Robert Llewellyn, Bob to his friends, knew from the very first time he started porting an old Nikon camera around his high school in southern Virginia that all he wanted to do was to take pictures. He left his engineering studies at the University of Virginia a little early and headed out to California to learn under famous photographer Imogen Cunningham in Eureka in 1968 for that very reason.
Now a prominent professional photographer, Bob has operated for most of four decades out of his \"house-cum-studio\" overlooking the Rivanna River in Earlysville, Virginia. Known as Balmullo Farm, it's located just outside Charlottesville.
\"The wonderful thing about photography is that everything shows up as new. You see things that make you say, ‘Wow.’\" — Robert Llewellyn
The newness he sees in everything has kept Bob saying \"wow\" often as a photographer. His entire body of work is infused with an enduring inquisitiveness accompanied by a childlike sense of wonder — which he’s brought to his recent photographic study of trees, flowers, and seeds.
\"Fragments of my familiar world, which are not quite new to me, but can be shockingly unique when scrutinized. These entities — which we have named trees, flowers, seeds, the forest — when deeply contemplated can open up new worlds.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Bob’s latest book, The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods through Timber Press (2017) — with over 300 of his images and words by Joan Maloof — fully exhibits the results of his exploratory wonder. His \"awe-inspiring photographs\" capture owls and hawks close-up; his aerial photographs show herons in flight. Time-lapse photography reveals the slow changing of leaves.
Biology and environmental studies professor at Salisbury University, Joan Maloof, detailed “the science behind the wonder\" with her \"lyrical essays”. She also helped make the process more engaging.
“We’d go out into the forest and she would say to me, ‘Turn over that log. What do you see?’ I would say, ‘What will I see?’ She would never tell me. It was all about discovery.” — Robert Llewellyn
David George Haskill, author of The Songs of Trees, said, \"This celebration of forests' many layers of beauty is a gift for the senses, intellect, and emotions.\" The creative duo followed The Living Forest with Seeing Flowers in 2013, and Seeing Seeds in 2015.
\"In years past, Robert Llewellyn has blown our minds with the indelibly detailed photographs in “Seeing Trees,” “Seeing Flowers” and “Seeing Seeds.” In THE LIVING FOREST: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods . . he has teamed up with Joan Maloof, the founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, to peer into the mystery and magic of our woodlands.\" — The New York Times
Bob began a four-year effort in 2004 with Nancy Ross Hugo, garden columnist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, to document one hundred of Virginia's \"most historic, beautiful and beloved trees.\" They received over a thousand nominations from across the state of remarkable trees, which required driving 20,000 miles to assess each tree for inclusion. The result of all this effort was the publication of the \"keepsake book\" Remarkable Trees of Virginia with 176 of Llewellyn's photographs in 2008. The project was a turning point in how Bob viewed forest ecosystems.
“Nancy began to explain each aspect of the trees to me and a light bulb went off. They’re alive. They’re born and they die and it’s all very well planned.” — Robert Llewellyn
The two followed up Remarkable Trees of Virginia with Seeing Trees in 2011, presenting photographs that revealed \"an unexpected and alien beauty\" discovered in the minute detail of trees.
\"The authors have brought the level of observation to new heights, presenting the daintiest parts of trees — buds, flower parts and seeds in various stages of ripening — in a way that hasn’t been seen, generally.\" — The Washington Post
Washington, The Capital — published through Thomasson-Grant in 1981 — became, once leatherbound with a gold-leaf presidential seal, an official White House gift to visiting dignitaries. In this celebrated work Bob concentrated on \"the city as monuments, on what an explorer of some future time might find in a deserted Washington.\"
\"I began to see how much the center of the city was a concentration of temples — temples dedicated to government, to power and culture, to wise men and national leaders, to the dead.\" — Robert Llewellyn
The San Francisco Examiner called it a \"collection of exquisite, formal color photographs of various landmarks and scenes showing the city as a paradise on the Potomac . .\" In addition to Washington, D.C., Bob completed a series of photography books on other American cities, including Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Bob's works have been shown at a number of exhibits, including those in Charlottesville, Norfolk, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.
This is a remarkable body of work from Robert Llewellyn, professional photographer, a guy who just wanted to take pictures.
SEE: Robert Llewellyn (photographer) at Wikipedia
>>CLICK ON RIGHT ARROW FOR MORE>>
","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0,"pageImages":[],"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"key":"10478","linkTarget":"","filters":["GENERAL"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-10T21:13:58.000Z"},"10479":{"id":10479,"label":"Seeing Trees (2011)","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Robert Llewellyn published Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees with 180 of his photographs through Timber Press in 2011. Working again with Nancy Ross Hugo as writer, garden columnist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, together they reveal \"an unexpected and alien beauty\" that can be discovered in the minute detail of trees.
“When I first looked at trees — really looked at them — it was like meeting another civilization.” — Robert Llewellyn
An earlier collaboration with Nancy Ross Hugo, a four-year effort to document one hundred of Virginia's \"largest, oldest, most historic, beautiful and beloved trees,\" resulted in the 2008 publication of the \"keepsake book\" Remarkable Trees of Virginia.
In Seeing Trees, Llewellyn shows how the Virginia pine tree \"sports baby, adolescent and mature cones all on the same branch,\" and how acorns of the sawtooth oak are wrapped in tufts like sea anemones while the pink flower of the redbud appears like a hummingbird.
To capture such images, the photographer relied on \"innovative digital camera technology.\" Mounting small sections of live samples below a vertically-mounted, motorized camera — which would travel just an eighth of an inch to capture two dozen frames. Composite pictures would later be assembled by computer from \"the sharpest areas of each image.\"
\"Between [Nancy Ross Hugo]’s expansive and attentive reflections and Llewellyn’s astonishing photos, [Seeing Trees and Trees Up Close] will reveal how you’ve failed to notice everything. But they also prove that it is never too late to stand still, lean in, and see.\" — Richard Powers, author The Overstory (winner 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
\"My favorite new book this season . .\" — Dominique Browning, New York Times
\"The authors have brought the level of observation to new heights, presenting the daintiest parts of trees — buds, flower parts and seeds in various stages of ripening — in a way that hasn’t been seen, generally.\" — The Washington Post
\"You can't help but be bowled over by the beauty at play in the science.\" — Chicago Tribune
\"A splendid book.\" — Philadelphia Inquirer
Title: Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Nancy Ross Hugo
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland and London
Year: 2011
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 245 pp Book Dimensions: 8.77 x 10.4 in. (265mm x 225mm) Images: 175 color photographs
ISBN-10: 1604692197
ISBN-13: 9781604692198
Seeing Trees is available directly through the publisher, Timber Press, or through Amazon.
Remarkable Trees of Virginia with 176 of Robert Llewellyn's photographs and descriptions by Nancy Ross Hugo was published in 2008 by Albemarle Books. Llewellyn had met the garden columnist of the Richmond Times-Dispatch a few years prior when she was considering creating a book about Virginia trees. Their collaboration would result in three publications, the \"inaugural project\" being a four-year effort to document one hundred of Virginia's \"largest, oldest, most historic, beautiful and beloved trees\" — resulting in this magnificent \"keepsake book\".
This remarkable collaboration between a noted garden writer and an accomplished nature photographer are presented in this elegant, four-color volume with astounding effect. This wealth of recommendations required project co-coordinator Dr. Jeffrey Kirwan, a Virginia Tech Emeritus Professor and Extension Specialist, to log 20,000 miles travelling to visit each tree to whittle down the nominees to the one hundred included in the book.
\"We asked citizens to search their communities and natural areas for trees that are remarkable because of age, size, beauty, uniqueness, connection to the community, or historical and cultural significance.\" — Dr. Jeffrey Kirwan
Hugo and Kirwan selected a sample of trees and \"tree places\" that illustrate the enormous variety, startling beauty, and fascinating history of Virginia’s trees.
The project proved a turning point for the photographer in \"how he viewed forest ecosystems.\"
\"I had always thought trees were an element of the landscape, a shape, a color. Nancy began to explain each aspect of the trees to me and a light bulb went off. They’re alive. They’re born and they die and it’s all very well planned.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Several of the most prominent and interesting trees documented by this amazing effort have died since publication of Remarkable Trees of Virginia in 2008 — including the baldcypress at Cypress Bridge, nicknamed \"Big Mama\". At 123 feet tall it was the largest tree in Virginia, having survived over a thousand years in a swamp 80 miles southeast of Richmond.
\"Delivered like a chat over a glass of lemonade, Remarkable Trees of Virginia features fascinating and informative stories about Virginia trees and the people who love them. It includes stunning photography coupled with easily read text divided into categories such as 'champion trees,' 'historic trees,' and, my favorite, 'tree places.' It brims with the 'wow' factor the authors so aptly describe, and it will have you taking a closer look at the trees and tree habitats around you.\" — Michelle Robbins, American Forests
\"Remarkable Trees of Virginia is not only a remarkable but a spectacular book of Virginia's natural and cultural tree heritage. The engaging prose, full of wit and wisdom, weaves intriguing threads of history from well-known and often little- known facts, anecdotes, and legends. If you are a Virginian, this book is a 'must own,' opening a whole new window to the state's human history and natural forest endowment. If you are from elsewhere, this beautifully produced book will enthrall you and set a standard to emulate.\" — Stanwyn G. Shetler, Smithsonian Institution
Title: Remarkable Trees of Virginia
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Nancy Ross Hugo
Publisher: Albemarle Books
Distributor: University of Virginia Press
Year: 2008
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 216 pp
Dimensions: 12.2 x 11.2 x 1.1 inches
Images: 176 color photographs
ISBN-10: 0974270725
ISBN-13: 978-0974270722
The Living Forest is available directly via the distributor, University of Virginia Press, or through Amazon.
In Albemarle, photographer Robert Llewellyn and writer Avery Chenoweth explore how the landscape of Albemarle County, where the Virginia piedmont meets the Blue Ridge Mountains, and its people have helped create an American sense of identity.
Complemented by Llewellyn's luxurious color photography, the narrative rolls back 15,000 years to the first signs of human habitation, continues through the Colonial period, and arrives in the modern era. The story traces the evolving culture of landscape as it has been played out in the lives of historic figures, from the Monacans to the Moderns, Thomas Jefferson to Lady Bird Johnson, Edgar Allan Poe to Teddy Roosevelt.
With a sweeping view of aesthetics, spirituality, religion, and history, the book itself is a work of art, essential reading, and viewing, for anyone who has lived in, or been inspired by, the landscape of Albemarle County.
\"From the vast pattern of a landscape to the small enclosure behind the house, we blend the elements of water and flower and fruit into an atmosphere of spiritual intimacy. In this manner of taking care, we follow an ancient path into an emotional landscape where all things are in harmony. And yet the story that we found in the Albemarle landscape is one that expands into larger spaces altogether. This landscape, which we believe is unique, encompasses our earliest ideas of America.\"
\"Albemarle is more than a high-end picture book, though it's sure to look magnificent on many a holiday coffee table.. Llewellyn's photographs are superb, and Chenoweth's essay provocative; the two together represent nothing short of a new genre of art book.\" — The Hook Weekly
Title: Albemarle: A Story of Landscape and American Identity
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Avery Chenoweth
Publisher: Albemarle Books
Distributor: The University of Virginia Press
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 176
Year: 2003
Dimensions: 12.2 x 10.1 x .9 inches
Images: 100
ISBN-10: 0974270709
ISBN-13: 978-0974270708
Albemarle is available directly via the publisher, The University of Virginia Press, or through Amazon.
Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Making of America was \"a new genre of art book\" in the same vein as Robert Llewellyn's Albemarle: A Story of Landscape and American Identity (2003). Published through The University of Virginia Press in 2006 — again with Llewellyn's images (115) and Avery Chenoweth's words, but this time with an introduction by former governor of Virginia, Mark Warner — this collaboration detailed the story of our nation's birth through its forest growth.
\"The draw of Virginia is deep. It’s a force that Avery Chenoweth and Robert Llewellyn capture with eloquence and beauty.\" — Mark Warner, former Virginia governor
This distinctive work of photography and prose traces the ways in which American culture grew out of the conflict that characterized the first contact between Native Americans and Europeans. Expanding on their unique treatment of Albemarle County, the artists use photographs from our time to suggest both the ancient and recent pasts, creating a virtual experience from the Colonial era into modern times.
Telling this extensive story in modern terms by dusting off the history to reveal the main players as fresh and alive today as they were then, Jamestown and the Making of America beautifully depicts a landscape synonymous with American history, from its tumultuous beginning through today.
\"[An] exciting, readable work . . Chenoweth’s final chapter, “Forever and Ever Your Countryman,” an epilogue permeated by much wisdom . . should be read and pondered by every Virginian.\" — The Virginian-Pilot
\"A gem for any history buff. . . The rich words and texture of the images make readers feel as if they, too, are part of the fabric of history.\" — Southern Living (picked as Read Of The Month)
\"[R]evelatory . . essential . . Empires in the Forest is a wonderful find. It is that rare combination of literature and art that compels one to grab friends by the shoulders, shake them and yell, 'Buy this book!'\" — Bill Glose, Virginia Living
\"If you buy only one book this year, let it be this one.\" — Delmarva Quarterly
Title: Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Making of America
Introduction: Mark Warner (former Virginia governor)
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Avery Chenoweth
Publisher: Rivanna Foundation
Distributor: The University of Virginia Press
Year: 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 208
Images: 115
Dimensions: 12.3\" x 10.3\" x 1\"
ISBN-10: 0974270717
ISBN-13: 978-0974270715
Empires in the Forest is available directly via the publisher, The University of Virginia Press, or through Amazon.
