
"concerto in orange" is re-release of beautiful autumn image of mine (originally from six years ago in october 2016) with a brand new updated blog...
"in the middle of this forest in autumn, the leaves are all so full of beautiful warming colors, bright orange with accents of red and yellow hues...as they fall from their branches fluttering to the ground, you can hear their melody floating through the air, a concerto in orange with an orchestra of trees adding background rhythm" ― bodhi, concerto in orange
“those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. there is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature” ― rachel carson, silent spring
"if the blind can find joy in music, and the deaf can discover it with colors, i will do my best to always find the sun in the darkness because my life isn't one sad ending—it's a series of endless happy beginnings" ― adam silvera, more happy than not
"then, it was like--i don’t even know how to describe it. color and light and music and life and joy and love…so many wonderful things, all the lovely things that make up the world and make it worth living" ― richelle mead, vampire academy
"color directly influences the soul. color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. in this metaphor, the artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul" ― wassily kandinsky, concerning the spiritual in art
"i hear the question upon your lips: what is it to be a colour? colour is the touch of the eye, music to the deaf, a word out of the darkness" ― orhan pamuk, my name is red
"everybody needs beauty...places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike" ― john muir
"listen closely...
you can hear
each color sing
their own song,
a concerto among
the falling leaves.
listen closely...
you can hear the joyful
happiness of orange.
you can hear the hopeful
excitement of yellow.
you can hear the flowing
love of red.
listen closely...
can hear their music?"
this song is one of my favorites from the mid-1990s, however, you have more than likely never heard of it before as i think it was never officially released as a single, it was only on the band's album...but it reminds me of the fall when leaves are turning color and falling to the ground, there is a cooler chill in the air, especially in the evenings at sunset when the temps seem to drop from the sky, and there is a strong sense of change that is oddly like therapy this time of year. you can feel it in the air: feeling right his time of year...and for me, this song is therapeutic, it always brings a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart...it's a wonderful accompaniment to connect music with the meaning of my impression and blog today:
"this time of year" by better than ezra ...(just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....
"well there's a feelin' in the air, just like a friday afternoon...yeah, you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon. so go on, let it be. if there's a feelin' coming over me, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change. well, i know there's a time for us. think about the good times, and you live with all the bad. you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year...well, there's a football in the air, across the leaf-blown field. yeah, and there's your first car on the road and the girl you steal. so go on, if you fell. if there's a feelin' that there's somethin' else, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change (this time of year). yeah, i know there's a time for us (this time of year). think about the good times, but you live with all the bad (this time of year). you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year...well, there's a feelin' in the air, just like a friday afternoon. yeah, you can go there if you want, though it fades too soon. so go on, let it be. if there's a feelin' comin' over me, seems like it's always understood this time of year...well, i know there's a reason to change (this time of year). yeah, i know there's a time for us (this time of year). ya think about the good times, and you live with all the bad (this time of year)...you can feel it in the air, feel it in the air. yeah, i can feel it in the air. well, i can feel it in the air. yeah you can feel it in the air: feelin' right this time of year" ― better than ezra, this time of year
"tune out the noise inside your head, tune in the tune of the forest...you will be surrounded by a colorful melody of all the trees, the orchestra of the forest. you will fall in love with the music of the fall hues" ― bodhi, concerto in orange
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MEANING
"why is it that the colors of the trees in fall seem so beautiful and make us feel so good? sometimes there is no answer, it just is..." ― bodhi, the middle
orange is a color that is often associated with happiness and joy, because orange is such a vibrant and cheerful color. this may be because of its association with the fall season and all of the fun activities that come along with it, such as football games, pumpkin cutting, hayrides, halloween, thanksgiving and apple cider drinking...
and the word "concerto" (pronounced "cone-chair-tow") is defined by merriam-webster as:
1. a musical composition for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra, especially one conceived on a relatively large scale
in this beautiful forest, mother nature is creating a concerto, with the color of orange doing a solo. it's cheerful and vibrant music she's creating, to fill us with joy and happiness...
mother nature is well aware of the fact that there are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. likewise, there are not more than five primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen" (sun tzu, the art of war)...she mixes and blends her five musical notes with her five primary hues to bring music to our eyes and color to our ears...
