Century Plant Triplets--16th & Final Week, 3 2 1 0

Gone. Gone. Gone. No Lefty left anymore. From three century plants to none, it's been an interesting mission to photograph the plants weekly and publish weekly articles. The five images illustrate my article's title.

In composing this last article, I decided I'd go take one more set of pix to compare June 17 and publish day of today—October 27. The pixstrip shows a bit of difference in plant looks from then to today, although not so much for the agaves. Weirdly, when I stepped up to the plants yesterday for a look-see, I was surprised to see no evidence of stalks having been cut. The centers were tightly wound, each coming to sharp points.

The only plan I originally had was taking pictures from one spot, all on Mondays around the same time except for one Tuesday session, and coming up with thoughts for that day. Oh, some of the thoughts might have come a day later. Most obvious "tweak" is the one for June 17's shoot.

It didn't take many weeks to consider taking additional pictures at other angles. I took several from across the street. Unfortunately, other nearby foliage tended to obscure the century plants, so I omitted most of them from the series of articles.

I buddied up more with my PaintShopPro tool (very old at version 7.04) over the months:

• Played with shapes for outlines and backgrounds.
• Cropped images by way of canvas size and window selections.
• Placed images on same canvases.
• Resized pixstrips by percentages.
• Made slight image rotations, aligning poles to working grids.

In placing previous and current week images next to each other, it was interesting to see changes for comparisons. I found my own way to format the articles for a certain consistency. If you like the series, please spread the word. Thanks!

My thoughts of the pix for that day:

Over the weekend, the lone century plant was still there. Had fingers crossed that it might still be there today when I made my weekly lunchtime pilgrimage to photograph it, as I had been since early March. Nope. These pix no longer have any majestic stalks. I did decide to attach pix from March 4 (start of spotting the upcomers, published July 14), April 22 (approximately midpoint, published September 1), and today. For the most recent of the last standing plant, look to June 10 (published October 20).

Index to my agave posts, from the time I first spotted the set of triplets in early March to mid-June, about 3 1/2 months.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Century Plant Triplets--15th Week, Lefty and Another Week Still

 Lefty looks nearly identical as in the previous week's pix. One obvious difference is about 1/4 the distance up, to the left of the metal pole. The June 3 pic shows a white object, the June 10 pic doesn't. In looking over past images, that area has had parked cars and a dumpster.

Although Lefty looks about the same for those June 3 and 10, May 27 was the date that showed a change from its former majestic erectness. The October 6 article contrasts three weeks, with the last image showing a definite lean.

The rightside angle pix show Lefty looking nearly identical—only the sky showing contrast. The June 3 sky is about as flat blue as can be; the June 10 sky displays a couple of puffy clouds seeming to align horizontally with Lefty's peak.

My thoughts of the pix for that day:

Amazingly, the lone stalk is still there! The top is starting to look a bit raggedy. If I were to use a human adjective, I'd say the top looked a bit gaunt.

Index to my agave posts, from the time I first spotted the set of triplets in early March to mid-June, about 3 1/2 months.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Century Plant Triplets--14th Week, Lefty and Another Week

On June 3, Lefty still stands, and with bloom clusters, but taking on a darker look than the previous week. Although the May 27 pic looks more bright andvibrant than the one from June 3, it's comparative views that influence perception. View the May 27th pic in my previous
article's pixstrip, and notice how lackluster Lefty looks there. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image of May 27 and June 3.)

This is one of the few times I decided I'd post some pix from another angle, although I have been taking front-view and rightside-view pix for a few weeks. I did post some at the bottom of my 11th-week article ("Century Plant Triplets--11th Week, Oh Solo Me Oh!"). The May 27 and June 3 rightside pix below show more contrast between the skies than with Lefty. Love that blueness on June 3! Oddly, the cloudiness in the May 27 pic looks much less ominous than in the "feature" images at the top of the article.

My thoughts of the pix for that day:

The lone stalk still stands, but it's definitely leaning, and the foliage looking less lush. I anticipate this week to be its last week as an upstanding plant in the corner.

Index to my agave posts, from the time I first spotted the set of triplets in early March to mid-June, about 3 1/2 months.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Century Plant Triplets--13th Week, 3 Successive Leftys

I decided to deviate from my recent formats of two weeks' pictures side-by-side. As I started prepping the pix for May 20 and 27, I was struck by how much more vibrant Lefty's May 20th pic looked than May 27th. Yet, the pixstrip for May 13 and May 20th showed Lefty's May 20th condition to be drab, which I remarked in my 12th century plants article.
Comparative pix can affect perception. The pixstrip shows Lefty for May 13, 20, 27. (Click for larger older/newer side-by-side image.) Note that for each of those picture days, the sky conditions seem to correlate with Lefty's bloom clusters condition.

1. May 13—blue sky with Lefty's bright and robust clusters
2. May 20—overcast with Lefty's drabness indicating its decline
3. May 27—cloudiness with Lefty's drabness, seemingly conveying withdrawal from its former glory

Try covering one of three pix and compare visual states. Try looking at #1 and #2 together, #2 and #3 together, and #1 and #3 together.
My thoughts of the pix for that day:

Surprised that the single stalk is still there! Took the set of pix around 10:40 today, about an hour earlier than I'd been shooting in the previous weeks. Worked out really well. A lot less traffic both moving and standing, maybe because of the holiday, might have also helped make picture taking easier than usual. Comparing this week's to last week's pix, can see the "crowns" starting to diminish.

Index to my agave posts, from the time I first spotted the set of triplets in early March to mid-June, about 3 1/2 months.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16