Washington, The Capital was published with 89 photographs by Robert Llewellyn through Thomasson-Grant in 1981, with a forward by Clement E. Conger. Leatherbound copies with a gold-leaf presidential seal became the official White House gift to visiting dignitaries in the Reagan White House.
In this celebrated work the photographer concentrates on \"the city as monuments, on what an explorer of some future time might find in a deserted Washington.\"
\"As I was making these photographs of Washington, I began to see how much the center of the city was a concentration of temples — temples dedicated to government, to power and culture, to wise men and national leaders, to the dead.\" — Robert Llewellyn
As stated on the cover, \"These photographs of the capital of the New World show not only the Washington of today, but the essential Washington that may remain throughout the eternal tomorrows.\" Llewllyn captures the mist rising up from the Potomac River, the sun coming up on the Jefferson Memorial, and distinctive neighborhoods like Georgetown.
The U.S. State Department also presented Washington, The Capital as an official gift to foreign dignitaries. Several major corporations used the book as a gift to visitors to the capital city.
\"The beauty of the natural setting, the city's sensuous qualities of sculpture and architecture and its unabashed grandeur are all here in fresh and surprising images.\" — American Photography
\"It is a collection of exquisite, formal color photographs of various landmarks and scenes showing the city as a paradise on the Potomac, devoid of people, plane crashes or urban problems.\" — San Francisco Examiner
Title: Washington, The Capital
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: forward by Clement E. Conger
Publisher: Thomasson-Grant
Year: 1981
Format: Hardcover; coffee table
Pages: 117 pp
Dimensions: 11.5 x 9 x 0.8 inches
Images: 89 photographs
ISBN-10: 0934738025
ISBN-13: 978-0934738026
Washington, The Capital is currently out of print. Copies can be arranged through Alibris, Amazon, and other online sites.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW FOR VIDEO>>
I have designed a special studio.
I have found that very close up macro images take on a strange phenomena when they are sharp throughout. They look like they exist as large as you print them — something we are not used to seeing in close-up images.
Way back when I made photographs on film, I had a studio full of five big glowing light tables. Now that I am working on projects that require seeing things very close — using digital imaging — I am back to the light tables.
To make all of my images sharp throughout I went back to my light tables — and back to the engineering I learned in school. My cameras are attached to motors that move them. The motor is attached to computers that control them and change the focus points in precise increments — sometimes as small as 1/100th of a millimeter.
I make up to 50 exposures at different focal points of one object and then stitch them together in computer software. Much like making a panorama, but going vertically with focus.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
","featuredImage":"LlewellynStudio.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":400,"height":267},"pageImages":[],"bytes":0},"dateAdded":"2014-06-10T21:15:58.000Z","linkTarget":"","filters":["GENERAL"],"key":"10484","overrides":{}},"10486":{"id":10486,"label":"LICENSING","caption":"","type":"html","featuredImage":"Licensing.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":432,"height":648},"bytes":0},"dateAdded":"2014-06-10 17:16:23","filters":["EXTRA"],"oldFeaturedImage":"Licensing.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10487":{"id":10487,"label":"LICENSING","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Some images on this site are available for licensing for commercial use.\r\n\r\nPlease contact Robert Llewellyn for more information.\r\n\r\nRobert Llewellyn\r\n885 Reas Ford Road\r\nEarlysville, Virginia 22936\r\n\r\n434-973-8000\r\nRobert@RobertLlewellyn.com","featuredImage":"Licensing-copy2.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0,"featuredImage":{"width":432,"height":648}},"filters":["GENERAL"],"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-10 17:16:46","oldFeaturedImage":"Licensing-copy2.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10488":{"id":10488,"label":"SIGNED PRINTS","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Signed prints can be ordered in different sizes of the images at this site. Botanical images include seeds, flowers, and trees. Images shown on this site are just a small sample of the images available.
These custom prints are produced with 310g archival 100%-cotton hot press paper using archival UltraChrome K3™ pigments.
Identify images at the site you find interesting and use the contact icon at the bottom of the screen to request further information. Please include series and image number (x/n) from bar at the bottom of the screen.
You may also use the PDF Portfolio Builder by clicking CREATE PDF and select as many images as you wish.
Please contact Robert Llewellyn for print prices and any other information on ordering prints from this site or from his archive.
Robert Llewellyn
885 Reas Ford Road
Earlysville, Virginia 22936-2305
(434) 422-2185
Robert@RobertLlewellyn.com
Moving through images at this site involves clicking on the arrows to the right or left of the image as the cursor hovers over it. Directional keys on a keypad can also be used (left/right and up/down). This navigational technique applies also to text pages throughout the site.
Robert Llewellyn
\\n885 Reas Ford Road\\nEarlysville, Virginia 22936
\\nP / 434-422-2185
\\nE / Robert@RobertLlewellyn.com
\"}","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"key":"10489","dateAdded":"2014-06-10T21:17:28.000Z","filters":[]},"10490":{"id":10490,"label":"CREATE PDF","caption":"","type":"link","content":"http://robertllewellyn.com/pdf","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0},"dateAdded":"2014-06-11T03:46:53.000Z","key":"10490","overrides":{},"filters":[],"linkTarget":"_blank"},"10491":{"id":10491,"label":"balmullo88@gmail.com","caption":"","type":"link","content":"mailto:balmullo88@gmail.com","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"_blank","key":"10491","dateAdded":"2019-07-05T21:47:22.717Z","filters":["Footer Links"]},"10492":{"id":10492,"label":"architecture02","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture02.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":255547},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture02.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:18:35"},"10493":{"id":10493,"label":"architecture03","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture03.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":472619},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:18:43","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture03.jpg"},"10494":{"id":10494,"label":"architecture04","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture04.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":164097},"overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:18:46","oldContent":"architecture04.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10495":{"id":10495,"label":"architecture05","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture05.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":698406,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:18:58","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture05.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10496":{"id":10496,"label":"architecture06","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture06.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":677583},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:09","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture06.jpg"},"10497":{"id":10497,"label":"architecture07","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture07.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":508575,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:19","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture07.jpg","linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10498":{"id":10498,"label":"architecture08","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture08.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":140172},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture08.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:20"},"10499":{"id":10499,"label":"architecture09","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture09.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":437887},"overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture09.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:27","linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10500":{"id":10500,"label":"architecture10","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture10.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":469326,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture10.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:35","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10501":{"id":10501,"label":"architecture11","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture11.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":398525,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture11.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:42"},"10502":{"id":10502,"label":"architecture12","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture12.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":122300,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture12.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:45","overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10503":{"id":10503,"label":"architecture13","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture13.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":262576,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:49","oldContent":"architecture13.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10504":{"id":10504,"label":"architecture14","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture14.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":359134},"overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture14.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:19:55","linkTarget":""},"10505":{"id":10505,"label":"architecture15","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture15.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":329505},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture15.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:36:37"},"10506":{"id":10506,"label":"architecture16","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture16.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":1121522},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture16.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:36:56","overrides":{}},"10507":{"id":10507,"label":"architecture17","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture17.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":304541,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:05","oldContent":"architecture17.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10508":{"id":10508,"label":"architecture18","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture18.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":302682,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture18.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:08","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10509":{"id":10509,"label":"architecture19","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture19.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":727533},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:22","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture19.jpg","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10510":{"id":10510,"label":"architecture20","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture20.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":537323},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:31","oldContent":"architecture20.jpg","overrides":{}},"10511":{"id":10511,"label":"architecture21","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture21.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":807508,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture21.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:45"},"10512":{"id":10512,"label":"architecture22","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture22.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":598563},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:37:56","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture22.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10513":{"id":10513,"label":"architecture23","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture23.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1553,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":429811,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:03","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture23.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10514":{"id":10514,"label":"architecture24","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture24.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":847826},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:17","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture24.jpg","overrides":{}},"10515":{"id":10515,"label":"architecture25","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture25.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":679891,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:28","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture25.jpg"},"10516":{"id":10516,"label":"architecture26","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture26.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1553,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":414909},"overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture26.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:36"},"10517":{"id":10517,"label":"architecture27","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture27.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1507,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":375652,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture27.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:42"},"10518":{"id":10518,"label":"architecture28","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture28.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":136443,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture28.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:44","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10519":{"id":10519,"label":"architecture29","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture29.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":417814},"oldContent":"architecture29.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:38:51"},"10520":{"id":10520,"label":"architecture30","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture30.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":755305,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:04","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture30.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10521":{"id":10521,"label":"architecture31","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture31.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":166081},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:07","linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture31.jpg"},"10522":{"id":10522,"label":"architecture32","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture32.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":432854},"overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture32.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:16","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":""},"10523":{"id":10523,"label":"architecture33","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture33.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":1100358,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:33","oldContent":"architecture33.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10524":{"id":10524,"label":"architecture34","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture34.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":750167,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:46","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture34.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10525":{"id":10525,"label":"architecture35","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture35.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":149319,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:48","oldContent":"architecture35.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10526":{"id":10526,"label":"architecture36","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture36.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":264053,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:39:53","oldContent":"architecture36.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10527":{"id":10527,"label":"architecture37","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture37.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":376777,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:00","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture37.jpg"},"10528":{"id":10528,"label":"architecture38","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture38.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":806683},"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:13","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture38.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10529":{"id":10529,"label":"architecture39","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture39.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":727617},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:25","oldContent":"architecture39.jpg","linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"overrides":{}},"10530":{"id":10530,"label":"architecture40","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture40.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":405893,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture40.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:32","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10531":{"id":10531,"label":"architecture41","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture41.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":215295},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture41.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:35","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10532":{"id":10532,"label":"architecture42","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture42.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":333450,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:41","oldContent":"architecture42.jpg","overrides":{}},"10533":{"id":10533,"label":"architecture43","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture43.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":161319,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:44","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture43.jpg"},"10534":{"id":10534,"label":"architecture44","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture44.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":93640,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:45","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture44.jpg"},"10535":{"id":10535,"label":"architecture45","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture45.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":567236,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture45.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:40:55","overrides":{}},"10536":{"id":10536,"label":"architecture46","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture46.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":311887,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture46.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:02","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10537":{"id":10537,"label":"architecture47","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture47.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":299761,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:07","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture47.jpg"},"10538":{"id":10538,"label":"architecture48","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture48.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":98581},"oldContent":"architecture48.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:09","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","postDate":"2017-12-15T23:29:38.437Z"},"10539":{"id":10539,"label":"architecture49","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture49.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":620416},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:19","oldContent":"architecture49.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10540":{"id":10540,"label":"architecture50","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture50.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":635508,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture50.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:29","overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10541":{"id":10541,"label":"architecture51","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture51.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":646443},"overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture51.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:40"},"10542":{"id":10542,"label":"architecture52","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture52.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":1028619},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture52.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:41:57","overrides":{}},"10543":{"id":10543,"label":"architecture53","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture53.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":541435,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:06","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"architecture53.jpg"},"10544":{"id":10544,"label":"architecture54","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture54.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":417965},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture54.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:13"},"10545":{"id":10545,"label":"architecture55","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture55.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":421995},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:20","oldContent":"architecture55.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10546":{"id":10546,"label":"architecture56","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture56.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1714,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":413024},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:27","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"architecture56.jpg","overrides":{}},"10547":{"id":10547,"label":"architecture57","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture57.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1714,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":435249,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture57.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:34","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10548":{"id":10548,"label":"architecture58","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture58.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1791,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":330108,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture58.jpg","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:40","linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10549":{"id":10549,"label":"architecture59","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture59.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":203923,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"architecture59.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:44","overrides":{},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"linkTarget":""},"10551":{"id":10551,"label":"IMG0054","caption":"","type":"image","content":"IMG0054.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":299840},"filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"IMG0054.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:56","overrides":{}},"10552":{"id":10552,"label":"IMG0057","caption":"","type":"image","content":"IMG0057.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":170495},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 09:42:59","linkTarget":"","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"],"oldContent":"IMG0057.jpg","overrides":{}},"10553":{"id":10553,"label":"architecture02x","caption":"","type":"image","content":"architecture02x.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":915041},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"architecture02x.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 10:12:51","filters":["ARCHITECTURE"]},"10555":{"id":10555,"label":"seedpod02","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod02.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":331406},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:30:59","oldContent":"seedpod02.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10556":{"id":10556,"label":"seedpod03","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod03.