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Caroline M. Yoachim

@carolinemyoachim.bsky.social

4.4K followers 350 following 4.3K posts

SFF writer. Hugo, Locus, Ignyte, World Fantasy, Eugie, Sturgeon & Nebula finalist. Stories in BCS, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld & F&SF. Interviewer at Uncanny Magazine. Biracial. She/her.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · May 6

New story day!!! "Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War" is in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social, now available online, and I'm so excited to share it with you!

www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unfi...

Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War - Uncanny Magazine

Kestrel House There have been portals to the Fae realm for at least as long as humans have had fairy tales, but the first one deliberately engineered by humans was opened in an abandoned amusement pa...

www.uncannymagazine.com

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Yes! Spider webs are pretty amazing, that was a lot of weight for such tiny threads.

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Thanks :D

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Thank you! :)

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Thank you!

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

If the pond is calm and the sky is bright and cloudy, obviously the thing to do is take pictures of koi swimming in the sky.

Black and orange koi fish swimming near the surface of a very smooth pond. The surface of the pond reflects a dramatic cloudy sky, making it look as though the fish is swimming through the clouds.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

There was almost no wind this morning, which made for lovely reflections on the pond.

Two pink water lily flowers (one partly open, one almost completely closed) surrounded by a small cluster of lily pads, all floating on smooth dark water with indistinct reflections of plants and trees.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Red leaves, water droplet.

Closeup of a large water droplet dangling from the bottom of a narrow red leaf. The leaf is surrounded by several additional deep red leaves, and is dotted with water tiny water droplets. The largest drop, down at the bottom, has reflections of some of the other red leaves. Dark green background.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

An early fallen leaf.

A faded red leaf resting on a bed of moss, covered in water droplets.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

It wasn't peak fall color yet, but there were lovely pops of color here and there.

In the lower left, in focus, a brightly colored maple leaf with red tips gradually shifting to a yellow-green at the center. The leaf is dotted with water droplets. The rest of the image has similar leaves, very vibrant, slightly blurred.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

The "falling" leaves were dangling a little lower than ideal for the shot I had in my head, but here is the closest I got to a wider angle shot with the pond in the background.

A branch of red maple leaves is in the upper left corner of the photo, with the red leaves from the previous post in this thread dangling down from a spiderweb as if they were falling.In the background, blurry, the dark water of the pond, contrasting with a horizongal band of lighter-colored lilypads, and above that the blurry geometric forms of a wooden bridge that goes across the pond.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Photos from today's walk at the Seattle Japanese Garden (thread). I was quite taken with these red leaves, dangling by a bit of spiderweb in a way that made them look like they were falling.

#photography #PNW #autumn #FallColors #nature #red #31DaysOfHalloween #SeattleJapaneseGarden

Closeup of half a dozen red maple leaves, suspended mid-air by (near-invisible) spider web threads in a vertical line such that it looks almost like a composite image of a leaf tumbling down from the tree, twirling as it falls. Dark greenery blurry in the background.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

I've never been, but it's on my list! If you go I'd love to hear what you think of it :)

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Yeah, definitely pricey. I'm using a Canon R7 with a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens and a 1.4x extender.

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

Seattle's other Japanese garden is the Kubota garden which is lovely (and quite a bit bigger than this one, though sadly also farther away from where I live so I don't make it down there as often). I'm not sure where in the PNW you'll be, but Portland has a gorgeous Japanese garden, too.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 14h

This is the Seattle Japanese Garden: www.seattlejapanesegarden.org

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 15h

As is tradition, I have gone to the Japanese garden a little earlier than peak autumn color, but I did manage to mostly dodge the rain so I am counting it as a #victory.

A large pond with an angular wooden bridge running across it near the base of the photo. On the left side, green plants and trees, on the right and on the far side of the pond, plants and trees that are in various stages of shifting colors for autumn, everything from bright red to yellow to green.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you!

Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

This one is 1/1000s which is fast enough for the head and body of the bird to be in sharp focus while the bird hovers under a flower, but leaves some motion blur on the wings.

If it's really bright and sunny I do sometimes shoot at 1/4000s or higher to also freeze the motion on the wings.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

And one more hummingbird to close out the thread.

#photography #BirdSky #hummingbird #PNW #birds

Hummingbird in flight, hovering beneath a cluster of fuchsia flowers, stretching up to stick its beak into one of the flowers. Blurry greenery in the background.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

Oregon Junco.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

String does not make the best spot to perch. (It was quite wobbly, and immediately after this shot the bird flew away).

A small brown bird is perched on a horizontal piece of white string, clutching it with its talons, looking down at the string as though it has regret about its choice of perch. On the far right, a wooden post, to which the string is tied. In the background, a somewhat blurry stem with a few leaves on it.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

The birds fly up to the flowers in the garden and delicately pluck out one seed at a time. Squirrels, on the other hand, climb up to a flower, gnaw through the stem, and then carry off the entire flower head.

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

One seed was not enough. Back to the artichoke for another!

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

Not to be outdone by my hummingbird friend, this chickadee acquired a seed and was *extra cute* while eating it.

#photography #BirdPhotography #BirdSky #chickadee #wildlife #nature #cute #BirdSky #birds

Small bird with a black and white head, beige body, and dark grey tail, holding a seed in its feet while simultaneously clinging to a small branch. The bird is facing the viewer and has its head above the branch, beak in line with the seed it is holding in its feet, the rest of the bird's body dangling down below the branch. Blurry branches and pink flowers in the background give the photo a springtime color palette even though the shot was taken today (in early autumn).

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Caroline M. Yoachim @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you! :)