#caption4reflection

Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2024-12-10

From the leaden sky
descends a dark winged lady —
Black sunbeams dawning.

Reddened night replies
and locks her blackened aerie —
Hunter’s moon is rising.

Morning herald cries
to summon sunburst faeries —
Sparks rise a-flaming.

Bronze angel statue at dusk. Orangerie, Park Sanssouci, Potsdam, 17 Nov 2024. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 125, ƒ7.1, -0.3 ev, 1/80s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2024-10-07

A row of portraits of admirals past
hang on the old royal yacht’s hull —
Their time of banal glory is past
and the ship sleeps in a perpetual lull:
Their eyes stare back and blankly gaze
at the tourists who they never knew
as their memory fades into the misty haze
of the dark harbor of yesteryear too


A row of brass framed black and white portraits of the admirals who had commanded the now retired royal yacht, which is now a floating museum. HMY Britannia, Leith, Edinburgh, 20 Aug 2024. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 640, ƒ1.8, -0.3 ev, 1/80s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2024-05-30

As each iris bloom
meets its doom
the iris just
brings forth another
Year after year
her flowers bring cheer
with nary a sign that she suffers
Yet that is just why
the tiny black fly
must wonder what the iris truly feels
For though she doesn’t complain
or show signs of her pains
perhaps there’s more than what she reveals


A stand of violet Siberian iris blossoms. Karl Foerster Garden, Bornstedt, Potsdam, 20 May 2024. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ2.2, -0.3 ev, 1/400s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2024-04-18
Garlic mustard blossom and stalk in a green field. Manor New Kladow, Berlin, 19 Apr 2024. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ3.2, -0.3 ev, 1/500s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-12-06

Photo series:
Christmas markets, part III —
You are the light of the world
4 photos

And in the darkest times, we feel
the blackness grow inside
So light our lamps and candles here
that work to turn the tide
Together brighten up the night
and be the sparks that set alight

Lights of many shapes and sizes at Christmas market, Weberplatz, Babelsberg, Potsdam, 3 Dec 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8-2.8, -0.3 ev, 1/125-1/1250sLights of many shapes and sizes at Christmas market, Weberplatz, Babelsberg, Potsdam, 3 Dec 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8-2.8, -0.3 ev, 1/125-1/1250sLights of many shapes and sizes at Christmas market, Weberplatz, Babelsberg, Potsdam, 3 Dec 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8-2.8, -0.3 ev, 1/125-1/1250sLights of many shapes and sizes at Christmas market, Weberplatz, Babelsberg, Potsdam, 3 Dec 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8-2.8, -0.3 ev, 1/125-1/1250s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-12-04

Up high she stands on her gilded dais
so far above the daily fray
But all around is a frozen waste
and love and friendship she’ll never taste

Neoclassical gilded column topped by nymph in snow at dusk, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, 28 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 200, ƒ1.8, -0.3 ev, 1/60s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-29

A king once built himself a house
and called it Sans Souci
In French that means it’s free from cares
but cares are all I see

Palace Sanssouci in snow at dusk, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, 28 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ22, -0.3 ev, 10s (long exposure)
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-27

What makes you noble?
To be born a king?
To have others
your praises to sing?
No — nobility flows
from the joy you bring

Pediment and cupola topped by golden figures holding crown aloft, New Palace, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, 26 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ6.3, -0.3 ev, 1/250s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-26
Seed tassels from a birch tree, Potsdam, 22 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8, -0.3 ev, 1/400s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-25

And as a darkness now descends
and fear and worry vex my heart,
I tell myself that life depends
on sharing hope — where future starts

Roofline of Russian cottage against a glowering sky, Alexandrowka (Russian Colony), Potsdam, 2 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ9, -0.7 ev, 1/125s
2023-11-24
And Fall has fallen and colors fade
The frost is biting as winter’s made
A time to reap, a time to sow,
a time to slumber as cold winds blow,
awaiting spring and sun’s rebirth
another cycle in our lives on earth

👁️ A faded frostbitten leaf on the sand
📍 Potsdam
📆 22 Nov 2023
📸 Nikon D5600
⚪️ Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G
🎞️ ISO 100, ƒ2.2, -0.3 ev, 1/4000s

#art #poemaday #poem #poetry #caption4reflection #nikonphotography #nikonphoto #MacroPhotography #SelectiveFocus #CloseUp #Leaf #Autumn #Yellow #Outdoors #nature #tree #fall #snap_allnature #snap_colors #snap_colorsplash #photography #fotografie
A faded frostbitten leaf on the sand
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-24

And Fall has fallen and colors fade
The frost is biting as winter’s made
A time to reap, a time to sow,
a time to slumber as cold winds blow,
awaiting spring and sun’s rebirth
another cycle in our lives on earth

A faded frostbitten leaf on the sand, Potsdam, 22 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ2.2, -0.3 ev, 1/4000s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-23

And as the final leaves of fall
lose hold of branches, twigs, and all,
they slip to earth and softly grace
the waiting soil’s full sweet embrace:
someday must you and I take leave
from lives we cling to though we grieve

A final leaf of fall, Potsdam, 22 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ2.2, -0.3 ev, 1/3200s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-21

And in this world ablaze with fear
some solace is found in nature near
to us in fiery glory — hearths
of flame in fall’s bright leafy sparks


Ironwood trees full of red leaves, Alexandrowka (Russian Colony), Potsdam, 2 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ1.8, -0.7 ev, 1/800s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-20
View of dome of St. Nicholas’ Church through colonnade next to the rebuilt City Palace, with the palace’s nod to Magritte «ceci n’est pas un château» visible (“this is not a palace”), Potsdam, 30 Oct 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ4, 1/250s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-18

This apothecary is quite merry
besides its pills and powders —
Aesthetics pure are an added cure:
Medicinal beauty has its power

Painted Baroque façade of City Pharmacy (Stadt-Apotheke), Füssen, Allgäu, Bavaria, 11 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ4.5, -1 ev, 1/400s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-17

And there I see the storms blow in
and times of tempest growl up high
While clocks still tick and we still breathe —
though life’s great pains may make us sigh
with crushing doom impending still
the ticks and tocks of time pass by
as will all my pain and sorrow…

Clock tower of High Castle of Füssen against a cloudy sky, Füssen, Allgäu, Bavaria, 11 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ4.5, -1 ev, 1/2500s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-16

And in the depths of my despair
I reached for higher ground
and in the mountains’ thinner air
my ears heard not a sound —
I felt drawn close to heavens fair
and peace is what I found

Tower of Basilica of St. Mang with Alpine peak in background against a cloudy sky, Füssen, Allgäu, Bavaria, 11 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 160, ƒ5.6, -0.7 ev, 1/800s
Jack Groundhog 📷📸🪶jlgrantham
2023-11-15

I walked up to the mountains’ roots
and looked up high to see the sky
and watched as heaven reached down to kiss
the mother earth with a lover’s sigh

Red tiled rooftops with Franciscan Church in sunlight, Füssen, Allgäu, Bavaria, 11 Nov 2023. Nikon D5600, Nikkor DX 35 mm ƒ1.8G, ISO 160, ƒ5.6, -0.7 ev, 1/500s

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