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":181415},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:02","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod03.jpg","overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":""},"10557":{"id":10557,"label":"seedpod04","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod04.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1716,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":154085},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod04.jpg","overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:04","linkTarget":""},"10558":{"id":10558,"label":"seedpod05","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod05.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":265662,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod05.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:09","overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10559":{"id":10559,"label":"seedpod06","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod06.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":137935},"oldContent":"seedpod06.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:11","linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10560":{"id":10560,"label":"seedpod07","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod07.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":342398,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:17","oldContent":"seedpod07.jpg"},"10561":{"id":10561,"label":"seedpod08","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod08.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":565841},"oldContent":"seedpod08.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:27"},"10562":{"id":10562,"label":"seedpod09","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod09.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":201314},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod09.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:30","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":""},"10563":{"id":10563,"label":"seedpod10","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod10.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":631996,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:41","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod10.jpg","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10564":{"id":10564,"label":"seedpod11","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod11.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":474707},"oldContent":"seedpod11.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:49","overrides":{}},"10565":{"id":10565,"label":"seedpod12","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod12.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":137191},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:51","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod12.jpg"},"10566":{"id":10566,"label":"seedpod13","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod13.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":397541,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod13.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:31:58","overrides":{}},"10567":{"id":10567,"label":"seedpod14","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod14.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":183885,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod14.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:01","linkTarget":"","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10568":{"id":10568,"label":"seedpod15","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod15.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":305307},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod15.jpg","linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:06"},"10569":{"id":10569,"label":"seedpod16","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod16.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":262988,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:11","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod16.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10570":{"id":10570,"label":"seedpod17","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod17.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":75594},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:12","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod17.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{}},"10571":{"id":10571,"label":"seedpod18","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod18.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":54915},"linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod18.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:13"},"10572":{"id":10572,"label":"seedpod19","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod19.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":140157},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:16","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod19.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10573":{"id":10573,"label":"seedpod20","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod20.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":313408},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:21","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod20.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10574":{"id":10574,"label":"seedpod21","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod21.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":201827},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:24","oldContent":"seedpod21.jpg"},"10575":{"id":10575,"label":"seedpod22","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod22.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":109562,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod22.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:27"},"10576":{"id":10576,"label":"seedpod23","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod23.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":157946},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:29","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod23.jpg","overrides":{}},"10577":{"id":10577,"label":"seedpod24","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod24.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":88930,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"seedpod24.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:32","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10578":{"id":10578,"label":"seedpod25","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod25.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":71811,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod25.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:32"},"10579":{"id":10579,"label":"seedpod26","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod26.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":77147,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:35","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod26.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10580":{"id":10580,"label":"seedpod27","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod27.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":161162},"oldContent":"seedpod27.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:37","linkTarget":"","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10581":{"id":10581,"label":"seedpod28","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod28.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":229254},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:41","oldContent":"seedpod28.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10582":{"id":10582,"label":"seedpod29","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod29.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":93161},"overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:43","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod29.jpg"},"10583":{"id":10583,"label":"seedpod30","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod30.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":58165,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod30.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:44"},"10584":{"id":10584,"label":"seedpod31","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod31.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":116415,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:46","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod31.jpg"},"10585":{"id":10585,"label":"seedpod32","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod32.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":760,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":306332},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:51","oldContent":"seedpod32.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10586":{"id":10586,"label":"seedpod33","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod33.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":232499,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:55","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod33.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10587":{"id":10587,"label":"seedpod34","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod34.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":210911,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"seedpod34.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:32:59"},"10588":{"id":10588,"label":"seedpod35","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod35.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":317247},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:04","oldContent":"seedpod35.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10589":{"id":10589,"label":"seedpod36","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod36.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":183256,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:07","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod36.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10590":{"id":10590,"label":"seedpod37","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod37.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":211540,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"seedpod37.jpg","linkTarget":"","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:11"},"10591":{"id":10591,"label":"seedpod38","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod38.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":269364},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:15","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod38.jpg","overrides":{}},"10592":{"id":10592,"label":"seedpod39","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod39.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":231318},"overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod39.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:20","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10593":{"id":10593,"label":"seedpod40","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod40.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":287714},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:24","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod40.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10594":{"id":10594,"label":"seedpod41","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod41.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":246100},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:28","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod41.jpg","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10595":{"id":10595,"label":"seedpod42","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod42.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1716,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":184131,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:32","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod42.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":""},"10596":{"id":10596,"label":"seedpod43","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod43.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":115793,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod43.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:34"},"10597":{"id":10597,"label":"seedpod44","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod44.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":304741},"oldContent":"seedpod44.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:40"},"10598":{"id":10598,"label":"seedpod45","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod45.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":185170},"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19T19:33:43.000Z","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2024-06-16T17:13:30.128Z","linkTarget":""},"10599":{"id":10599,"label":"seedpod46","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod46.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":282153},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19T19:33:47.000Z","linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{},"oldContent":"seedpod46.jpg"},"10600":{"id":10600,"label":"seedpod47","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod47.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":249573},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod47.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:51"},"10601":{"id":10601,"label":"seedpod48","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod48.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":152512},"oldContent":"seedpod48.jpg","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:33:54","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":""},"10602":{"id":10602,"label":"seedpod49","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod49.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":271408},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod49.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:00","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10603":{"id":10603,"label":"seedpod50","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod50.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":480025},"oldContent":"seedpod50.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:06","linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"overrides":{},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z"},"10604":{"id":10604,"label":"seedpod51","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod51.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":490922,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod51.jpg","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:16","linkTarget":""},"10605":{"id":10605,"label":"seedpod52","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod52.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":711234},"linkTarget":"","postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:26","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod52.jpg","overrides":{}},"10606":{"id":10606,"label":"seedpod53","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod53.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":317400,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:32","overrides":{},"filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod53.jpg"},"10607":{"id":10607,"label":"seedpod54","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod54.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":707719},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:44","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"seedpod54.jpg","filters":["SEEING SEED S"]},"10608":{"id":10608,"label":"seedpod55","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod55.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":663437,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","oldContent":"seedpod55.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:34:55","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"linkTarget":""},"10609":{"id":10609,"label":"seedpod56","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod56.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":605189},"postDate":"2018-05-17T20:10:14.891Z","linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 15:35:05","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"oldContent":"seedpod56.jpg"},"10610":{"id":10610,"label":"seedpod01x","caption":"","type":"image","content":"seedpod01x.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":1308630,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"seedpod01x.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["SEEING SEED S"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-19 17:24:50"},"10611":{"id":10611,"label":"_RL10672","caption":"","type":"image","content":"_RL10672.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":254631},"filters":["new additions","AERIAL"],"oldContent":"_RL10672.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:12:27","overrides":{}},"10612":{"id":10612,"label":"_RL11683d","caption":"","type":"image","content":"_RL11683d.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":307121},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:12:31","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","postDate":"2017-12-15T23:32:23.034Z","oldContent":"_RL11683d.jpg"},"10613":{"id":10613,"label":"_RL47319","caption":"","type":"image","content":"_RL47319.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":555089},"oldContent":"_RL47319.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:12:41","linkTarget":"","filters":["new additions"]},"10614":{"id":10614,"label":"_RL47557","caption":"","type":"image","content":"_RL47557.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":585529,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"_RL47557.jpg","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:12:50","filters":["new additions"]},"10615":{"id":10615,"label":"Aerial02","caption":"","type":"image","content":"Aerial02-copy1.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":334291,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["new additions"],"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"Aerial02-copy1.jpg","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:12:56"},"10616":{"id":10616,"label":"Aerial18","caption":"","type":"image","content":"Aerial18-copy1.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":659638,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"filters":["new additions"],"oldContent":"Aerial18-copy1.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:07"},"10617":{"id":10617,"label":"Aerial28","caption":"","type":"image","content":"Aerial28.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":106235},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:10","linkTarget":"","oldContent":"Aerial28.jpg","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{}},"10618":{"id":10618,"label":"alb077","caption":"","type":"image","content":"alb077.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":408263},"oldContent":"alb077.jpg","linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:16","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{}},"10619":{"id":10619,"label":"alb112","caption":"","type":"image","content":"alb112.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":822616},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:31","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"alb112.jpg"},"10620":{"id":10620,"label":"beach-girls001","caption":"","type":"image","content":"beach-girls001.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":280402,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["new additions"],"linkTarget":"","overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:34","oldContent":"beach-girls001.jpg"},"10621":{"id":10621,"label":"LAND-43-","caption":"","type":"image","content":"LAND-43-.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":385861},"oldContent":"LAND-43-.jpg","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:41"},"10622":{"id":10622,"label":"P86-rgb16","caption":"","type":"image","content":"P86-rgb16.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":876484,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"filters":["new additions"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:13:55","postDate":"2018-04-29T20:45:06.533Z","oldContent":"P86-rgb16.jpg","linkTarget":"","overrides":{}},"10623":{"id":10623,"label":"P162-rgb16","caption":"","type":"image","content":"P162-rgb16.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":801699},"filters":["new additions"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:14:09","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"P162-rgb16.jpg"},"10624":{"id":10624,"label":"redhat2","caption":"","type":"image","content":"redhat2.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":414950,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"oldContent":"redhat2.jpg","dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:14:16","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{},"linkTarget":""},"10625":{"id":10625,"label":"SeeingFlowersCover","caption":"","type":"image","content":"SeeingFlowersCover.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":969,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":229766},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:14:20","filters":["new additions"],"overrides":{},"oldContent":"SeeingFlowersCover.jpg","linkTarget":""},"10626":{"id":10626,"label":"va-beach-aerial010","caption":"","type":"image","content":"va-beach-aerial010.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1673,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":437288,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:14:28","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","oldContent":"va-beach-aerial010.jpg","filters":["new additions"]},"10627":{"id":10627,"label":"VATrees24","caption":"","type":"image","content":"VATrees24.jpg","size":{"content":{"width":1710,"height":1140},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":912110},"overrides":{},"oldContent":"VATrees24.jpg","linkTarget":"","filters":["new additions"],"dateAdded":"2014-06-24 12:14:43"},"10628":{"id":10628,"label":"Seeing Flowers (2013)","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Seeing Flowers Seeing Flowers: Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers, with 181 photographs by Robert Llewellyn and words by Teri Dunn Chace, was published by Timber Press in 2013. This \"visual feast\" gloriously highlights 343 popular garden flowers. Using a highly-advanced photographic process, the photographer reveals rarely seen details — like the amazing architecture of stamens and pistils, the subtle shadings on a petal, and the secret recesses of nectar tubes.
We may all have seen red roses, blue irises, and yellow daffodils, but looking closely at a whole new worlds of beauty and intricacy emerge. Features most flowers share — such as petals and the sepals that support them, and the sexual organs that offer pollen to pollinators and eventually develop into seeds and fruit — are as wonderful and graceful as the flowers themselves. These intimate images exhibit how each feature contributes to the plant world’s supremely resourceful way of staying alive.
Teri Dunn Chace’s \"lyrical and illuminating essays\" complement the images, offering insights on each flower and sharing fascinating tidbits and related lore. Together, photographer and writer give the reader a deeper appreciation of how and why flowers are so important in human culture.
For the nature lover, gardener, or photography buff — or someone who simply responds to the timeless beauty and variety of the floral world — Seeing Flowers will be a source of enduring delight.
“Flower porn. I defy anyone not to be seduced by these portraits — even hydrangeas look like works of art. Accompanied by neat text explaining familial characteristics from Amaryllis to Viola.” — Jane Owen, Financial Times
“He created the final photographs using special stitching software to put every part of the flower in focus.” — The Wall Street Journal
\"We’re no longer observers — we’re now participants in the emotional lives of these specimens. In many of the photographs you feel like you’re falling into the flowers.\" — Chantal Aida Gordon, The Horticult
“I looked, I sighed, I drooled. Seeing Flowers is truly a delight for weather- weary minds, and an inspiration to gardeners and artists everywhere. The photographs look like exquisite paintings.” — floweryprose.com
“Each photo crystallizes every nuance of a blossom, transporting you to the wingtips of bumblebees or nectar-wet tongues of butterflies.” — Elizabeth Derby, Abode Magazine
Title: Seeing Flowers: Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Teri Dunn Chace
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland and London
Year: 2013
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304 pp
Dimensions: 8.77 x 10.4 in. (265mm x 225mm)
Images: 181 color photographs
ISBN-10: 160469422X
ISBN-13: 978-1-60469-422-2
Seeing Flowers is available directly via the publisher, Timber Press, or through Amazon.
Seeing Seeds: A Journey into the World of Seedheads, Pods, and Fruit with 145 photographs by Robert Llewellyn and descriptions by Teri Dunn Chace was published by Timber Press in 2015. While taking the fascinating photographs that would go into making this excellent book, the photographer discovered the fascinating and sometimes surreal aspects of the natural world, which he says is “right in front of you, but you never see it.”
“Photography changes a person by getting close to things in nature. Once you actually see them, you’ll never see them the same again.” — Robert Llewellyn
Through the lens of his camera, the photographer now views the \"great outdoors\" from a microcosmic perspective. Prior to engaging in this effort, he had not considered trees as complex, living beings. “Now I realize that they live and die, migrate and reproduce, and it changed my world,” he says.
