Skip navigation

Puzzling task


On any given day, if you walked into my grandmother’s house, you’d find freshly baked molasses cookies in the cupboard and a jigsaw puzzle in progress on the dining room table. From a very young age, I showed a natural affinity for puzzles and without being told, would sit down at the table and begin adding in pieces. 

My love of jigsaw puzzles began at that table and I spent hours of my childhood putting all sorts of them together. I’d get puzzles for gifts and we’d search for ones at yard sales and discount stores. Eventually, it reached the point of the more complicated the puzzle, the better! 

Since posting the maple tree seed photo a few days ago, I had an idea for another image that reminded me of the kinds of puzzles I most loved to make. How tough could it be – right? Famous last words. 😉 

You’d think you could simply pile up a bunch of seeds and snap away. Wrong!

I did that yesterdayand was amazed at how the slightest error in color and composition became magnified on-screen. This was going to be tougher than I thought.

“Beginnings” (Maple Tree Seeds) Nikon D300, 105mm F/2.8G Macro, F/11, 1/25s, ISO 640

Today was attempt number 2 and involved time, patience and a pair of tweezers. I’m not kidding! Setting this up was like choreographing a Shakespearean play, in Chinese, with a group of chimpanzees! The slightest movement would disrupt the entire harmony of the group, as once in a pile, they somehow became inexplicably ‘connected’. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the errant breeze or damaging seeds in the process! 

In any event, as you can see I muddled on through (along with the affinity for puzzles, stubbornness determination also runs in my family ;-)) and ended up with a result that I am pretty darned pleased about. 

Now, if someone could make this into a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle…? 😀

20 Comments

  1. That sounds like waay too much work! Must have been the perfectionist in you 😉 You made it look like they just fell from the tree like that in a big pile.
    It’s been so long since I’ve seen these, I don’t even remember ever seeing them in this color…. just dried and brown.

    I bet you could find a place online where you could have this made into a puzzle.
    Oh, and have you ever checked out jigzone.com? I do their “daily puzzle” first thing every morning 🙂

    • Truth be told? It WAS waaay too much work! After awhile it became more of a ‘I didn’t come this far to have nothing to show for it’ kind of thing! lol! Glad I made it look so easy! 🙂

      I only recalled either seeing them green (possibly a different kind of maple tree) or brown and dried. I really like the rosy-purple-y ones!

      I will have to check out jigzone! Thanks, Michaela! 😀

  2. Puzzles are my sister’s favorite hobby. I grew up watching her putting 3000 pieces together, 5000 pieces together, to then frame it and hang on the wall. She’s pretty good at it, and she did all of these before she was even 15 years old. As for me, I can’t even put together a 100 pieces puzzle together.

    Not talented enough. ._.

    • I think some people simply have the mind for forms. I could actually do a puzzle without the picture (flip it over, you know?) and put it together simply based upon the shapes. Wierd, huh?

      You are talented in OTHER things! Don’t you forget that, Babs! 🙂

      • Purely based on the shapes? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Why aren’t you working with NASA or something? If this ain’t potential, I have no idea what is.

      • Actually, right out of college I DID work as a Quality Engineer on the spacesuit for NASA so that could explain ALOT! 🙂

  3. It’s beautiful, in part because each seed differs in coloration. That might make the puzzle easier for an astute puzzle doer.

    • Thank you, Lynn. You could be right but picture this in 5000 pieces and there would still be many similar areas! 😉

  4. The different textures throughout the image are awesome!

  5. Wow, I like how everything fits so nicely together like pieces of a puzzle. The texture is awesome too.

  6. Well, sure that picture could be a puzzle – but it deserves to be exhibited in a gallery of art – or at least be made as a poster.
    Like many of your other fabulous pictures here on your blog.
    You are a great photographer, and I enjoy looking here every day 🙂

    • Aw, you really know how to make a girl’s day!

      Thanks a million! I’m so glad you enjoy my photos! Makes all the trouble that much more worthwhile. 😀

  7. The work was worth it. The arrangement looks natural and the tones and colors are terrific. It almost looks like flesh tones. Perfect lighting to bring out the subtle veining!

    • (blush) Just like Truels, you know the right things to say! Everything you stated is exactly what I was aiming for! Thany you! 😆

  8. very beautiful. definitely looks like you just came across this on a nature walk, so good work!

    this would make an awesome puzzle, wouldn’t it? all the little veins would be hard to deal with.

    • THAT is exactly what would make it a great puzzle! I mean, why do something non-challenging?

      Thank you, Stephen!

  9. I came here looking for the red squirrel-which is very appealing btw-and then looked around and the next thing you know . . . here I am. And I have some people for you to contact about puzzle-making! Matt and Lisa Claflin at Puzzles that Rock dot com have created a whole series around Petoskey stones, and they’ve done it as a Mom’n’Pop business.

    • Hi Gerry – welcome! 🙂

      Thanks for the link but from what I can tell, Matt and Lisa really only like to make puzzles of stones. Anyways, my query was more rhetorical as I’m sure there are many places that will take a photo and create a puzzle. But who knows?? Maybe in the future I’ll turn all my photos into jigsaw puzzles! 🙂