in the middle of this forest in autumn, the leaves are all so full of beautiful warming colors, bright orange with accents of red and yellow hues...as they fall from their branches fluttering to the ground, you can hear their melody floating through the air, a concerto in orange with an orchestra of trees adding background rhythm...
go outside, find a forest in the autumn and journey into its refrain...silence your mind. tune out the noise inside your head, tune in the tune of the forest...you will be surrounded by a colorful melody of all the trees, the orchestra of the forest. you will fall in love with the music of the fall hues...and listen closely, you can hear each color sing their own song, a concerto among the falling leaves. listen closely...you can hear the joyful happiness of orange. you can hear the hopeful excitement of yellow. you can hear the flowing love of red. listen closely...can you hear the music? can't you hear the colors?
"in this beautiful forest, mother nature is creating a concerto, with the color of orange doing a solo. it's cheerful and vibrant music she's creating to fill us with joy and happiness..."
some people seek the comfort at the bottom of a bottle, others find it while reading a book next to a glowing fireplace. some find it in a warming bowl of soup or a home-cooked meal, and others find it curled up in a blanket on the couch watching a favorite movie. some stab a vein hoping for it, yet others look for it in another person...as for me, my comfort is found somewhere out in nature, behind the lens of a camera...each time the shutter opens and closes, i'm breathing in, i'm breathing out...
i'm most at ease when i'm somewhere out in nature, especially when i'm surrounded by trees, far away from civilization in a place where the earth has not been corrupted by mankind, silencing all the noise in my head by witnessing all the beauty that surrounds me...breathing in, the loveliness of the landscape. breathing out, the song the birds sing. breathing in, feeling sunbeams breaking through the leaves on my face. breathing out, seeing all the colors in the trees. breathing in, smelling the freshness of the forest. breathing out, tasting life flow across my lips. breathing in, all the peace and tranquility my lungs can hold...
my feelings of comfort and solitude permeate into my photographs, as my emotions of peace are transcribed directly into the feelings and impressions given off by any image i'm blessed enough to capture...
places like this are special (and getting harder and harder to find). places where you can feel the music of mother nature with all your senses, come alive in all her glorious colors, and hold nothing back. celebrate and dance to this concerto of color, for you are alive, living fully in all her glory....life is good, so make every moment count...
here's a profoundly poignent tunes from the grunge era of 90's, from another one of my favorite alternative bands, one of which you have probably never heard called the screaming trees....i can only think that this picture of mine would have looked splendid on one of their album covers, especially since these trees would be screaming had they known their fate was to be all cut down, all their miles and miles of beauty clear cut to just to make more room for more cows and more dairy farms...they are all gone now, lost forever, to live on in memories and only to be seen in photographs by people like myself. people blessed to have walked amongst these trees and witnessed their majestic loveliness in person, deeply lucky to have heard their cheerful song, listened to their joyous concerto in orange and danced in their colors... "nearly lost you" by the screaming trees ...and similarly to all the trees in my impression, we've recently lost the tree's lead singer, mark lanegan, who died earlier this year (2022), but he will live on through his music and our memories of him....(just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video)...
"did you hear the distant cry calling me back to my sin? like the one you knew before, calling me back once again. i nearly, i nearly lost you there and it's taken us somewhere. i nearly lost you there...let's try to sleep now. drag me far enough to know, i'm blind every mile that you burn. there's a rider that's fallen and it's clear there's no time to return. i nearly, i nearly lost you there and it's taken us somewhere. i nearly lost you there...well let's try to sleep now. did you hear the distant lie calling me back to my sin? like the one you knew before, calling me back once again. i nearly, i nearly lost you there and it's taken us somewhere. i nearly lost you there...well let's try to sleep now...i nearly lost you there, i nearly lost you, i nearly lost you there...nearly lost you there" ― the screaming trees, nearly lost you
"i don't need a scientific study to prove being in nature is great therapy, i am positive it's good for me on many different levels...i know it as fact, empirically through my first hand experience. when i'm out in nature, everything is better...my mood, my heart-rate, my stress levels, my inner serenity. i feel more love and connection, direction and purpose. plus, later at night after being out in nature, i sleep better, dream more vividly and peacefully...and when i can revisit old faithful scenes where beautiful memories abound such as this, it's nothing short of pure comfort for me" ― bodhi, comfort
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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION
"just as a leaf know it is time, in the autumn, it embraces change, as it fearlessly lets go of the safety of the tree, falls and dances to where it needs to be...such a beautiful metaphor for all of us... just let go, dance, and fall in love with life's changes" ― bodhi, the middle
today we find ourselves about 1/2 of the way through autumn 2022, so i've decided to re-release another of my favorite photos of colorful trees in the fall, this one again taken at the old boardman tree farm in northeastern oregon...with this impression here, i love its beautiful progressive rhythm and its song submerged in the colors of fall...