“The seed pod is an amazing life form. It is a future generation, and it’s one of the wonders of the world.” — Robert Llewellyn
His extensive collection of seed pods, photographed more than 20,000 times, exhibits their remarkable range in size and shape. Where the fruit of the honeysuckle is fleshy-waxy, the dandelion’s is light and fluffy — so it can be dispersed easily by the wind. Other pods sprout wings, like the parachute-style ones of the sycamore tree.
\"See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time. There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Discover for yourself.\" — Robert Llewellyn
\"Offers a cornucopia of photographs by Robert Llewellyn. . . The text, by Teri Dunn Chace, offers fascinating tidbits.\" — New York Times
\"Llewellyn’s images reflect a depth of detail that until now, only the best botanical illustrators could approach.\" — Washington Post
\"What Llewellyn has done with his photographs is something akin to entering the temple of creation on a microscopic level.\" — Daily Progress
\"A marvelously artistic and detailed look at how plants perpetuate themselves . . The energy and ingenuity of seeds practically jumps off the pages of the book.\" — Pacific Northwest Magazine
\"An odyssey full of wonder that’s worthy of narration by Jacques Cousteau. . . So often we look, but we don’t see. This book tries to change all that. Marvel at nature’s symmetry, patterns, and hidden textures.\" — English Garden
Title: Seeing Seeds: A Journey into the World of Seedheads, Pods, and Fruit
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Teri Dunn Chace
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland and London
Year: 2015
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 284 pp
Dimensions: 8½ x 10 in. (255 x 215 mm)
Images: 145 color photographs
ISBN-10: 1604694920
ISBN-13: 9781604694925
Seeing Seeds is available directly via the publisher, Timber Press, or through Amazon.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Email Robert@Robertllewellyn.com
\r\nPhone 434-973-8000
\r\n\r\nRobert Llewellyn\r\n885 Reas Ford Road\r\nEarlysville, Virginia 22936
\r\n\"This has all been a great adventure. Photography is a wonderful thing to do because it’s always different. It’s always new, and I've never worked a day in my life.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn has been a professional photographer for over 40 years, and his detailed images of trees, buds, flowers and leaves have gained much critical acclaim. In his life and work, he makes the distinction between “looking,” which he considers passive, and “seeing,” which is active.
While working on the book, Remarkable Trees of Virginia (2008), a collaboration with garden writer Nancy Ross Hugo, Llewellyn began to more fully understand the complexity of tree life. “First, they are living things: they are born, they die,” he says. “And second, they live in communities.” His entire body of work is infused with an enduring inquisitiveness about the way plants work and an accompanying sense of wonder.
\"Get up, go out, look at things, smell things, touch things, look down, collect things. The action and movement from human looking to human seeing makes an enormous difference.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Although traditional macro photography only allows a single area of focus in an image, Llewellyn developed an alternative method that provides an unlimited depth of field. Combining his knowledge of engineering and contemporary technology, he creates images in full focus: every bud, leaf, and flower is photographed up to 50 times at various distances, and the final work is a composite of the sharpest areas of each picture. The resulting photographs are of stunning, hyper-real clarity, as if Llewellyn has found a way to circumvent the limitations of the human eye and the magnifying camera lens.
His photographs have been featured in numerous art exhibits, and more than thirty books exhibiting his photography are in print. His book Washington, The Capital (1981) was an official diplomatic gift of the White House and State Department.
\"Robert Llewellyn has a photographic talent of a very high order.\" — Reid Beddow, The Washington Post
\"You might think that after 50 years of photographing plants and trees, photographer Robert Llewellyn has seen it all in the great outdoors. But when he talks about nature and spending time in the forest for his latest book, he does so with a youthful exuberance and a sense of awe.\" — Angela Nelson, Mother Nature Network
“Arresting photographs combine with musings about the web of life in deciduous forests in this coffee-table book.” — Publishers Weekly
\"In years past, Robert Llewellyn has blown our minds with the indelibly detailed photographs in “Seeing Trees,” “Seeing Flowers” and “Seeing Seeds.” [Here] he has teamed up with Joan Maloof, the founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, to peer into the mystery and magic of our woodlands.\" — Dominique Browning, The New York Times
\"This celebration of forests' many layers of beauty is a gift for the senses, intellect, and emotions.\" — David George Haskill, The Songs of Trees
\"The authors have brought the level of observation to new heights, presenting the daintiest parts of trees — buds, flower parts and seeds in various stages of ripening — in a way that hasn’t been seen, generally.\" — The Washington Post
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Bob answers a few of the questions he gets asked most often as a photographer, including:
I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather. Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Well actually if you look straight up you can find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod. I also bring lots of towels. A clear dry cleaning can be useful. I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
Sit in the rain all day and wait for wildlife to appear. Actually except for puppy dogs and kitty cats, although I am not sure about all the cats, animals do not like humans and will run away or bite you. Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away. You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. I have done some images of animals in captivity. I do not harm them. Try getting really close to a woods mouse. Having said all that, go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you. And be ready. You may only have a moment. Are there photo composition strategies that are especially good for landscapes? I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me” The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined. Be wild. Be bold. Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc. A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm. As Ansel Adams said, “there are no rules, just good photographs.”
A camera. Actually, any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact, the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field. Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs (remember “elseness”) I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images. I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it. There is a school of thought that handholding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be real sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart. Actually, there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground. Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”. “Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather. Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Well actually if you look straight up you can find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod. I also bring lots of towels. A clear dry cleaning can be useful. I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
Sit in the rain all day and wait for wildlife to appear. Actually except for puppy dogs and kitty cats, although I am not sure about all the cats, animals do not like humans and will run away or bite you. Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away. You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. I have done some images of animals in captivity. I do not harm them. Try getting really close to a woods mouse. Having said all that, go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you. And be ready. You may only have a moment. Are there photo composition strategies that are especially good for landscapes? I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me” The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined. Be wild. Be bold. Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc. A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm. As Ansel Adams said, “there are no rules, just good photographs.”
A camera. Actually, any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact, the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field. Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs (remember “elseness”) I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images. I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it. There is a school of thought that handholding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be real sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart. Actually, there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground. Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”. “Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
Robert Llewellyn answers the questions he gets asked most often as a photographer:
72. I have been making photographs for more than 50 years. My studio and home are on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.
I published a book with Timber Press in 2011 called Seeing Trees. I wanted to learn about the life of trees, so I began studying them closely. I would bring parts of the tree like leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds into the studio and photograph them on glowing light tables. The images were reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century botanical paintings.
There are 240,000 flowering trees and plants in the world, all of which have flowers, fruit, and seeds. From studying trees I went on to publish another book called Seeing Flowers. The flowers would attract pollinators and then drop the petals and construct seedpods, usually bearing no resemblance to the flower. I studied the seeds and realized plants all have a plan to produce offspring.
I became very interested in this transformation and created with Timber Press another book called Seeing Seeds. [See related questions]
Some seeds are very small, so getting the whole specimen sharp is a challenge. I make a series of photographs, as many as 100, each at a different focus point. I start at the top and move downward to the bottom. It works sort of like a MRI. I then take all of the images and load into software (like Zerene Stacker or Helicon) and they get stitched together, using the sharp parts into one image that is infinitely sharp. [See Technical and Seeing Seeds questions]
I have over 1,000 seed images. We selected from those to create the book.
Most of the seeds I collected myself. I really like having a project where you collect things. It changes how you see the planet. I still see seeds everywhere. Most seeds are hiding in plain sight. Many we eat. Some came from Whole Foods. Many gardeners knew about my project and would give me specimens.
After my close up look at the life of plants, my publisher, Timber Press, teamed me up with Joan Maloof, a scientist and biology professor, to create a book called The Living Forest, which was just released in October 2017. So I spent two years looking and photographing all of the plant and animal life in the forest. I saw how interdependent everything was, and went deeper into how seeds play a role in the forest for the plants and the animals and did more of the close seed work.
I photographed the seeds from a new point of view. Every plant and animal in the forest has a plan to create offspring. Often the plans depend on each other. Humans have a plan also — marriage leading to offspring.
So, after that book I decided to go even larger and look at the whole planet we live on and the rise of humans. I am currently calling it the Orb Project, since we live on one floating in vast space spinning 17,000 miles an hour. For a very long time I have been collecting things that support the project, including spheres, circuit boards, bones, seeds and other plant life. I also have fossils, early human artifacts and metal machine age parts.
I assemble many objects into single “landscapes” and photographing them, each with a symbolic view of life on Earth and Humans on Earth. Seeds play a pivotal role in life on Earth. Dinosaurs were cold blooded and ate gymnosperm plants — low energy conifers.
Out of that evolved the angiosperm plants. Angiosperm means “encased seed”. Inside the case is starch and protein, which gave rise to warm blooded mammals including Humans. Humans depend on seeds for life.
I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather. Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Well actually if you look straight up you can find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies.
I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod.
Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod. I also bring lots of towels. A clear dry cleaning bag can be useful. I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
Sit in the rain all day and wait for wildlife to appear. Actually except for puppy dogs and kitty cats, although I am not sure about all the cats, animals do not like humans and will run away or bite you.
Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away.
You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. I have done some images of animals in captivity. I do not harm them. Try getting really close to a woods mouse. Having said all that, go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you.
And be ready. You may only have a moment.
I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me”
The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined.
Be wild. Be bold.
Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc. A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.
As Ansel Adams said, “there are no rules, just good photographs.”
A camera. Actually, any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact, the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field.
Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs (remember “elseness”) I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images.
I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth.
I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it. There is a school of thought that handholding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be real sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart.
Actually, there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground.
Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”.
“Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
I think photography is an awesome way to explore Earth. You need to decide what you want to put in the frame and what to leave out. This changes how you see everything — a new window to the world.
For my photography there are no bad subjects, no bad light, no bad weather (but maybe bad clothes). There is always a way to make it work.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn's photographs have been featured in a number of exhibits, including:
2013
— \"Flower\" in the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.
— \"Nature's Design, the Botanical Photographs of Robert Llewellyn\" Greenville Museum of Art in Greenville, North Carolina.
2012
— \"Natural Wonders\" in the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.
— \"Seeing Trees\" at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia.
2011
— \"Flora Photographica\" at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.
— \"Seeing Trees\" in the Speak! Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia.
2010
— \"Trees\" in the Silo Installation at Firnew Gallery in Hood, Virginia.
2009
— \"Remarkable Trees of Virginia\" at the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Colonial Beach, Virginia.
— \"Seeing Trees\" at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
2008
— \"Remarkable Trees of Virginia\" at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.
— \"Remarkable Trees of Virginia\" at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia.
— \"Remarkable Trees of Virginia\" at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn's photographs have been exhibited in a number of published volumes, including:
— 2017 The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods with Joan Maloof; including 305 photographs, through Timber Press.
— 2015 Seeing Seeds with 212 photographs, through Timber Press.
— 2013 Seeing Flowers with 181 photographs, through Timber Press.
— 2011 Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees with 180 photographs, through Timber Press.
— 2008 Remarkable Trees of Virginia with 176 photographs through Albemarle Books.
— 2006 Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Beginning of America with Avery Chenoweth, includes 115 photographs; published through Rivanna Foundation.
— 2001 American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stone with 144 photographs, through Clarkson N. Potter Publishers.
— 1988 The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul with 85 photographs, introduction by John Chancellor; through Howell Press.
— 1983 Thomas Jefferson's Monticello with 81 photographs, through Thomasson-Grant.
— 2003 Albemarle with 103 photographs, through Albemarle Books.
— 1991 Reflections of Washington, DC with 216 photographs, through Gallery Books.
— 1991 Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown with 117 photographs, through Rizzoli International.
— 1989 Washington with 103 photographs, through Howell Press.
— 1988 Chicago with 109 photographs, through Howell Press.
— 1987 Pennsylvania with 107 photographs, through Foremost Publishers.
— 1986 Philadelphia with 103 photographs, through Foremost Publishers.
— 1984 Boston with 105 photographs, through Foremost Publishers.
— 1981 Washington, The Capital with 89 photographs, through Thomasson-Grant.
— 1979 Upland Virginia with 54 photographs, through Upland Publishing.
— 1996 The Academical Village with 56 photographs, through Thomasson, Grant & Lickle.
— 1991 Hollins: Celebrating 150 Years of Achievement, Tradition and Vision with Annie Dillard; includes 61 photographs, through Hollins College (Dai Nippon Printing Company).
— 1991 Ithaca College: A Centennial Portrait by Robert Hill with James J. Whalen; illustrated with 59 photographs, through Ithaca College.
— 1990 The American University with 87 photographs, through Fort Church Publishers.
— 1989 Georgetown: Meditation on a Bicentennial with 50 photographs, through Georgetown University Press.
— 1986 MIT with 110 photographs, through Fort Church Publishers.
— 1985 Penn, a Photographic Essay with 110 photographs, through Fort Church Publishers.
— 1985 Virginia, an Aerial Portrait with 99 photographs, through Thomasson and Howell.
