Just wanted to share (again) the beautiful botanical photography website that my very talented niece, Lauren, designed for me last fall.

www.cindydyer.com

(There are a LOT of photos, so scroll through while the tabs load at the top and thank you for your patience! Don’t forget to check out “MORE EYE CANDY” under the PORTFOLIO tab—that page has lots of lovely horizontal shots!)

Click on “FREEBIES” to receive my free 28-page Photography in the Garden magazine. (Special thanks to the 67 friends and family who have already signed up—the first issue is in the works, so stay tuned!) Click on the link above to go to the website.

Also, Lauren is available for hire as a virtual assistant and to design a website for your business as well. Visit https://laurendrawdy.com/ to learn more!

If you haven’t already signed up for my freebie all-things-gardening-photography-creativity newsletter (which I’m working on now!), go visit my lovely botanical-photos-only website, designed by my uber-talented niece, Lauren Drawdy, and click on “FREEBIES” at the top. Once you sign up, you can download my 28-page (and growing) Photography in the Garden magazine. Thanks to all who have signed up so far. (Stay tuned soon for your first issue.) Click on the link below!

https://cindydyer.com/

(And if you’re in need of a terrific virtual tech assistant or a gorgeous website, reach out to Lauren at www.laurendrawdy.com.)

Here’s the two-sided postcard I designed for Children’s National to promote the upcoming exhibit. These will be available during the exhibit and have all my contact information and a fun little bio on them. My first solo exhibit with them was in 2015.

If you’re in the DC/MD/VA area this summer, come see the exhibit! Details on the postcard below.

I’ll be sharing photos of the installation (happening next weekend), the ribbon-cutting ceremony (to celebrate the gallery being sponsored by Atlantic Coast Mortgage) at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, and some shots of my work on display in the gallery. (I’ll do a short video tour as well!)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

I’ve been creating these images of Bearded iris grown in my garden for about five years. The images are shot directly in the garden with ambient lighting and a black background held behind each stalk. Here’s a collage of my favorites!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Getting ready for my second solo botanical photography exhibit at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC! The show will run May 20-August 30, 2024. More details to come!

My first show there was way back in 2015. I have ample inventory to showcase, but I ordered several new gallery wrap canvases this afternoon, and just finished putting together this 4×6 postcard that will be available for anyone interested in learning more about my work.

I’ll provide more information and some behind-the-scenes sneak peeks as the event draws near!

My dear friend Michael just had one of his gorgeous dragonfly-in-flight photos published on the cover of “Take Flight 2023,“ a poetry journal published by Flight of the Dragonfly Press, a UK-based poetry group. Learn more about them at www.flightofthedragonfly.com. Learn more on Michael’s blog about how he photographed this beautiful Migrant Hawker dragonfly in 2018 at the Botanical Gardens in Brussels, Belgium, while on a business trip: https://michaelqpowell.com/…/07/migrant-hawker-in-flight/

www.cindydyer.com

My new botanical-photography-only site is live and ready to view! There are LOTS of photos (grab your popcorn and soda and enjoy the lengthy show). Scroll down and click on anything that prompts you to click. A gazillion thanks to my uber-talented niece, Lauren Drawdy, for the spectacular job she did on this site! I am so, so, SO excited about the results.

There’s another great photo gallery under PORTFOLIO called MORE EYE CANDY that has all horizontal botanical photos. Be sure to click on FREEBIES and enter your email address so you can download my newly-expanded Photography in the Garden magazine and also receive a monthly creativity newsletter, which I’ll be starting in December! I won’t share your email with anyone; you’re just sharing with me to get your freebies and hear from me on occasion.

If you need a website for a competitive price with someone who is a delight to work with, great with ideas and feedback, and has a whole lotta patience with creative people like her aunt, reach out to her! (I told her she’s mine for the time being, lol). You can click on her name at the bottom of the home screen to get in touch with her. (She’s going to work on a site for herself, with prompting from me!)

This one is for her husband Chris’ realty business in Texas: www.getrealtytx.com

And this site for a remodeling company she works with in San Antonio: www.lehrco-tx.com

Another exciting thing on the horizon (possibly as soon as this weekend!) is the launch of my new garden-photography-only website, designed and produced by my very talented niece, Lauren Drawdy!

This site will showcase a plethora of botanical images and I’ll have packages available for garden club speaking engagements, one-on-one in-the-garden sessions and other workshops available soon.

🌿 Introducing Cindy Dyer: Garden Muse Photography 🌺

🌷 FREEBIE Alert! 🎁
Visit my FREEBIE tab and share your email address to unlock a world of botanical wonders! Once you sign up, receive a complimentary copy of my 28-page Photography in the Garden magazine to download. Brimming with invaluable tips, behind-the-scenes insights, and breathtaking visuals, it’s your guide to mastering the art of botanical photography.