what you see pictured here is the old boardman tree farm on an overcast, calm, and windless morning...the type of trees that were grown here were pacific albus, a hybrid of 4 or 5 different poplar trees...boardman, oregon is about 2.5 hours east of portland on interstate 84 near the junction with interstate 82. it's a great drive that mostly follows the south bank of the columbia river, and it's beautiful any time of the year...
however, i must report that it's sad and discouraging to know this beauty has totally vanished, to where only pictures like this will remain of what once was...because now unfortunately, the massive old boardman tree farm was sold to mega-dairy farm corporations a few years ago. the trees have now been clear cut to accommodate for the giant dairy pastures that supply the tillamook dairy processing plant in boardman with all the supplies of milk it needs to make its products...all the beautiful trees are just a memory, now there's no trees left, all cut down, all permanently gone...
six years ago when i took this picture, i was able to walk on the property (with permission from the owners)...the boardman tree farm was massive at about 40 square miles (25,000 acres). numerous public paved and dirt roads cut across the groves, so you could explore and access much of the expanse fairly easily. many breathtaking images could be found from the road's edge with no need to walk on the property...but now, it's all gone. everything has disappeared. there's no trees left, just massive dairy farms with adjacent farmland providing the feed for all the head of cows so we can have more cheese and yogurt on our grocery shelves...sheeez...
"the hour is ending, can't you see? there is no way now, to get free. in the shadow of the season, without a reason, to carry on. without a reason, without a reason...and from the north woods down to the valley. in a world of hurting, i'm moving on. and from the lighthouse out on the ocean. can't climb the mountain, so very tall. said lord please give me what i need. he said there's pain and misery. oh sweet oblivion feels alright. the hour is drawing ever closer and rolling over, won't let me be. in the shadow of the season to find a reason, to carry on. said lord please give me what i need. he said there's pain and misery. oh sweet oblivion...she calls me onward to her side. and feels her song deep inside. and find a reason in the shadow of the season to find a reason to carry on. in the shadow of the season to find a reason to carry on, find a reason to carry on, to carry on, to find a reason to carry on...to carry on" ― the screaming trees, shadow of the season
"if i were the trees, i would have my leaves transform to yellow and let them light up the sky with golden shade at sunset, and then they would circle about your head as they float down, falling in piles at your feet, so that you might know this wonder of falling in love" ― bodhi, falling in love
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HISTORY OF ECOTHERAPY
"for me, comfort is found somewhere out in nature, behind the lens of a camera...each time the shutter opens and closes, i am breathing in, and breathing out" ― bodhinku, my therapy
in the crowded urban capital of persia 2500 years ago, cyrus the great recognized the need to increase human health and create a feeling of "calm". in response, he planted a garden in the middle of the city...city parks and nature therapy (ecotherapy) were born
nature therapy, sometimes referred to as ecotherapy, describes a broad group of techniques or treatments with the intention of improving an individual's mental or physical health, specifically with an individual's presence within nature or outdoor surroundings. it's based on the principles of ecopsychology, which look at how we feel interconnected with the earth...ecotherapy is a form of psychotherapy rooted in the idea of biophilia: people's bond between themselves and other ecosystems
"in reach, which is receiving and being in the presence of nature, place upreach, which is the actual experience as we realize our place in the natural world, and outreach, which is interacting with other people that care about the environment." ― howard clinebell, on ecotherapy
one example of a nature therapy is forest bathing or shinrin-yoku, a practice that combines a range of exercises and tasks in an outdoor environment. garden therapy, horticultural therapy, kneipp therapy or even ocean therapy may also be viewed as forms of nature therapy. nature therapy may also include grounding, which can be practiced by removing any electrical insulation between a person and a conductive ground such as soil, grass, and wet sand...
the process of nature therapy:
- stressed state: a person is in a state of physical or emotional stress.
