My mother’s hands

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Hoverfly on Coneflower

Hoverfly (also known as a flower flies) photographed on a Coneflower (Echinacea). These tiny flies have honey bee-like markings, but are harmless. Many species of hoverfly larvae prey upon pest insects, such as aphids and leafhoppers, making them a natural means of reducing the levels of pests. Hoverflies also like alyssum, buckwheat, chamomile, parsley and yarrow.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Lauren (b&w conversion)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Lauren

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Sunset in Belfast, Maine

Oh, if I could only fly! While in Belfast, Maine on Monday, we heard about a street festival downtown and decided to go check it out. As we were coming out of an art gallery, we noticed the intensely colored clouds—too bad I couldn’t have positioned myself in front of a more interesting foreground to take advantage of that gorgeous color! Hey Dad—don’t these clouds look like they belong in an N.C. Wyeth painting?

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Maine wildflowers

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Marsh near Georgetown, Maine

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

How much is that doggie in the window?

We spotted this old red house while en route to check out Georgetown Pottery in Georgetown, Maine, not far from Freeport. Had to stop and photograph it, of course!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Osteospermum ‘Nasinga Cream’

I think this is the ‘Nasinga Cream’ variety. Osteospermums are also known as African Daisy and Cape Daisy. Photographed at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine 8.23.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Wildflowers in Damariscotta, Maine

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Bee on ‘Milkshake’ Coneflower

Bee on Echinacea ‘Milkshake’ Coneflower, photographed at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, 8.23.2010. We just got back a few hours ago from my weekend photo assignment in Providence, Rhode Island and our short road trip to Maine afterward. More photos and a write-up about the gardens to come!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bill and Mary Beth Barkeley

I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Bill Barkeley and his wife Mary Beth in Milwaukee during the Hearing Loss Association of America’s annual convention in June. Bill was the keynote speaker for the event. I was photographing him for a cover feature article for a 2011 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, which I design and produce bimonthly for the Hearing Loss Association of America.

In addition to his career as a motivational speaker, Bill works for Steelcase, Inc., with leadership positions in sales and marketing in Seattle, San Francisco and Grand Rapids, MI. He is currently Director of Marketing for the Steelcase Premium Group.

Bill is one of 15,000 people in the U.S. and 100,000 in the world with Usher’s Syndrome (Type 2) the leading cause of deaf-blindness in the world. His hearing loss is 85% bilateral, progressive, severe sensorineural hearing loss. He has worn hearing aids since he was five years old and discovered he was going blind at age 28. He is now legally blind. The symptoms of Usher’s Syndrome are hearing impairment and retinitis pigmentosa, which causes vision to worsen over time. This incurable condition is genetic and inherited or passed from parents to the children.

In 2007, Bill became the first deaf blind person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa (19,400 feet). Initially, he contacted Swiss-based Phonak, manufacturer of technologically advanced hearing systems. He was referred to Phonak’s Hear the World Foundation, which outfitted him with hearing instruments. Bill then contacted Mountain Vision Expeditions, a trekking and climbing company, to set up the Mount Kilimanjaro trip in an effort to raise funds for Hear the World. The climb was featured in the July 2008 edition of Outside Magazine, as well as Josh Levine’s film documentary, Walk Your Own Path—Bill Barkeley’s Climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Click here to hear the 2009 interview, Life Without Limits, with Barkeley on the WGVU Morning Show. Barkeley was featured on ABC News in 2007 in an interview here.

Bill recently returned from a trip to the Peruvian Amazon for Hear the World, a global initiative by Phonak and Global Explorers, a not-for-profit educational travel organization. The expedition integrated students of mixed hearing abilities (both hearing and hard-of-hearing) to raise awareness about hearing. Click here to meet the young explorers who joined Bill on this life-changing adventure.

Check out the videos made during the expedition (from the Hear the World Facebook page):

Sounds of the Jungle
The expedition team describes the unique sounds of the jungle on their first day in the Amazon.

Hearing Technology in the Amazon
Many of our students with hearing loss have never heard underwater sounds before. By utilizing an underwater microphone linked to an MP3 recorder connected to a Phonak MyLink unit that wirelessly transmitted the sound to anyone wearing a cochlear implant or hearing aid, students like Zoe, had the chance to hear a number of new water sounds she never knew existed!

Turning the Sound Off
Students without hearing loss wore high-powered ear plugs during a hearing loss simulation exercise to give them a taste of what their friends with hearing loss experience every day. This video details the students reactions to the exercise.

Photo by Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Tibouchina ‘Grandiflora’

I am drawn to the beautiful velvety leaves of the Tibouchina ‘Grandiflora’ shrub. Tibouchina is a neotropical plant that is native to the rainforests of Mexico, the West Indies, South America and Brazil. The plant is also known as Large-leaf Princess Flower or Glory Flower and is hardy in Zones 8-12.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Phillip & Leslie

Phillip is Carmen’s nephew and lives in Georgia, where he and his wife of nine months, Leslie, own and operate Star W Ranch, where they board and train horses. Both participate in local rodeos.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Turbo!

My friend Carmen, whom I visited this weekend in South Carolina, rescued Turbo when she was visiting her brother in Dallas last October. Her brother’s friend saw someone toss the cat out of a car at a Bank of America parking lot. David, knowing Carmen never met a cat or dog she didn’t like, worked on her for just 30 minutes on the phone until she agreed to pick up Turbo en route from our wedding in Sequin. She said if he was a male, she would name him Turbo, because her late husband, George, wanted to name a previous cat Turbo and she wouldn’t let him! Turbo turns one year old at the end of this month and is a wild-eyed, crazy loving cat! When he was finally captured, he was hiding in the engine of a car. In this shot, Turbo has decided that the stack of expensive rugs that Carmen bought from Izmir, Turkey on her recent cruise was set up just for him.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia)

Here’s another shot at a different angle—even more menacing looking!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Canna and Japanese Maple

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

X Amarcrinum

X Amarcrinum is a hybrid between Amaryllis and Crinum; photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

White Ginger Lily (Hedychium coronarium)

White Ginger Lily, native to India, is a tropical perennial and related to culinary ginger. Photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Skipper butterfly on White Ginger Lily

Unidentified type of Skipper butterfly on the very fragrant White Ginger Lily (Hedychium coronarium). Photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Water lily leaves

Photographed in the lily pond outside the Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia)

This beautiful spider, Argiope aurantia, is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider. This common orb web spider (orb means the web is spun in a circle) is a female. Females are about an inch and a half long; males are about 3/4 inch long. And despite their menacing size and appearance, they are considered harmless to humans. Click here to learn more about this spider and how it builds its web to catch prey. Photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bee on Passion Flower

Photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea)

Photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 8.15.2010

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Goats for Sonya

Goats photographed at Westmoreland Berry Farm in Oak Grove, Virginia, June 12. Michael and our friend Karen and I had been wanting to do a day trip somewhere and Karen suggested the Northern Neck area of Virginia. On the top of our list was a stop at the Westmoreland Berry Farm—solely because I wanted to see the “Goat Walk.” The Goat Walk is a series of ramps and platforms leading to towers that the goats will climb when visitors send up food. Unfortunately, the food delivery apparatus was broken, so we had to settle for an on-the-ground experience. As their website states, “it’s not a baa’d way to spend an afternoon!” Check out the full story on this link here.

My friend Sonya loves goats, so these are for you, chica!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Colorful borders at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Earlier this month, I visited Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia. While I usually only post my signature “plant portrait extreme closeups” on the blog, I also photograph more “record shot” images of gardens as well. There were many new borders in the garden—a smorgasbord of interesting plants, colors, contrasts and textures. Enjoy!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Large Tiger or Tiger Mimic-Queen (Lycorea cleobaea)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

White Peacock Butterfly (Anartia jatrophae) on Plumbago flower

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Queen (Danaus gilippus)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Stokes’ Aster (Stokesia laevis)

Photographed at Green Spring Gardens. © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

See more of my work in my zenfolio garden photography galleries:

Botanical Gallery

Green Spring Gardens

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens