Under the Flowering Trees. Flame tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius), Date Palms (Phoenix dactylifera), Oleanders, Rosewood (Tipuana tipu), Parkinsonia aculeata (Jerusalem thorn), Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), Purple Jacaranda, Albizia julibrissin (Persian silk, Pink silk tree), Pink Rose of Sharon, Bauhinia variegata (Camel's Foot Tree, Mountain-ebony), Silk floss tree (Palo borracho / Ceiba speciosa), Lace-bark tree (Lagetta lintearia), Lagunaria patersonii (cow itch tree), Purple Bougainvillea, Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain tree), Lagerstroemia indica (Crape myrtle), European Redbud or Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum).

One of the most pleasant things you can do on a hot summer day is lie in a hammock or on the grass under the flowering trees scenting the air with their blossoms, enjoy their fragrance and watch the birds fly by high above in the sky.

Flame tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius) and Yellow-Legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
(© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Fireworks

Fireworks date back to 7th century China, where they were used to accompany many festivities. Fireworks implemented rocket propulsion common in warfare. In 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder and its uses from China.
Eventually Chinese fireworks became popular in Europe around the mid-17th century on recreational and ceremonial occasions, and have been an indispensable part of any celebration worth its salt ever since. George Frideric Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749 to celebrate the peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which had been declared the previous year.
And on a humorous note:
“The Chinese used gunpowder to make fireworks for celebrations, and the white man came along and said, Holy shit, we can use this to kill people. What better way to celebrate than that?
”
― Jarod Kintz

Fireworks red. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Spring Treats. White Mulberry (Morus alba) fruits

Morus alba (family Moraceae), known as white mulberry, is a species native to northern China, and is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.
It turns out that apart from being widely cultivated to feed the silkworms employed in the commercial production of silk, the plant has analgesic, emollient and sedative properties and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries as a remedy for surprisingly wide range of conditions: the fruit — to treat prematurely grey hair, constipation, diabetes, to "tonify" the blood; the bark — to treat cough, wheezing, edema, fever, headache, red dry and sore eyes, and to promote urination.
Extracts of the plant possess antibacterial and fungicidal properties. The root bark, for example, exhibits antibacterial activity against food poisoning micro-organisms, is antitussive, diuretic, expectorant and hypotensive. The roots are harvested in the winter and dried for later use.
The leaf extract has been studied against the Indian Vipera/Daboia russelii venom induced local and systemic effects. The leaves are antibacterial, astringent, diaphoretic (increasing perspiration), hypoglycaemic, odontalgic and ophthalmic, they are taken internally in the treatment of colds, influenza, eye infections and nosebleeds. The leaves are collected after the first frosts of autumn and can be used fresh but are generally dried.
The stems are anti-rheumatic, diuretic, hypotensive and pectoral. A tincture of the bark is used to relieve toothache. The branches are harvested in late spring or early summer and are dried for later use.
The fruit has a tonic effect on kidney energy and is used internally in the treatment of asthma, coughs, bronchitis, oedema, hypertension and diabetes.
Almost all parts of the plant are used in one way or another: recent research has shown improvements in elephantiasis when treated with leaf extract injections and in tetanus following oral doses of the sap mixed with sugar. Finally, it's not widely known that in some Central Asian countries a spirit (a kind of vodka or strong liquor) is distilled from mulberry fruits.
However, the fresh fruits are seldom available at the greengrocer's (probably due to their high perishability). So enjoy this wonder of Nature, even if just in pictures.

White Mulberry (Morus alba) fruit. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Concepts. Syncopation and Transition

When I studied design, my favourite task was conceptual composition or the art of composition (the only branch of modern art I can actually tolerate), which is also the basis of creative photography.
What I love most about illustrating a concept is the intellectual game that it provides — as with solving creative puzzles, it takes a lot of lateral thinking, and the more disparate the ideas you manage to associate seem, the smarter you look.

Syncopation — a shift of accent in a passage or composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is stressed, in other words, a shift of attention to the secondary subject (in this case from the object to its shadow).

Syncopation. Shadow of a glass vase. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Random Picks. Time, Seeds and Regular Hexagons

'As the waves make toward the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end.' — William Shakespeare

Reflections in a clock. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Reflections in Brown and Blue

Some of the most beautiful light effects are created by the play of the sunrays in the water. Since water is a transparent medium, it renders an infinite number of palettes depending on the colours of the surrounding objects and the incident light.
These two feathers were drifting by in perfect sync, they propped each other thus staying in balance... like a perfect couple.

Two drifting feathers. (© 2013 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Life In Inanimate Things. Sea Stones.

I haven't changed much since my childhood — I still gape at simple things that catch my eye. Not surprisingly, every time I go to the beach I can't help trying to take home half of it, which means I'm hell bent on filtering out the most peculiar ones from all the available pebbles. I especially love finding pebbles with holes, though they aren't among the most beautiful ones.
This is a small part of my treasure trove.

Mediterranean beach pebbles.
(© 2011 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)