- restorative effects of nature: the person spends time in nature, resulting in improvements in physiological relaxation and the immune function recovery response.
- evidence-based medicine (ebm): nature directly increases the parasympathetic nervous system and heightens awareness, causing relaxation
nature therapy has been linked to a number of physiological benefits, as well as neuropsychological benefits, as indicated by neuroimaging and validated psychological tests such as the profile of mood states (poms). spending time in nature can improve immune, cardiovascular, and respiratory functioning. nature therapy can provide emotional healing, decrease blood pressure, improve a person's general sleep-wake cycle, improve relationship skills, reduces stress, and reduce aggression. nature therapy can help with general medical recovery, pain reduction, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dementia, obesity, and other disorders like vitamin d deficiencies.
a 2007 study from the university of essex in the u.k. found that a walk in the country reduces depression in 71% of participants. the researchers found that as little as five minutes in a natural setting, whether walking in a park or gardening in the backyard, improves mood, self-esteem, and motivation...
i do not need any scientific study to prove being in nature is great therapy, and is good for me on many different levels...i know it empirically through first hand experience. when i am out in nature, everything is better...my mood, my attitude, my heart-rate, my breathing, my stress levels, my inner serenity. i feel more love and connection, direction and purpose...plus, later at night after being out in nature, i sleep better, dream more vividly and peacefully...and when i revisit old faithful scenes where beautiful memories abound such as this, it is nothing short of pure therapy for me.
"shhhh...can you hear it? its peace? the silence of the light, and if you truly listen, it will surely guide you to where you need to be..." ― bodhinku, shhhh
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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
here's one more tune about orange, this one is quite upbeat with catchy lyrics on the surface. but if you dig deeper into the meaning, you will see it's a political song that's focusing on the long-term destruction that agent orange did to crops and forests in southeast asia during the vietnam war...kinda like with my image and how all the beautiful trees in orange harmony at the expansive boardman tree farm were all clear cut, needlessly chopped down in their prime and destroyed by another nasty agent, one called money/greed ... "orange crush" by r.e.m. ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ... and btw, all of the left over agent orange
"i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (collar me, don't collar me). i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (we are agents of the free). i've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas (over me, not over me). coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)...i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (collar me, don't collar me). i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (we are agents of the free). i've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas (over me, not over me). coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)...high on the roof, thin the blood. another one came on the waves tonight. comin' in, you're home. we would circle and we'd circle and we'd circle to stop and consider and centered on the pavement stacked up all the trucks jacked up and our wheels in slush and orange crush in pocket and all this here county, hell, any county, it's just like heaven here, and i was remembering and i was just in a different county and all then this whirlybird that i headed for i had my goggles pulled off; i knew it all, i knew every back road and every truck stop...i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (collar me, don't collar me). i've got my spine, i've got my orange crush (we are agents of the free). i've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas (over me, not over me). coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)...high on the roof, thin the blood. another one climbs on the waves tonight. comin' in, you're home. high on the roof, thin the blood. another one climbs on the waves tonight. comin' in, you're home" ― r.e.m, orange crush
"as the leaves in the fall let go of their resistance to the changing seasons, to their branches, to their pasts and fly into the fall air, so do we all in the autumn and this one is especially so with a vibrant changing tapestry during this time which has the power to bring about an entirely new landscape into our lives....the energy of the autumn mirrors this inward journey as we shift our attention from the external world and begin to make our descent into the darkness once more. this is not a time to mourn the end of summer, but to embrace the changing of the tides; the death and rebirth in the seasons, and of the self in a colorful and vibrant way. autumn leaves tumble to the earth below and show no fear in the dance from branch to ground. they know the time has come, they feel it deep within; the time to evolve with the changing season is here. in the coming twilight, we open to the transformation that flows and surrender to this time of celebrating what was, grieving what has ended and opening to all that has yet to be. So they let go of the branch and fly into the unknown embracing the icy winds and uncertain horizons. the time to surrender to the fall has come once more. i wish you much love and light upon your colorful journey" ― c. ara campbell
"i think that i shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
a tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
a tree that looks at god all day
and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
a tree that may in summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair;
upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who intimately lives with rain.
poems are made by fools like me,
but only god can make a tree"
"i experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. i am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters
"color which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power" ― paul gauguin
“color is all. when color is right, form is right. color is everything, color is vibration like music; everything is vibration" ― marc chagall
"to my paintings, i try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music" ― joan miro
"nature in her colorful tranquil woods heals and soothes all affliction...the soul hath no sorrows that earth cannot heal" ― john muir
"every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree" ― emily bronte
"the piano keys are black and white. but they sound like a million colors in your mind" ― maria cristina mena
"there are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. likewise, there are not more than five primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen"― sun tzu, the art of war
"she is
better than warm fall colors
better than beautiful music
better than doughnuts and coffee”
"concerto of jangles, jinkles, and dings,
see their sound, how pleasant they dream.
off they go, winds klickle on smooth breeze,
and chinkle and pinkle through my melodic tree"
"how long
can i lament
with this depressed
heart and soul
how long
can i remain
a sad autumn
ever since my grief
has shed my leaves
the entire space
of my soul
is burning in agony
how long can i
hide the flames
wanting to rise
out of this fire
with a broken heart
how much more
can i take the message
from body to soul
i believe in love
i swear by love
believe me my love
how long
like a prisoner of grief
can i beg for mercy
you know i'm not
a piece of rock or steel
but hearing my story
even water will become
as tense as a stone
if i can only recount
the story of my life
right out of my body
right out of the middle
flames will grow"
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ABOUT THIS IMPRESSION
"mother nature mixes and blends her five musical notes with her five primary hues to bring music to our eyes and color to our ears" ― bodhi, music of color
this impression was captured on the old boardman tree farm in northeastern oregon six autumns ago on a calm and totally windless morning about 22 mins after sunrise at 7:22am on october 3rd, 2016...
this composition is comprised of one single long exposure of a forest of poplar trees as the morning sun is breaking through the leaves (f/22@44mm for 222 secs, iso-64)...the reason for shooting at f/22 was to create the real sunburst through the leaves naturally without any sun-flare filters or post processing effects. plus, f/22 also creates a softer dreamy effect when combined with a long exposure as well...
in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and balance the light the way i want in my composition in-camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter in my completed impressions...
to get the effects and balance i was looking for in this composition (f/22@44mm for 222 secs, iso-64), i used three progreyusa filters along with the progrey g-120z antarctic magnetic holder to secure these filters to my nikon d810 with a nikon nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens...and, with such an ultra long exposure needed by using such a small aperture, this photo would not have been impossible to create had there been any wind present, even the slightest of a breeze...it needed to be dead clam so the leaves would not move and thus remain in sharp focus throughout the entire time (3mins-42secs) the shutter was open...
first, a 3.0nd progrey magnetic antarctic filter to bring the light in the image down 10 stops and permit for the long 3min-42second exposure which naturally saturates all the red, orange, and yellow colors in the image (i would not have been able to use this long exposure and filter if the wind was blowing, because the leaves in the image would be blurred severely)...
combined with two progreyusa filters additionally...a 0.9 gnd progrey aurora filter and an inverted 0.3 gnd progrey aurora filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it...in this case, to stop down the much brighter light in the tops of the trees as the sun way trying to shine through, an extra three stops and help permit details in the shadows of trees deeper in the composition, and to darken to lower foreground a bit at one stop...
"you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you?" ― bodhi, blessed
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhi, if
"i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses" ― bodhi, into my photo
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty, content to be completely incomplete. stop the rush. slow down time. breathe and notice. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this higher moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colours of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhi, my world
leave you today wishing that bright joy
and spiritual peace fill your life...
imploring you to make every moment count,
no matter what, always and forever,
for that is the only thing that truly matters...
and above all else,
i hope this message and impression find you well.
namaste,
bodhi
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