You’ll also receive a monthly dose of inspiration with my free e-newsletter, illustrating how you can capture stunning photographs in the garden—whether you’re wielding a DSLR or harnessing the amazing power of a smartphone camera. The newsletter will also contain tips and tricks, stories from the garden, and photographs galore! I’ll also share event updates—you’ll be the first to know about upcoming exhibits featuring me and my fellow artisans. I’ll also be announcing a series of workshops available in the studio and in the garden in 2024.

STAY TUNED: NEW WEBSITE LINK COMING SOON!

SUSAN B. HILLSON is a Vienna-based jewelry designer with an eye for designing wearable art. Her line, SignatureDesigns, features semi-precious gemstones, metal, and mixed media. She will be spotlighting eyes, bracelets, and necklaces, just in time for holiday buying. Find her on Instagram: @signaturedesignsonline. Email: [email protected].

Meet Susan and join us at our first pop-up in my photo studio on Saturday or Sunday, Nov. 18 & 19, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm! The address is in the flyer below, but you can reach out to me for more details at [email protected].

Susan is one of 10 vendors (plus me!) who will be displaying their artistic creations at the pop-up. We hope you (and a few friends) can join us to usher in the holiday season. Refreshments and munchies will be served!

A nice birthday surprise this past Friday…a honey bee on a very late-blooming Bearded iris in my front garden! Captured with my iPhone 12 Pro Max using the Camera+ 2 app in macro mode

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

And finally, the painting and drawing area…this is the last room on this middle floor where we need to put down the laminate flooring. (The other side of this room is the living room/tv area.) The white metal tool cabinet was a birthday gift from Michael a couple years ago—it houses paints, paint panels and drawing paper supplies. The shelving to the right (partially seen in that photo) houses small blank canvases. And that’s an unfinished painting behind the array of paint brushes, but I kinda like it incomplete. The drawing area tabletop is a hollow core door covered in linen, decorated with a brass finish strip and topped with two glass sheets. I plan to get back to painting on a regular basis. It’s been too long! (FYI, I painted the large floral painting when I was 15 as a present for Mother’s Day. I keep it up as a reminder of that wonderfully creative time when I was just starting out in oil painting.)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode, Snapseed 2 app border

Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

I’m working on updating and revising my photography-only website and created this collage as a side project. These are the 11 stamps with my images that have been published since 2014.

© 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2022 United States Postal Service

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Today’s the day!

It’s the first day of issue of the 2022 Global Stamp (with my photo of an African daisy) in Kansas City, MO.

Look for it at your local post office, or you can order online here:

https://store.usps.com/store/results?Ntt=african%20daisy…

This round Global stamp can be used to mail a one-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mail International® service is available. As with all Global stamps, this stamp will have a postage value equivalent to the price of the single-piece First-Class Mail International first-ounce machinable letter in effect at the time of use.

The USPS issued their very first Global Forever® stamp in 2013 (and it was a globe, appropriately). The USPS sends mail to over 190 countries, and guess whose photo of an African Daisy is going to be on the 2022 Global Forever® stamp? Drum roll, please…..

MINE!

I just got an email informing me that the news of the debut was released to the public today, so I can share the exciting news here!

USPS Reveals More Stamps for 2022: https://about.usps.com/…/0111-usps-reveals-more-stamps…

You can send 1 oz letters or postcards around the world with one Global Forever® stamp, which currently costs $1.30 and never expires, even if the postage price goes up. For large envelopes (flats) up to 15.994 oz, postage prices vary based on weight and destination.

The African Daisy stamp is being issued in self-adhesive panes of 10. This stamp will be released in Kansas City, MO, without a first-day-of-issue ceremony, on March 14. Sometimes the Postal Store will allow you to pre-order stamps from their website. I think they sometimes put issuances on pre-sale 30 days before issuance, so you might check out their site mid-February: usps.com/shop and then go to Stamps and search for African Daisy.

This is the 11th image I’ve had published as a Forever® stamp. Previously, I had images for: Ferns 2014, Water Lilies 2015 and Kenilworth Park (as part of the National Park Service 100th Anniversary 16-stamp panel) in 2016.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Thought I’d play with the black velvet background behind this group of Stargazer lilies blooming in my backyard garden this afternoon. I’ve previously done single blooms (mostly of Bearded irises), but wanted to see what the effect would be for an entire grouping of blooms. I shot this image with my iPhone 12 Pro Max using the Camera+ 2 app in macro mode.

And so it begins—my second year of creating the “hanging garden of Babylon,” as Michael calls it. This year I added a lot more punchy color with red and pink polka dot plants and geraniums with colorful leaves. I added an Asparagus fern, coleus, white and green polka dot plants, sweet potato vines in three color variations and several ivies. Stay tuned for the metamorphosis!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)