All's Well with Tall Pots, Plants and Insects

Yesterday I was on pins and needles waiting to open up the bisque load of tall pots. Looks like all's well with tall pots. I decided to leave them in the kiln till I'm ready to glaze them because I don't have much room in the studio due to other work drying on the shelves. Now I'm wondering how to glaze several of these tall and narrow topped pieces. Gary keeps saying spray them but I've never sprayed glazes only dipped or brushed them. Not sure how I to spray inside a narrow pot; what do you think?

Meanwhile in the garden butterflies and bees seem to be in a feeding frenzy with the approach of colder weather. This poor golden butterfly, probably great spangled fritillary, has a tattered wing but he can't let that deter him. He is probably storing enough energy to lay his eggs before he succumbs.

 Bumble bees are gathering as much nectar as they can on late blooming plants.

This bumble bee fell asleep on the stevia he was so tired or perhaps the natural sweetness lulled him into a slumber. Sometimes I go out early in the morning and see a bee sleeping on a flower. They wait till the sun warms them up enough to fly away.

Last month silk worms defoliated my young crabapple. Later it put on blossoms perhaps thinking it was Spring again. Glad it survived the onslaught of the worms.

A hollyhock was fooled by the cooler weather, new blossoms bursting forth. Every day I can find much solace in nature. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

I go to nature to be soothed and healed and to have my senses put in order. - John Burroughs

Graduated Backdrop

I'm learning how to use the graduated backdrop I recently splurged on. I ordered it from Photo Tech Inc. and it was $39.60 for the 31" x 43" size, which included the mailing cost. I decided on the lighter gray one. I can see I have to be careful so I don't get a crease in the backdrop. For now I'm storing it rolled up in the tube it came in. It's not convenient to keep taking it in and out of the tube, but I can't think of another way to store it. I can't leave it out with three cats in our household.


I'm wondering how to photograph plates and hanging pieces. Do you have any advice on how I can keep them propped up while I take the photo? Usually I'm alone when I take the photos and I would hate for the piece to fall on the floor and break. I think the amount of gray for the vase above is about right, but I think the bowl needs more gray. That's something I'll have to keep an eye on as I'm taking photos. I also photographed the barrel fired pinch bowl to the right with the new backdrop.
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I was putting the sprinkler under the sycamore tree the other day and I noticed hundreds of bumble bees resting on the leaves of the tree. I guess they know where the cool spots are during the hottest part of the day.

Boy am I lucky. I've been thinking about making a PVC light box for some time and the other day another blogger posted about one. Soon I'll be posting about their PVC light box and mine and I'll take more photos of the same pieces using the light box to make a comparison. If you have any digital photography hints or ideas, please let me know.