Forty four (44) of Llewellyn’s photographs were also published with a selection of poetry by John Hartmann in Silver Wings through Casadega Group in 1979.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"pageImages":[],"bytes":0,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","key":"13239","dateAdded":"2017-12-06T18:42:46.918Z","filters":["GENERAL"]},"13240":{"id":13240,"label":"The Living Forest (2017)","caption":"","type":"html","content":"The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods was published through Timber Press in 2017 with 201 of Robert Llewellyn's images. Joan Maloof, biology and environmental studies professor at Salisbury University and founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, provided the words.
This photographic collection considers the forest as \"a complex, interconnected ecosystem filled with plants, birds, mammals, insects, and fungi,\" making for a visual journey that immerses the reader \"deep into the woods.\" Llewellyn's \"wide-ranging photography\" highlights \"the small and the large, the living and the dead, and the seen and the unseen.\"
Professor Maloof made the process more engaging for the photographer:
\"We’d go out into the forest and she would say to me, ‘Turn over that log. What do you see?’ I would say, ‘What will I see?’ She would never tell me. It was all about discovery.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Llewellyn's \"awe-inspiring photographs\" capture owls and hawks in close-up and herons in flight from the air. Time-lapse photography reveals the slow changing of leaves. Maloof's \"lyrical essays\" detail \"the science behind the wonder.\"
\"In years past, Robert Llewellyn has blown our minds with the indelibly detailed photographs in “Seeing Trees,” “Seeing Flowers” and “Seeing Seeds.” In The Living Forest: A Visual Journey he has teamed up with Joan Maloof, the founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, to peer into the mystery and magic of our woodlands.\" — Dominique Browning, The New York Times
\"Llewellyn is a master of revealing the intricacies of the small-scale elements of such big creatures, things such as the winged fruit of the maple or the male catkins of the red oak, spilling over their twigs like waterfalls.\" — Washington Post
\"With precise, stunning photographs and a distinctly literary narrative that tells the story of the forest ecosystem along the way, The Living Forest is an invitation to join in the eloquence of seeing. . . Browsing through the book, one gets the sense that each image and anecdote is the snapshot of a moment of pure discovery.\" — Sierra Magazine
\"Lovely, Dark, and Deep . . Leaf through this book and you’ll be transported to a world of soaring branches, misty mountains and a treasury of living things that includes acorns, fungi, eagles, coyotes, snakes and millipedes.\" — BookPage
“Arresting photographs combine with musings about the web of life in deciduous forests in this coffee-table book.” — Publishers Weekly
Title: The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Joan Maloof
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland and London
Year: 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 266
Dimensions: 11 x 11 in. (280 x 280 mm)
Images: 201 color photographs
ISBN-10: 1604697121
ISBN-13: 9781604697124
The Living Forest is available directly via the publisher, Timber Press, or through Amazon.
Photographer Robert Llewellyn applies a highly-sophisticated photographic technique — which he combines with the most advanced camera equipment — when capturing his wildlife images.
When photographing flowers and seeds, Bob combines his knowledge of engineering and contemporary technology to create images in full focus with an alternative method using innovative digital camera technology that provides for an unlimited depth of field. He mounts small sections of live samples below a vertically-mounted, motorized camera. In travelling just an eighth of an inch the camera captures two dozen frames, which the computer then assembles into a composite picture of the sharpest areas of each image. Every bud, flower, and leaf is photographed up to 50 times at various distances. The final work is a composite of the sharpest areas of each picture, resolved by software and computer. The resulting photographs have a \"hyper-real clarity\" which circumvents the limitations of the magnifying camera lens.
\"To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I used a technique called \"focus stacking\". I would put the seeds on a glowing light table and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top to bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then loaded the images into stacking software, which rendered one image that was perfectly sharp.\" — Robert Llewellyn
Bob uses a Canon 5DS R for most of his work, and a Canon 5D Mark IV high-speed camera for photographing wildlife. He deploys over a dozen different lenses, from a 2,000mm to a 10x microscopic lens. To capture wide landscapes, he takes multiple panoramic images with a 14mm lens, then \"stitches\" the shots together into a single panorama.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn answers questions related to his recent book, Seeing Seeds (2015):
I had published a book on trees and flowers and wanted to know even more about how the plant world worked. So I went to the source — seeds. It was a whole new world. So I chose this project and suddenly seeds are everywhere, hiding in plain sight. So I began collecting. I have been collecting things forever. I think when you have things to collect you start to really see the planet. I don't think it matters what you collect.
Two years. Timber Press wanted to publish the book and the editor, Tom Fischer, gave me list of seeds to find. It is really not work. It is fun.
We all have a round trip ticket to planet Earth. So imagine Earth is a new planet. What would you do? You would say \"wow\" a lot (what humans involuntary say when they experience something \"new\".) So I wanted to explore everything as a new adventure and find out how everything works, and how they are all connected.
I brought seeds into my studio to photograph them. Some are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I used a technique called \"focus stacking\". I would put the seeds on a glowing light table and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top to bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then loaded the images into stacking software, which rendered one image that was perfectly sharp.
My studio is half of my house. I like working at home. I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I have 60 acres of land so I could go out my door and collect seeds.
According to Kew Gardens there are 240,000 flowering plants on this planet. The mission of the seed is to create offspring, as is the mission of all life on Earth. So with the editor we selected categories of seeds. One was food, and some of the seeds came from food stores. Seeds have protein and starch that keep warm blooded animals, like humans, alive. We eat seeds every day. All seeds are unique. I went for the most unique ones I could find. Like the Devils Claw, (which will draw blood) to the castor bean that shoots its seeds 30 feet.
Beautiful seeds with each one being different. If you heat and press castor beans you will get very slippery castor oil. The oil is often used as a laxative or oil for race cars. If you eat the seed raw you will die. The seeds contain ricin, one the most deadly poisons on earth. Heating destroys the ricin.
I look at them from all angles with the camera. They are 3D so there are a lot of choices of how you look at them and photograph them. I explore the seed for a while and at some point it will call out to me. I often have 10 or more versions of the same seed. I have over 2,000 images of seeds.
I found all plants have a plan to make seeds and reproduce. An example is the blackberry lily, often found in forests, is a small plant with brilliant orange flowers. The colored flower is to attract bees and other pollinators. Plants often depend on animals to get pollinated. Then a transformation occurs. The orange party dress falls away and the blackberry lily makes a black seed pod that looks identical to a real blackberry. Bears and other forest animals eat the seeds which eventually go through their digestive system. They transport the seed. A plan.
See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time. There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Discover for yourself. Look at things without naming them. When you name something you think you are done.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn answers questions related to seeds, with a focus on his recent book, Seeing Seeds (2015):
I published a book with Timber Press in 2011 called Seeing Trees. I wanted to learn about the life of trees, so I began studying them closely. I would bring parts of the tree like leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds into the studio and photograph them on glowing light tables. The images were reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century botanical paintings.
From studying trees I went on to publish another book called Seeing Flowers. The flowers would attract pollinators and then drop the petals and construct seedpods, usually bearing no resemblance to the flower. I studied the seeds and realized plants all have a plan to produce offspring.
I became very interested in this transformation and created with Timber Press another book called Seeing Seeds.
I had published a book on trees and flowers and wanted to know even more about how the plant world worked. So, I went to the source — seeds. It was a whole new world. I chose this project and suddenly seeds are everywhere, hiding in plain sight. I began collecting them.
I have been collecting things forever. I think when you have things to collect you start to really see the planet. I don't think it matters what you collect.
For two years. Timber Press wanted to publish the book and the editor, Tom Fischer, gave me list of seeds to find. It is really not work. It is fun.
Most of the seeds I collected myself. I really like having a project where you collect things. I still see seeds everywhere. Most seeds are hiding in plain sight. Many we eat. Some came from Whole Foods. Many gardeners knew about my project and would give me specimens.
According to Kew Gardens there are 240,000 flowering plants on this planet, all of which have flowers, fruit, and seeds. The mission of the seed is to create offspring, as is the mission of all life on Earth.
We first selected categories of seeds with the editor of our book. One was food; some of the seeds came from food stores. Seeds have protein and starch that keep warm-blooded animals, like humans, alive. We eat seeds every day.
All seeds are unique. I went for the most unique ones I could find. Like the Devils Claw, which will draw blood, to the castor bean that shoots its seeds 30 feet. If you heat and press castor beans you will get castor oil, which is very slippery. The oil is often used as a laxative — or as an oil in race cars. If you eat the seed raw you will die. The seeds contain ricin, one the most deadly poisons on earth.
These are beautiful seeds, each one different.
I look at them from all angles with the camera. They are 3D so there are a lot of choices of how you look at them and photograph them. I explore the seed for a while and at some point it will call out to me. I often have 10 or more versions of the same seed.
I brought seeds into my studio to photograph them. Some are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I used a technique called \"focus stacking\". I would put the seeds on a glowing light table and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top to bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then loaded the images into stacking software, which rendered one image that was perfectly sharp.
Some seeds are very small, so getting the whole specimen sharp is a challenge. I make a series of photographs, as many as 100, each at a different focus point. I start at the top and move downward to the bottom. It works sort of like an MRI.
I then take all of the images and load into software (like Zerene Stacker or Helicon Focus) and they get stitched together, using the sharp parts, into one image that is infinitely sharp.
I have over 2,000 seed images. We selected from those to create Seeing Seeds.
I found all plants have a plan to make seeds and reproduce. An example is the blackberry lily, often found in forests. It is a small plant with brilliant orange flowers. The colored flower is to attract bees and other pollinators. Plants often depend on animals to get pollinated.
Then a transformation occurs. The orange party dress falls away and the blackberry lily makes a black seed pod that looks identical to a real blackberry. Bears and other forest animals eat the seeds which eventually go through their digestive system. They transport the seed.
A plan.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn answers questions about photography in general, his approach to it, and how to be a better photographer.
I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I have 60 acres of land so I could go out my door and collect nature samples. My studio is half of my house. I like working at home.
Many things I do bring into the studio to isolate them and get closer. The forest is a challenge because when you look through the frame there are an enormous number of things to put in or take out.
Going into the forest, with a camera, is a different mindset. First, don’t complain – about anything. There is no good light or bad light, just light. Find a way. There are no bad subjects. I can make a photograph of anything. There is no good weather or bad weather – just weather, all the time.
Digital by far. Digital is sharper, has greater tonal range and can be easily edited in Adobe Photoshop®. Photoshop reminds me of when I used to make black-and-white prints in the darkroom. Photoshop is the new darkroom.
With film, you are at the mercy of the characteristics of the film.
I call it the “elseness” exercise. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? There is no end.
I think being a photographer is a wonderful way to visit earth – a great adventure. There is always something new to see and photograph. There is always more to see and learn about trees, for example, and about everything else.
Photography has infinite possibilities.
Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather.
I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions, as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
Look straight up and you might find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy.
I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod.
Carry a piece of clear plastic from your dry cleaning with you. It's very light and you can cover you and your equipment at the same time. It's also disposable.
I also bring lots of towels.
Sit in the rain all day and wait for wildlife to appear. Actually except for puppy dogs and kitty cats, although I am not sure about all the cats, animals do not like humans and will run away or bite you.
Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away.
You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. Go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you.
And be ready. You may only have a moment.
The skill of observation is vital: moving from looking to seeing. At a party, you can just mindlessly chatter with people, or you can really see them — what their bodies, gestures and emotions are communicating. Labels and names get in the way of seeing things as they are. Stop labeling things or worrying about what they are called.
As with meditation, just relax into observing, to embrace things as they are.
I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. As Ansel Adams said “there are no rules, just good photographs.” Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me!”
The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined.
A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.
Be wild. Be bold. Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc.
A camera. Actually any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone® has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field.
Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs. I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth.
Actually there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground.
Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it.
There is a school of thought that hand-holding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be really sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart!
Humans are attracted to patterns and rhythms. They create vibrations that are viewed as very active. Humans are also drawn to light things (like moths?). Being a photographer is quite simple. You start with a frame. You then must decide what to put in the frame and what to leave out. You also must decide where to put things in the frame. Often shapes at the edge create tension. Shapes in the middle are calmer.
I don’t think there are rules for photography. But the images can have similar effects on the human viewer.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”.
“Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn answers questions about his forest and wildlife photography.
I have been a photographer for 5 decades, so all the different lenses are an extension of my eye. It’s like a tennis racket is an extension of your arm. For the forest project I used a dozen lenses with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 2000mm. Different lenses changes relationships of things in the frame. Infinite choices. Its like 3D chess.
Most photographs were made on a tripod with a Canon 5DsR that has a 50mb sensor. I used a Canon 5D Mark IV for moving wildlife because it could track focus even through dense tree branches. I really don’t know how it does that.
I see everything as nature. Humans are just another creature mingling among the others, doing what humans do. Humans do interface with the forest and wildlife. Humans are mammals and are one of the inhabitants of this planet, and we are very active changing the landscape, air, etc.
Humans build things like cities and buses. I think of a city the same way I would think of a hornet’s nest, or birds that instinctively build nests. Sometimes a forest scene is a barely visible library of what came before.
The exception would be old growth forest.
Mostly I go into the forest without a list. For a photographer, anything can be a good subject, even dirt. My mission is to move people from merely looking at things to deeply seeing things as they are.
I think humans can change from looking to seeing. When I do that things call out to me, “over here, do me!” The test is “would it hurt if you left and did not make a photograph”?
Sometimes I was directed a bit by my project partner, Joan Maloof. She would say, “Go into the forest and turn over a fallen decaying log.” I asked, “What will I see?” She said “I am not going to tell you”.
Mystery. Adventure.
She once did give a list of specific things to find in the forest – like a treasure hunt. I live in the middle of 87 million acres of forest. With help from some assistants, I did find them all.
Finding animals is not very difficult in the forest. Once I choose to photograph animals, they are suddenly everywhere – hiding in plain sight. Some are larger than me and some are microscopic. Some you discover under the fallen log.
My work with small seeds for my Seeing Seeds book gave me the skills to get extremely close. I do greatly admire photographers who have devoted their life to making amazing wildlife images. They can put on camouflage and sit and wait for days, often using extremely long and expensive telephoto lenses. Sometime nothing appears.
You should remember that forest animals do not generally hold still for photographs. They do not like humans and will run away, or bite you and run away – with the possible exception of ticks.
Images of some wildlife can be hard to capture – really skittish animals, for example. Some wildlife photographers use camera traps. There are some great images captured that way. I prefer not to have my camera taking photographs without my being there.
I wanted a woods mouse ear close up. I guess I could have crawled on my belly at night. Or covered my nose with almond butter.
So, yes, I have photographed some animals in captivity, when it’s my only option – taking care not to harm them in any way.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0,"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0}},"dateAdded":"2018-05-25T21:54:05.242Z","key":"13248","overrides":{},"linkTarget":"","filters":["QUESTIONS"],"postDate":"2018-05-30T13:57:35.470Z"},"13249":{"id":13249,"label":"TECHNIQUE","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Robert Llewellyn discusses his photographic technique, especially when capturing images of trees, seeds, and other wildlife.
Most photographs were made on a tripod with a Canon 5DsR that has a 50mb sensor. I used a Canon 5D Mark IV for moving wildlife because it could track focus even through dense tree branches. I really don’t know how it does that. I have been a photographer for five decades, so all the different lenses are an extension of my eye. It’s like a tennis racket is an extension of your arm. For the forest project I used a dozen lenses with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 2000mm. Different lenses changes relationships of things in the frame. Infinite choices. Its like 3D chess.
I look at them from all angles with the camera. Some seeds are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They are 3D, so there are numerous options on how you look at them and photograph them. I explore the seed for a while and at some point it will call out to me.
I wanted to photograph small parts (e.g., leaves, fruit, bark and flowers), so I would cut off a bloom, twig, or seed pod and put it on a light table and take hundreds of photos — which strung together were infinitely sharp, like a botanic drawing. I found I could zoom into my subject up to a pollen grain this way.
I often have ten or more versions of the same seed. I have over 2,000 images of seeds.
To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I use a technique called \"focus stacking\". I put the seeds on a glowing light table in my studio and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top-to-bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then load the images into stacking software, like Zerene Stacker® or Helicon Focus®, and they get stitched together — using the sharpest parts of each image — into one combined image that is infinitely sharp.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0},"linkTarget":"","dateAdded":"2018-05-26T19:36:33.660Z","postDate":"2018-05-30T13:56:40.788Z","filters":["QUESTIONS"],"overrides":{}},"13250":{"id":13250,"label":"BOB","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Robert Llewellyn answers questions about himself, being a photographer, what fascinates him about his projects, etc. Bob grew up in south central Virginia, and first worked with a camera in his senior year in high school when he became editor of the student yearbook. Walking around campus with a Nikon camera around his neck that year opened up a new world for him. He studied engineering science at the University of Virginia, and then photography with Imogen Cunningham in California. He now lives with his wife Barbara in Earlysville, Virginia, where he works out of his home studio.
I was amazed at how the camera changes you. I was sort of invisible before, and then suddenly with a camera, it’s a whole different interaction. The wonderful thing about photography is that everything shows up as new. You see things that make you say, “Wow.” I say that a lot.
When I created the earlier books on trees, flowers, and seeds I was inspired by the work of Karl Blossfeldt with plant forms in 1929. Forms that for the most part were hiding in plain sight. Exquisite. Blossfeldt also made nature images in the 1930s for his design students. They are extraordinary.
For the forest project I went to painters of landscapes. I looked at William Turner, James Whistler, and most of all Anselm Kiefer.
My studio is half of my house. I like working at home. I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I have 60 acres of land — in the middle of 87 million acres of forest — so I could go out my door and collect samples.
I don’t have one. I like the visual challenge of making a photograph wherever I am. Sometimes a place I have never been before tends to light me up because it’s all new.
What an opportunity it was for me. I want to learn everything I can about this planet we live on. I like mysteries. We don’t know it all by far. As a photographer I am drawn to finding and seeing new things.
Writer Joan Maloof and I both had books published by Timber Press. Joan is a scientist and a biology professor. Timber wanted to publish a forest book, so we created this collaboration. There was no hesitation on my part.
This is a little tricky – Nature. Humans are mammals and are one of the inhabitants of this planet, and they are very active changing the landscape, air, etc. Humans build things like cities and buses. I think of a city the same way I would think of a hornet’s nest, or birds that instinctively build nest. I see everything as nature. Humans are just another creature mingling among the others, doing what humans do.
Humans do interface with the forest and wildlife. Sometimes it is a barely visible library of what came before. The exception would be old growth forest.
I wanted to explore everything as a new adventure and find out how everything works, and how they are all connected. We all have a round-trip ticket to planet Earth. Imagine Earth is a new planet. What would you do? You would say \"wow\" a lot. That’s what humans involuntary say when we experience something \"new\".
The most challenging thing for me was to get a grasp of this other civilization living with us, the humans. With this forest book and my other plant books, I discovered every life form has a plan, all plants and animals. Their mission is to reproduce their species. There is interdependence in the forest. For example the blackberry lily has brilliant orange flowers to attract bees and get pollinated. Then it drops the petals and forms a black seedpod containing its offspring. The pods looks like blackberries. Bears like blackberries. The plan. Interdependence.
I have started a new project that is not a book. I call it the Orb Project, since we live on one floating in vast space spinning 17,000 miles per hour (for 4.5 billion years). I have collected orbs for many years as well as machine parts, bones and ancient artifacts.
I think “collecting” anything changes your view of the planet. You see the things you choose to collect everywhere.
I am making complex layered photographs of the things I found on Earth as evidence of the rise of all plants and animals. I do many images about the evolution of humans and the civilizations that arose and collapsed. So I am back somewhat to looking at urban landscapes as evidence of our very complex current human civilization.
We’re very complacent with our planet. I wish people didn’t look at flat screens and iPhones so much, and instead saw the world in real time and without labeling. Labeling things gets in the way of seeing. What would happen if you could look at things without labels? You would look at them, and you’d be amazed.
There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Look at things without naming them. When you name something you think you are done.
See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time.
Discover for yourself.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn answers questions on a developing project.
I have started a new project that is not a book. I call it the Orb Project, since we live on one floating in vast space spinning 17,000 miles per hour (for 4.5 billion years). I have collected orbs for many years as well as machine parts, bones and ancient artifacts. (I think “collecting” anything changes your view of the planet. You see the things you choose to collect everywhere). I am making complex layered photographs of the things I found on Earth as evidence of the rise of all plants and animals. I do many images about the evolution of humans and the civilizations that arose and collapsed. So I am back somewhat to looking at urban landscapes as evidence of our very complex current human civilization.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
","size":{"content":{"width":0,"height":0},"thumb":{"width":0,"height":0},"featuredImage":{"width":0,"height":0},"bytes":0},"overrides":{},"dateAdded":"2018-05-27T16:57:55.711Z","linkTarget":"","filters":["QUESTIONS"]},"13262":{"id":13262,"label":"OLD QUESTIONS","caption":"","type":"html","content":"Robert Llewellyn answers questions about himself, being a photographer, what fascinates him about his projects, his forest and wildlife photography, etc. Bob grew up in south central Virginia, and first worked with a camera in his senior year in high school when he became editor of the student yearbook. Walking around campus with a Nikon camera around his neck that year opened up a new world for him. He studied engineering science at the University of Virginia, and then photography with Imogen Cunningham in California. He now lives with his wife Barbara in Earlysville, Virginia, where he works out of his home studio.
I was amazed at how the camera changes you. I was sort of invisible before, and then suddenly with a camera, it’s a whole different interaction. The wonderful thing about photography is that everything shows up as new. You see things that make you say, “Wow.” I say that a lot.
When I created the earlier books on trees, flowers, and seeds I was inspired by the work of Karl Blossfeldt with plant forms in 1929. Forms that for the most part were hiding in plain sight. Exquisite. Blossfeldt also made nature images in the 1930s for his design students. They are extraordinary.
For the forest project I went to painters of landscapes. I looked at William Turner, James Whistler, and most of all Anselm Kiefer.
My studio is half of my house. I like working at home. I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I have 60 acres of land — in the middle of 87 million acres of forest — so I could go out my door and collect nature samples.
I don’t have one. I like the visual challenge of making a photograph wherever I am. Sometimes a place I have never been before tends to light me up because it’s all new.
The skill of observation is vital: moving from looking to seeing. At a party, you can just mindlessly chatter with people, or you can really see them — what their bodies, gestures and emotions are communicating. Labels and names get in the way of seeing things as they are. Stop labeling things or worrying about what they are called.
As with meditation, just relax into observing, to embrace things as they are.
I see everything as nature. Humans are just another creature mingling among the others, doing what humans do. Humans do interface with the forest and wildlife. Humans are mammals and are one of the inhabitants of this planet, and we are very active changing the landscape, air, etc.
Humans build things like cities and buses. I think of a city the same way I would think of a hornet’s nest, or birds that instinctively build nests. Sometimes a forest scene is a barely visible library of what came before.
The exception would be old growth forest.
I wanted to explore everything as a new adventure and find out how everything works, and how they are all connected. We all have a round-trip ticket to planet Earth. Imagine Earth is a new planet. What would you do? You would say \"wow\" a lot. That’s what humans involuntary say when we experience something \"new\".
The most challenging thing for me was to get a grasp of this other civilization living with us, the humans. With this forest book and my other plant books, I discovered every life form has a plan, all plants and animals. Their mission is to reproduce their species. There is interdependence in the forest. For example the blackberry lily has brilliant orange flowers to attract bees and get pollinated. Then it drops the petals and forms a black seedpod containing its offspring. The pods looks like blackberries. Bears like blackberries. The plan. Interdependence.
We’re very complacent with our planet. I wish people didn’t look at flat screens and iPhones so much, and instead saw the world in real time and without labeling. Labeling things gets in the way of seeing. What would happen if you could look at things without labels? You would look at them, and you’d be amazed.
There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Look at things without naming them. When you name something you think you are done.
See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time.
Discover for yourself.
A camera. Actually any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone® has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field.
Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs. I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth.
Actually there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground.
Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
What an opportunity it was for me. I want to learn everything I can about this planet we live on. I like mysteries. We don’t know it all by far. As a photographer I am drawn to finding and seeing new things.
Writer Joan Maloof and I both had books published by Timber Press. Joan is a scientist and a biology professor. Timber wanted to publish a forest book, so we created this collaboration. There was no hesitation on my part.
Most photographs were made on a tripod with a Canon 5DsR that has a 50mb sensor. I used a Canon 5D Mark IV for moving wildlife because it could track focus even through dense tree branches. I really don’t know how it does that.
I have been a photographer for five decades, so all the different lenses are an extension of my eye. It’s like a tennis racket is an extension of your arm.
For the forest project I used a dozen lenses with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 2000mm. Different lenses changes relationships of things in the frame. Infinite choices. It's like 3D chess.
Mostly I go into the forest without a list. For a photographer, anything can be a good subject, even dirt. My mission is to move people from merely looking at things to deeply seeing things as they are.
I think humans can change from looking to seeing. When I do that things call out to me, “over here, do me!” The test is “would it hurt if you left and did not make a photograph”?
Sometimes I was directed a bit by my project partner, Joan Maloof. She would say, “Go into the forest and turn over a fallen decaying log.” I asked, “What will I see?” She said “I am not going to tell you”.
Mystery. Adventure.
She once did give a list of specific things to find in the forest – like a treasure hunt. I live in the middle of 87 million acres of forest. With help from some assistants, I did find them all.
Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away.
You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. Go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you.
And be ready. You may only have a moment.
Finding animals is not very difficult in the forest. Once I choose to photograph animals, they are suddenly everywhere – hiding in plain sight. Some are larger than me and some are microscopic. Some you discover under the fallen log.
My work with small seeds for my Seeing Seeds book gave me the skills to get extremely close. I do greatly admire photographers who have devoted their life to making amazing wildlife images. They can put on camouflage and sit and wait for days, often using extremely long and expensive telephoto lenses. Sometime nothing appears.
