Flowers.

I don’t do flowers, not if I can help it. It’s a genre where it’s almost impossible to say anything new.

Yet one of the key attractions of the coastal town of Carmel, CA is the abundance of flowers on display throughout the year. Be it in stores, restaurants or well tended gardens, they are everywhere.

These caught my eye on a stroll through downtown the other day:

Carmel, CA. G3, Olympus 9-18mm @ 12mm, 1/200, f/5.6, ISO320.

The wide zoom Olympus MFT 9-18mm lens is ideal for this sort of thing, and makes a fine walk-about companion for the 14-45mm kit zoom.

Some aver that Seward Johnson’s lifelike outdoor bronzes are kitsch. Others denigrate them for his use of modeling software like Maya, the technology speeding the production cycle.

Seated couple at 6th and Lincoln, Carmel, CA. G3, 9-18mm Oly @ 15mm, 1/400 f/5.6, ISO320.

You can make your own mind up, though I confess I tend to find them never less than amusing and, on occasion, as above, surprisingly poignant. They are Americana in much the same way that Norman Rockwell’s work is, and Rockwell’s oeuvre has much the same accusations leveled at it.

Seward Johnson’s entry in Wikipedia makes for interesting reading.

Surprise time.

Bertie supervises while Winnie opens his gifts.

Nothing like a nice fire to add to the proceedings.

Late light.

In Carmel, CA. G3, kit lens @ 20mm, 1/800, f/5, ISO320.