Crape Myrtle Blossoms - 50with50 No. 35
Pink Blossoms
Dark pink blossoms fill the top of one of the crape myrtle trees in our front yard in the latest entry of the 50with50 series.
Our crape myrtle trees seem to be late bloomers. Other crape myrtles in our area always bloom before ours, especially those in the city. But ours do eventually bloom, and the result is always worth the wait. As you can see here, the colors are spectacular. The blossoms stand out beautifully from the greens of the grass and leaves all around, and they look great against a blue sky.
We have seven of these pink crape myrtle trees in our yard, and they are all special to us. We transplanted them here from Laura’s parents’ house. Actually, we started with eight, but only seven survived into maturity, which is a pretty good record with us. Fortunately for Jaylin, we have had better luck with humans than with plants. Anyway, when we first planted these crape myrtles, they were just small sticks, not even two feet tall. And now, the tallest trees are over 20 feet tall! Crape myrtles are known for their fast growth, and they have added lots of character to our yard. And lots of summer color, too, when they finally get around to blooming.
We definitely chose these trees because of their color. Nothing against the white-blossomed crape myrtles, but these pink ones are much more interesting. It doesn’t hurt that pink is Laura’s favorite color, either.
There is some speculation that pruned crape myrtle trees bloom earlier. And many people in cities do prune their trees to keep them smaller and give them a more tree-like shape. But we just let ours grow however they want to grow. If that does make them bloom a little later, then we will just keep waiting as we have done. No big deal.
Admitting You Are Wrong
Okay, it is time to admit that I am wrong. I always thought the tree was a crepe myrtle, but in looking it up it is actually a crape myrtle. It is some slight consolation that crepe is an accepted spelling, but crape is the more or less “official” spelling of the name.
They say ignorance is bliss, and that probably explains why I am a pretty happy guy. But sometimes learning of your ignorance is a little humbling. Fortunately, misspelling a tree name has had no ill effects, except that it is probably spelled incorrectly in a few other posts here. But that is not the end of the world.
Some people have a harder time than others admitting they are wrong about something, especially if that something is something important. No one likes to look like he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Or typing.
It takes a good bit of self-confidence sometimes to say, “Hey, I was wrong about that.” But it can make you a better person when you do, and I believe it will actually help others to trust you more. People will see that you are honest and truthful and also that you are willing to learn. Because the truth of it is that none of us knows everything, and we are all learning something all the time, whether we actually admit it.
There is nothing wrong with being wrong, especially if it is an unintentional error. And there is nothing wrong with admitting that you are wrong, too. It will be appreciated.
Bible Verse
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. - Proverbs 11:2
About the Photo
You are probably thinking that these 50with50 photos keep coming quickly, one right after another. And you would not be wrong in that. This is typically the time of year when I am sharing lots of photos from our summer travels, but obviously our summer travels did not happen this year. Except a trip to an outlet mall for our anniversary and another afternoon of shopping a week later. There wasn’t much to take photos of at the malls, unfortunately. That has meant that there are lots more opportunities to share photos from home, and why not use the 50mm lens to take those?
When I first planned to take this photo, the sky was heavily overcast, and I really wanted at least a little bit of blue in the sky behind the pink blossoms. So I waited about 30 minutes, and then this is how the sky looked. It is funny how quickly things can change around here.
I was actually slightly disappointed, because I would have liked for there to be a few white fluffy clouds in the background. But you can’t always choose the weather that you want, so I went with the blue sky. And then about an hour later everything was gray again. So I was happy with my choice.
I did actually decrease the blue saturation in the sky a bit, as well as the green saturation for the grass and leaves. I wanted to be sure to focus on the pink blossoms and have them stand out as much as possible without going the whole selective color route. Selective color is fun and interesting, but I don’t want to completely overuse it, too. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind, though!
Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Aurora HDR. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: SonyFE 50mm f/1.8
Date: August 3, 2020
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee
