A metallic charm
The young leaf of a greenbrier vine (Smilax bona-nox) in Great Hills Park on April 15th came out looking like a metallic charm when I photographed it using flash and a tiny aperture of f/25. I took pictures of a different young leaf on the vine using natural light and a broad aperture of f/3.2 for a dreamy look with little in focus. Compare and contrast, say teachers.
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“Anyone can do evil acts, regardless of their color.” That’s a line from a video in which Ndona Muboyayi talks about how her children’s schoolteachers were promoting the notions of “white supremacy” and “white privilege” while conveniently not mentioning that in the Rwandan genocide all the victims and all the murderers were black. You’re welcome to watch the 6-minute video, which includes Ndona Muboyayi’s belief that “The envelope doesn’t mean anything, ’cause eventually it’s going to go away. It’s what’s inside that matters, and that’s what we need to teach children.”
© 2022 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
That’s an especially elegant greenbrier leaf in the first photo. The way the vine has curled, it does look as though it’s hanging down, like a charm. I’d say your flash and reduced aperture worked like a charm; the metallic effect is quite pleasing.
shoreacres
May 3, 2022 at 6:32 AM
I’d say your charming comment confirms my mettle as a photographer.
Check out the etymology of mettle:
https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mettle
Steve Schwartzman
May 3, 2022 at 7:10 AM
That metal/mettle relationship is interesting. It brought to mind this aria from Handel’s Messiah, where the image of a refiner’s fire purifying metal is used to such good effect.
shoreacres
May 3, 2022 at 9:24 PM
Good music!
Steve Schwartzman
May 4, 2022 at 3:04 AM
Oh, it does look like a lovely little charm the stalk is wearing. Nicely done!
circadianreflections
May 3, 2022 at 8:29 AM
Thanks for validating the charm(ing) illusion. This is another instance of something from nature that would make good jewelry.
Steve Schwartzman
May 3, 2022 at 8:33 AM
It would. Nature puts together the best color combinations, and placements of things doesn’t it. 😀
circadianreflections
May 5, 2022 at 8:15 AM
It sure provides plenty of things for me to portray.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2022 at 8:19 AM
😀
circadianreflections
May 5, 2022 at 8:33 AM
🌿
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2022 at 8:40 AM
Thank you for your mini-lesson on the effects of the aperture opening, Steve! I will try to memorize the meaningful quote: “The envelope doesn’t mean anything, ’cause eventually it’s going to go away. It’s what’s inside that matters, and that’s what we need to teach children.”
Peter Klopp
May 3, 2022 at 9:12 AM
It’s good to experiment with the effects of changing apertures as well as shutter speeds.
Unfortunately many schools in the United States and Canada are committed to teaching race essentialism, the opposite of Ndona Muboyayi’s ideal.
Steve Schwartzman
May 3, 2022 at 9:21 AM
Beautiful Steve 🤓👌🌺smiles hedy
sloppy buddhist
May 3, 2022 at 11:33 AM
I’m happy to have made you smile, Hedy.
Steve Schwartzman
May 3, 2022 at 11:57 AM
Oh gads! I remember that greenbrier from Oklahoma! Ick! The thorns are very painful and surprisingly sharp.
tonytomeo
May 3, 2022 at 7:53 PM
Yep, they sure are. I get scratched probably every year by low greenbrier vines that are hard to see in the underbrush.
Steve Schwartzman
May 3, 2022 at 8:00 PM
Yes, it is as if they are intentionally malicious and sneaky!
tonytomeo
May 3, 2022 at 8:42 PM
Yes, that is a good message to teach our children but it is also important for them to know the bad that has happened so it hopefully doesn’t get repeated. Kids that come from homes that express hatred toward others won’t teach their own children to be more open and tolerant of others. It’s important for our education systems to show kids those qualities are of value if they are not getting them at home or from their friends.
Steve Gingold
May 4, 2022 at 4:13 AM
But ironically it’s schools that are increasingly racializing matters and telling certain kids to feel guilty about things they had no control over. Were that not the case, people in the past few years wouldn’t have felt the need to come together in organizations like the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism to counteract the harmful trend. I know of no such group that is trying to cover up bad things in history, of which there are certainly plenty to go around.
Steve Schwartzman
May 4, 2022 at 7:57 AM
Can you show specific instances of such being taught or are the cases mostly parents saying that their kids shouldn’t be taught that white people did these things. It’s hard to believe that teachers would tell kids they were responsible for the past. Informing about certain privileges certain people have is different from telling someone that they should feel guilty.
Steve Gingold
May 4, 2022 at 8:12 AM
“Privilege” can be a cover for, or lead-in to, outright discrimination. Because classes aren’t usually recorded, getting evidence of what actually happened in a certain classroom on a certain day can be difficult. Here are some apparent instances of discrimination in schools:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/parents-prevail-over-k-12-bias-incidents-wellesley-public-schools-massachusetts-11644272316?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter
https://nypost.com/2016/07/01/elite-k-8-school-teaches-white-students-theyre-born-racist/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/10/19/to-be-white-is-to-be-racist-period-a-high-school-teacher-told-his-class/
Click to access 2021-06-29-deemar-v-district-65.pdf
https://wjbo.iheart.com/featured/walton-and-johnson/content/2022-02-02-teacher-made-white-10-yr-olds-apologize-to-black-kids-for-skin-color/
https://www.fairforall.org/profiles-in-courage/dwight-englewood-whistleblower/
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/i-refuse-to-stand-by-while-my-students?s=r
Click to access 2021-04-26_madison-racial-segregation.pdf
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2021/01/21/las-vegas-charter-school-sued-for-curriculum-covering-race-identity/
Click to access 2021-04-15_rabiebna-v-higher-education-aids-board.pdf
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3670918/White-babies-display-signs-racism-Elite-New-York-school-tells-white-kids-ashamed-privilege-segregates-children-race.html
Steve Schwartzman
May 4, 2022 at 8:55 AM
I read those as examples of poorly trained and guided folks attempting to right wrongs in a wrongful manner. The subjects are not necessarily discriminatory so much as the handling of the message being awkward or overzealous. As you said, unless recorded the actual incidents are not thoroughly understood.
Steve Gingold
May 4, 2022 at 5:51 PM
Unfortunately most of this stuff is not the doings of rogue teachers but is coming from the top down, which is to say that school districts are imposing these things. Here’s an article about that:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/parents-are-sounding-the-alarm-on-woke-education-for-good-reason
Steve Schwartzman
May 7, 2022 at 5:13 PM
Great
eshalsajjad213
May 5, 2022 at 2:56 AM
Thanks. It was a new way of seeing these familiar leaves.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2022 at 7:59 AM
Interesting leaf shape, and metallic glow.
Alessandra Chaves
May 5, 2022 at 8:04 AM
Now that you bring it up, I can’t think of any other plants that have leaves shaped this way. I wonder if the shape gives the plant any advantage.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2022 at 8:15 AM