You should remember that forest animals do not generally hold still for photographs. They do not like humans and will run away, or bite you and run away – with the possible exception of ticks.
Images of some wildlife can be hard to capture – really skittish animals, for example. Some wildlife photographers use camera traps. There are some great images captured that way. I prefer not to have my camera taking photographs without my being there.
I wanted a woods mouse ear close up. I guess I could have crawled on my belly at night. Or covered my nose with almond butter.
So, yes, I have photographed some animals in captivity, when it’s my only option – taking care not to harm them in any way.
Many things I do bring into the studio to isolate them and get closer. The forest is a challenge because when you look through the frame there are an enormous number of things to put in or take out.
Going into the forest, with a camera, is a different mindset. First, don’t complain – about anything. There is no good light or bad light, just light. Find a way. There are no bad subjects. I can make a photograph of anything. There is no good weather or bad weather – just weather, all the time.
Digital by far. Digital is sharper, has greater tonal range and can be easily edited in Adobe Photoshop®. Photoshop reminds me of when I used to make black-and-white prints in the darkroom. Photoshop is the new darkroom.
With film, you are at the mercy of the characteristics of the film.
I call it the “elseness” exercise. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? There is no end.
I think being a photographer is a wonderful way to visit earth – a great adventure. There is always something new to see and photograph. There is always more to see and learn about trees, for example, and about everything else.
Photography has infinite possibilities.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”.
“Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather.
I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions, as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
Look straight up and you might find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy.
I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod.
Carry a piece of clear plastic from your dry cleaning with you. It's very light and you can cover you and your equipment at the same time. It's also disposable.
I also bring lots of towels.
I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. As Ansel Adams said “there are no rules, just good photographs.” Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me!”
The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined.
A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.
Be wild. Be bold. Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc.
I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it.
There is a school of thought that hand-holding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be really sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart!
Humans are attracted to patterns and rhythms. They create vibrations that are viewed as very active. Humans are also drawn to light things (like moths?). Being a photographer is quite simple. You start with a frame. You then must decide what to put in the frame and what to leave out. You also must decide where to put things in the frame. Often shapes at the edge create tension. Shapes in the middle are calmer.
I don’t think there are rules for photography. But the images can have similar effects on the human viewer.
I look at them from all angles with the camera. Some seeds are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They are 3D, so there are numerous options on how you look at them and photograph them. I explore the seed for a while and at some point it will call out to me.
I wanted to photograph small parts (e.g., leaves, fruit, bark and flowers), so I would cut off a bloom, twig, or seed pod and put it on a light table and take hundreds of photos — which strung together were infinitely sharp, like a botanic drawing. I found I could zoom into my subject up to a pollen grain this way.
I often have ten or more versions of the same seed. I have over 2,000 images of seeds.
To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I use a technique called \"focus stacking\". I put the seeds on a glowing light table in my studio and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top-to-bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then load the images into stacking software, like Zerene Stacker® or Helicon Focus®, and they get stitched together — using the sharpest parts of each image — into one combined image that is infinitely sharp.
I have started a new project that is not a book. I call it the Orb Project, since we live on one floating in vast space spinning 17,000 miles per hour (for 4.5 billion years). I have collected orbs for many years as well as machine parts, bones and ancient artifacts.
I think “collecting” anything changes your view of the planet. You see the things you choose to collect everywhere.
I am making complex layered photographs of the things I found on Earth as evidence of the rise of all plants and animals. I do many images about the evolution of humans and the civilizations that arose and collapsed. So I am back somewhat to looking at urban landscapes as evidence of our very complex current human civilization.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
I make digital layered photographs and print them with pigmented inks on cotton watercolor paper. I use photographs of my constructions of found objects and my botanical and animal photographs.
My mission with this new work is to look at familiar objects that reveal the interdependance of all life on this planet. By studying these objects I find they often call out to me as something new, and my experience is as if seeing them for the first time. Viewing these things over time I find they begin to look like other unrelated things and this has inspired me to create layered images and collages.
Some inspiration for me has come from viewing the work of Anselm Kiefer, who also collects objects, photographs, and builds constructions and layers them on a canvas, often with paint.
My insight is all life has a plan, evidence of which can be found in my work. My continuation of this work is looking at the plans of humans and human civilization as they advance through the \"scientific\" age.
I make digital layered photographs and print them with pigmented inks on cotton watercolor paper. I use photographs of my constructions of found objects and my botanical and animal photographs.
My mission with this new work is to look at familiar objects that reveal the interdependance of all life on this planet. By studying these objects I find they often call out to me as something new, and my experience is as if seeing them for the first time. Viewing these things over time I find they begin to look like other unrelated things and this has inspired me to create layered images and collages.
Some inspiration for me has come from viewing the work of Anselm Kiefer, who also collects objects, photographs, and builds constructions and layers them on a canvas, often with paint.
My insight is all life has a plan, evidence of which can be found in my work. My continuation of this work is looking at the plans of humans and human civilization as they advance through the \"scientific\" age.
Robert Llewellyn answers questions about himself, being a photographer, what fascinates him about his projects, his forest and wildlife photography, etc. Bob grew up in south central Virginia, and first worked with a camera in his senior year in high school when he became editor of the student yearbook. Walking around campus with a Nikon camera around his neck that year opened up a new world for him. He studied engineering science at the University of Virginia, and then photography with Imogen Cunningham in California. He now lives with his wife Barbara in Earlysville, Virginia, where he works out of his home studio.
I was amazed at how the camera changes you. I was sort of invisible before, and then suddenly with a camera, it’s a whole different interaction. The wonderful thing about photography is that everything shows up as new. You see things that make you say, “Wow.” I say that a lot.
When I created the earlier books on trees, flowers, and seeds I was inspired by the work of Karl Blossfeldt with plant forms in 1929. Forms that for the most part were hiding in plain sight. Exquisite. Blossfeldt also made nature images in the 1930s for his design students. They are extraordinary.
For the forest project I went to painters of landscapes. I looked at William Turner, James Whistler, and most of all Anselm Kiefer.
My studio is half of my house. I like working at home. I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I have 60 acres of land — in the middle of 87 million acres of forest — so I could go out my door and collect nature samples.
I don’t have one. I like the visual challenge of making a photograph wherever I am. Sometimes a place I have never been before tends to light me up because it’s all new.
The skill of observation is vital: moving from looking to seeing. At a party, you can just mindlessly chatter with people, or you can really see them — what their bodies, gestures and emotions are communicating. Labels and names get in the way of seeing things as they are. Stop labeling things or worrying about what they are called.
As with meditation, just relax into observing, to embrace things as they are.
I see everything as nature. Humans are just another creature mingling among the others, doing what humans do. Humans do interface with the forest and wildlife. Humans are mammals and are one of the inhabitants of this planet, and we are very active changing the landscape, air, etc.
Humans build things like cities and buses. I think of a city the same way I would think of a hornet’s nest, or birds that instinctively build nests. Sometimes a forest scene is a barely visible library of what came before.
The exception would be old growth forest.
I wanted to explore everything as a new adventure and find out how everything works, and how they are all connected. We all have a round-trip ticket to planet Earth. Imagine Earth is a new planet. What would you do? You would say \"wow\" a lot. That’s what humans involuntary say when we experience something \"new\".
The most challenging thing for me was to get a grasp of this other civilization living with us, the humans. With this forest book and my other plant books, I discovered every life form has a plan, all plants and animals. Their mission is to reproduce their species. There is interdependence in the forest. For example the blackberry lily has brilliant orange flowers to attract bees and get pollinated. Then it drops the petals and forms a black seedpod containing its offspring. The pods looks like blackberries. Bears like blackberries. The plan. Interdependence.
We’re very complacent with our planet. I wish people didn’t look at flat screens and iPhones so much, and instead saw the world in real time and without labeling. Labeling things gets in the way of seeing. What would happen if you could look at things without labels? You would look at them, and you’d be amazed.
There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Look at things without naming them. When you name something you think you are done.
See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time.
Discover for yourself.
A camera. Actually any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone® has a great camera for the size of the sensor. In fact the small sensor gives you amazing depth of field.
Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs. I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth.
Actually there is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground.
Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
What an opportunity it was for me. I want to learn everything I can about this planet we live on. I like mysteries. We don’t know it all by far. As a photographer I am drawn to finding and seeing new things.
Writer Joan Maloof and I both had books published by Timber Press. Joan is a scientist and a biology professor. Timber wanted to publish a forest book, so we created this collaboration. There was no hesitation on my part.
Most photographs were made on a tripod with a Canon 5DsR that has a 50mb sensor. I used a Canon 5D Mark IV for moving wildlife because it could track focus even through dense tree branches. I really don’t know how it does that.
I have been a photographer for five decades, so all the different lenses are an extension of my eye. It’s like a tennis racket is an extension of your arm.
For the forest project I used a dozen lenses with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 2000mm. Different lenses changes relationships of things in the frame. Infinite choices. It's like 3D chess.
Mostly I go into the forest without a list. For a photographer, anything can be a good subject, even dirt. My mission is to move people from merely looking at things to deeply seeing things as they are.
I think humans can change from looking to seeing. When I do that things call out to me, “over here, do me!” The test is “would it hurt if you left and did not make a photograph”?
Sometimes I was directed a bit by my project partner, Joan Maloof. She would say, “Go into the forest and turn over a fallen decaying log.” I asked, “What will I see?” She said “I am not going to tell you”.
Mystery. Adventure.
She once did give a list of specific things to find in the forest – like a treasure hunt. I live in the middle of 87 million acres of forest. With help from some assistants, I did find them all.
Real wildlife photography is an enormous skill that I greatly admire. It usually requires thousands of dollars in big telephoto lenses. Remember, they don’t like you, so you need to be far away.
You may have to wait days to get the image you want. You may wait days and get nothing. Go into the wild and see what happens. What finds you.
And be ready. You may only have a moment.
Finding animals is not very difficult in the forest. Once I choose to photograph animals, they are suddenly everywhere – hiding in plain sight. Some are larger than me and some are microscopic. Some you discover under the fallen log.
My work with small seeds for my Seeing Seeds book gave me the skills to get extremely close. I do greatly admire photographers who have devoted their life to making amazing wildlife images. They can put on camouflage and sit and wait for days, often using extremely long and expensive telephoto lenses. Sometime nothing appears.
You should remember that forest animals do not generally hold still for photographs. They do not like humans and will run away, or bite you and run away – with the possible exception of ticks.
Images of some wildlife can be hard to capture – really skittish animals, for example. Some wildlife photographers use camera traps. There are some great images captured that way. I prefer not to have my camera taking photographs without my being there.
I wanted a woods mouse ear close up. I guess I could have crawled on my belly at night. Or covered my nose with almond butter.
So, yes, I have photographed some animals in captivity, when it’s my only option – taking care not to harm them in any way.
Many things I do bring into the studio to isolate them and get closer. The forest is a challenge because when you look through the frame there are an enormous number of things to put in or take out.
Going into the forest, with a camera, is a different mindset. First, don’t complain – about anything. There is no good light or bad light, just light. Find a way. There are no bad subjects. I can make a photograph of anything. There is no good weather or bad weather – just weather, all the time.
Digital by far. Digital is sharper, has greater tonal range and can be easily edited in Adobe Photoshop®. Photoshop reminds me of when I used to make black-and-white prints in the darkroom. Photoshop is the new darkroom.
With film, you are at the mercy of the characteristics of the film.
I call it the “elseness” exercise. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? There is no end.
I think being a photographer is a wonderful way to visit earth – a great adventure. There is always something new to see and photograph. There is always more to see and learn about trees, for example, and about everything else.
Photography has infinite possibilities.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”.
“Wow” is the word that humans utter when they have seen something new. Go for “wow”.
Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I don’t think there is a best time. You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather.
I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions, as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
Look straight up and you might find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy.
I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they are not good for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. I almost always use a tripod. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod.
Carry a piece of clear plastic from your dry cleaning with you. It's very light and you can cover you and your equipment at the same time. It's also disposable.
I also bring lots of towels.
I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. As Ansel Adams said “there are no rules, just good photographs.” Go out and see what calls out to you. It will wave, “over here, do me!”
The test is would it hurt if you left it? Then explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined.
A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.
Be wild. Be bold. Do the “elseness exercise”. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? Lie on your back. Crawl on you belly, etc.
I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. I think the tripod is a two-edged sword. It does steady the camera for sharp images. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it.
There is a school of thought that hand-holding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be really sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart!
Humans are attracted to patterns and rhythms. They create vibrations that are viewed as very active. Humans are also drawn to light things (like moths?). Being a photographer is quite simple. You start with a frame. You then must decide what to put in the frame and what to leave out. You also must decide where to put things in the frame. Often shapes at the edge create tension. Shapes in the middle are calmer.
I don’t think there are rules for photography. But the images can have similar effects on the human viewer.
I look at them from all angles with the camera. Some seeds are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They are 3D, so there are numerous options on how you look at them and photograph them. I explore the seed for a while and at some point it will call out to me.
