ron

Hi Bob,
Yep, I used a thistle sock as one my feeding tools..until the darn squirrel climbed up the tree and ate a hole in it, and the thistle all ran out it like grains of sand.
Well done, catchy title :)
Howard

  • Great 
  • Art_R Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 199 W: 16 N: 476] (1967)
  • [2008-07-10 22:43]

Hi Bob , what a wonderful bouquet of thistles , a great composition with super colors and lighting.

A great share thanks
regards
Art

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1252 W: 0 N: 4834] (14354)
  • [2008-07-10 22:53]

Hi Bob

Lovely shot of these thistles in various stages of development, plus great colours. I have a thistle feeder for finches, however, it is like a regular feeder with much smaller openings. I buy thistle seeds for it and it really good as it is of no interest to the sparrows and starlings, so the finches get a quiet feed.

James

Hi Bob,another fantastic idea where the light position it's decisive! Very wonderfull work,every day a new a great surprise,my best best compliment,Luciano

Bonjour Bob,
Il y a dans tes publications, outre une très grande technique, un incroyable sens artistique pour pouvoir représenter en oeuvre d'art des plantes et fleurs "très communes".
Cette publication est vraiment splendide avec un cadrage judicieux et une très belle lumière qui favorise les détails et fait resplendir les couleurs.
A bientôt sur TN pour de nouvelles aventures.
Gérard

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1778 W: 8 N: 4605] (14893)
  • [2008-07-11 8:18]

Hi Bob,

I read your notes over and over and they have left me confused. Thistle sock? Huh? Nothing cloudy about the picture though - beautiful thistles and what a gorgeous grouping. Colors, details, and textures are wonderful. Seems to me that back east we had weeds but here in the west we see them as wildflowers.

Jane

PS. - Howard cleared it up for me!!!!

Namastay Bob,
A very nice capture of thistles. Here we also have similar flowers but not as concentrated as these. Very well composed with sharp details. Thanks a lot for sharing.


Sincerely
HP

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1683 W: 242 N: 5560] (19685)
  • [2008-07-11 12:38]

Oh I love fluffy Thistles! :-)
You've captured their fluffiness perfectly!
Excellent composition.
Great abstract feel to it.

Well done, Bob!

Joe

Hi Bob, splendid flower composition with fantastic colors, elegant presentation, very well done, ciao Silvio

One man's food is another man's poison!This looks better than any bouquet any award winning florist could make!
Superb shot, Bob!
Goldy

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