I wanted to photograph small parts (e.g., leaves, fruit, bark and flowers), so I would cut off a bloom, twig, or seed pod and put it on a light table and take hundreds of photos — which strung together were infinitely sharp, like a botanic drawing. I found I could zoom into my subject up to a pollen grain this way.
I often have ten or more versions of the same seed. I have over 2,000 images of seeds.
To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I use a technique called \"focus stacking\". I put the seeds on a glowing light table in my studio and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top-to-bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I then load the images into stacking software, like Zerene Stacker® or Helicon Focus®, and they get stitched together — using the sharpest parts of each image — into one combined image that is infinitely sharp.
I have started a new project that is not a book. I call it the Orb Project, since we live on one floating in vast space spinning 17,000 miles per hour (for 4.5 billion years). I have collected orbs for many years as well as machine parts, bones and ancient artifacts.
I think “collecting” anything changes your view of the planet. You see the things you choose to collect everywhere.
I am making complex layered photographs of the things I found on Earth as evidence of the rise of all plants and animals. I do many images about the evolution of humans and the civilizations that arose and collapsed. So I am back somewhat to looking at urban landscapes as evidence of our very complex current human civilization.
>>CLICK RIGHT ARROW>>
Robert Llewellyn has been making photographs for more than half a century. He now lives with his wife Barbara in Earlysville, Virginia, where he works out of his home studio.
Robert grew up in south-central Virginia and first worked with a camera in his senior year in high school when he became editor of the student yearbook. Walking around campus with a Nikon camera around his neck that year opened up a new world for him. He studied engineering science at the University of Virginia and photography with Imogen Cunningham in California.
Robert answers questions about himself, his experiences as a photographer, his forest and wildlife photography, his photographic technique, and what equipment he uses. He mostly explains what makes photography such a fun way to experience life.
\"A photograph has a frame with things inside and outside. Make sure there is nothing inside you do not want. Things at the edge create tension. Things in the middle create calm.\"
Robert Llewellyn
I live on the Rivanna River outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. My studio is half of my house. I have 60 acres of land — in the middle of 87 million acres of forest — so I could go out my door and collect nature samples. I like working at home.
I don’t have one. I like the visual challenge of making a photograph wherever I am. Sometimes a place I have never been before tends to light me up because it’s all new.
When I created the earlier books on trees, flowers, and seeds I was inspired by the work of Karl Blossfeldt with plant forms in 1929. Forms that for the most part were hiding in plain sight. Exquisite. Blossfeldt also made nature images in the 1930s for his design students. They are extraordinary.
For the forest project, I went to painters of landscapes. I looked at William Turner, James Whistler, and most of all Anselm Kiefer.
We all have a round-trip ticket to planet Earth. Imagine Earth is a new planet. What would you do? You would say \"wow\" a lot. That’s what humans involuntary say when we experience something \"new\".
I wanted to explore everything as a new adventure and find out how everything works. I wanted to find out how everything is connected.
Writer Joan Maloof and I both had books published by Timber Press. Joan is a scientist and biology professor. Timber wanted to publish a forest book, so we created this collaboration.
What an opportunity it was for me. I want to learn everything I can about this planet we live on. I like mysteries. We don’t know it all by far. As a photographer, I am drawn to finding and seeing new things. There was no hesitation on my part.
I published a book with Timber Press called Seeing Trees in 2011. I wanted to learn about the life of trees, so I began studying them closely. I would bring parts of the tree into the studio — like leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds — and photograph them on glowing light tables. The images were reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century botanical paintings.
From studying trees I went on to publish another book called Seeing Flowers in 2013. There are 240,000 flowering trees and plants in the world, all of which have flowers, fruit, and seeds. I studied the seeds and realized plants all have a plan to produce offspring. The flowers would attract pollinators and then drop the petals and construct seedpods, usually bearing no resemblance to the flower.
I became very interested in this transformation and created with Timber Press another book called Seeing Seeds (2015). To create The Living Forest (2017), I spent two years looking and photographing all of the plant and animal life in the forest. I saw how interdependent everything was, and went deeper into how seeds play a role in the forest for the plants and the animals and did more of the close seed work.
I photographed the seeds from a new point of view. Every plant and animal in the forest has a plan to create offspring. Often the plans depend on each other. Humans have a plan also — marriage leading to offspring.
I have started a new project that is not a book. I call it the Orb Project since we live on a wet ball spinning at 1,000 miles per hour, careening through a vast void at 67,000 mph — for 4.5 billion years. I have collected orbs for many years as well as machine parts, bones, and ancient artifacts.
I think collecting anything changes your view of the planet. You see the things you choose to collect everywhere.
I am making complex layered photographs of the things I found on Earth as evidence of the rise of all plants and animals. I do many images about the evolution of humans and the civilizations that arose and collapsed. So I am back somewhat to looking at urban landscapes as evidence of our very complex current human civilization.
I was amazed at how the camera changes you. I was sort of invisible before, and then suddenly with a camera, it’s a whole different interaction. Before this assignment, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Once I picked up a camera I knew I wanted to be a photographer, no looking back.
It was a complete paradigm shift for me. I suddenly found things that had been hiding in plain sight. I went from not noticing the world around me to discovering humans for the first time.
The wonderful thing about photography is that everything is new. I started seeing things that made me say, “wow.” I say that a lot now. My task was to document life at a high school for one year. Now I photograph life on a broader level and in different forms.
I see everything as nature. Humans are just another creature mingling among the others, doing what humans do. Humans do interface with the forest and wildlife. Humans are mammals and are one of the inhabitants of this planet, and we are very active in changing the landscape, air, etc.
Humans build things like cities and buses. I think of a city the same way I would think of a hornet’s nest or birds that instinctively build nests. Sometimes a forest scene is a barely visible library of what came before.
Finding animals is not very difficult in the forest. Once I choose to photograph animals, they are suddenly everywhere, hiding in plain sight. Some are larger than me and some are microscopic. Some you discover under the fallen log.
My work with small seeds for my Seeing Seeds book gave me the skills to get extremely close. I greatly admire photographers who have devoted their lives to making amazing wildlife images. They can put on camouflage and sit and wait for days, often using extremely long and expensive telephoto lenses. Sometimes nothing appears.
Forest animals do not generally hold still for photographs. They do not like humans and will run away, or bite you and run away.
Yes, I have photographed some animals in captivity, when it’s my only option – taking care not to harm them in any way.
Images of some wildlife can be hard to capture, really skittish animals, for example. Some wildlife photographers use camera traps. There are some great images captured that way. I prefer not to have my camera taking photographs without my being there.
I wanted a wood mouse ear close up. I guess I could have crawled on my belly at night. Or covered my nose with almond butter.
The most challenging thing for me was to get a grasp of this other civilization living with us, the humans. With this forest book and my other plant books, I discovered every life form has a plan, all plants and animals. Their mission is to reproduce their species.
There is interdependence in the forest. For example, the blackberry lily has brilliant orange flowers to attract bees and get pollinated. Then it drops the petals and forms a black seedpod containing its offspring. The pods look like blackberries. Bears like blackberries.
The plan. Interdependence.
Do not make any photographs that look like everyone else’s. If it looks familiar it is not new. You want to make “new”. See the planet. Collect things. Make everything as if seeing it for the first time.
You need to decide what you want to put in the frame and what to leave out. This changes how you see everything giving you a new window to the world. For my photography, there are no bad subjects, no bad light, no bad weather (but maybe bad clothes). There is always a way to make it work.
Discover for yourself. There is still an enormous amount about Earth that is unknown. Photography is an awesome way to explore Earth. Look at things without naming them. When we name something we think we’re done.
Go for “wow”.
I call it the “elseness” exercise. What else is it? What else is it? What else is it? There is no end.
Photography has infinite possibilities. Being a photographer is a great adventure. There is always something new to see and photograph. There is always more to see and learn about trees, for example, and about everything else.
The skill of observation is vital, moving from looking to seeing. At a party, you can just mindlessly chatter with people, or you can really see them — what their bodies, gestures, and emotions are communicating. As with meditation, just relax into observing, to embrace things as they are.
Stop labeling things or worrying about what they are called. Labels and names get in the way of seeing things as they are.
Mostly I go into the forest without a list. For a photographer, anything can be a good subject, even dirt. My mission is to move people from merely looking at things to deeply seeing things as they are.
When I change from looking to seeing, things call out to me, “over here, do me!” The test is “would it hurt if you left and did not make a photograph”?
Sometimes I was directed a bit by my project partner, Joan Maloof. She would say, “Go into the forest and turn over a fallen decaying log.” I asked, “What will I see?” She said, “I am not going to tell you”.
Mystery. Adventure.
She once did give a list of specific things to find in the forest – like a treasure hunt. I live in the middle of 87 million acres of forest. With help from some assistants, I did find them all.
Some say you cannot make good photographs at noon on a clear day. Some photographers only go out in first light or last light. So you get maybe fog and red skies. I don’t think there is a best time.
You can make a photograph no matter the time of day or the weather. Look straight up and you might find, say, an awesome backlit forest canopy.
I like to go out in what people call “bad” weather. Rain, snow, freezing rain, fog, wind, clouds. Whatever. Play the conditions, as they say in sports. The landscape changes with the weather and seasons. The Norwegians say “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.”
I have heard there are rules of composition. My personality does not resonate with rules. Do the “elseness exercise”. Lie on your back. Crawl on your belly, etc.
Be wild. Be bold.
Explore it with your camera, with no idea what the image will look like. Make lots of images. You learn from each one. And you grow. The one you will like the most is the one you could not have possibly imagined.
Most of the seeds I collected myself. I really like having a project where you collect things. It changes how you see the planet. Most seeds are hiding in plain sight. Many we eat. Some can be found in the grocery store. Many gardeners knew about my project and would give me specimens.
I still see seeds everywhere.
I wanted to photograph small parts — e.g., leaves, fruit, bark, and flowers — so I would cut off a bloom, twig, or seed pod and put it on a light table. Then I take hundreds of photos which, strung together, are infinitely sharp, like a botanical drawing. I found I could zoom into my subject up to a pollen grain this way.
Some seeds are a foot across and some are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They are three-dimensional, so you have numerous options on how to look at them and photograph them. I look at it from all angles with the camera. I explore the seed for a while, and at some point it will call out to me.
I often have ten or more versions of the same seed. I have over 2,000 images of seeds.
Digital by far. Digital is sharper, has greater tonal range and can be easily edited in Adobe Photoshop.® Photoshop reminds me of when I used to make black-and-white prints in the darkroom. Photoshop is the new darkroom.
With film, you are at the mercy of the characteristics of the film.
A camera. Actually any will do. You can make great photographs with your telephone. The iPhone® has a great camera for the size of the sensor. The small sensor gives you amazing depth of field, in fact.
Depending on where I am going, I bring a wide selection of lenses, from 14mm to 1000mm. I make lots of photographs (remember “elseness”). I even make several frames at different distances and stitch them together in the computer for more sharpness depth.
I shoot most photographs with a good tripod. I have a really heavy one for windy days. The tripod is a two-edged sword, but it does steady the camera for sharp images. I handhold the camera to frame what I want and then I move the tripod under it.
There is a school of thought that hand-holding a camera gives you way more freedom to explore and see new things. It is also good if you like backgrounds out of focus. The downside is that your photographs may not be really sharp. Most unsharp images come from camera movement during the exposure. Human error. Oh, that beating heart.
There is one animal in the forest that really likes humans. Ticks. They will bite you. Very, very dangerous wildlife. Wear repellent. Put it on everything, even clothes. I have a small blanket treated with permethrin that I use when I want to be on the ground.
Lastly bring more batteries, water, food, towels, and clothes than you think you will need. Bring a phone for emergencies.
Most photographs were made on a tripod with a Canon EOS 5DS R that has a 50mb sensor. I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV for moving wildlife because it could track focus even through dense tree branches. I really don’t know how it does that.
I have been a photographer for five decades, so all the different lenses are an extension of my eye. It’s like a tennis racket is an extension of your arm.
For the forest project, I used a dozen lenses with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 2000mm. Different lenses change relationships of things in the frame. Infinite choices. It's like 3D chess.
To make the image sharp from top to bottom, I use a technique called \"focus stacking\". Some seeds are very small, so getting the whole specimen sharp is a challenge.
I put the seeds on a glowing light table in my studio and do a series of photographs at different focus points from top-to-bottom, overlapping the sharp parts. I make a series of photographs, as many as 100, each at a different focus point. I start at the top and move downward to the bottom. It works sort of like an MRI.
I then load the images into stacking software, like Zerene Stacker® or Helicon Focus®, and they get stitched together — using the sharpest parts of each image — into one combined image that is infinitely sharp.
I know they make cases to go on cameras and lenses that are waterproof. I change lenses so often they don’t work for me. They are good if you shoot wildlife and you are sitting in rain all day with a long telephoto lens, waiting for wildlife to appear.
I use an umbrella. I have many. All different sizes. I can put them on a stand or over my shoulder or down my coat in the back so my hands are free. Because of wind, don’t tie the umbrella to a tripod.
\"Pick up a camera; it’s a fun way of life.\"
Robert Llewellyn