Have camera, will stroll

Come with me into the woods for a little saunter among the trees. You won’t even break a sweat unless is abominably hot. In northern Wisconsin, that’s pretty rare.

First stop an amazing tree with an arch that probably went over more of the stump that is below it. As old logs and trees rot and disintegrate under younger trees, this is what we get. Eventually the old stump will be entirely gone and the arch will be even taller. What drew me was the club moss being lit by the slanting sun coming through the arch. None of those photos worked out as well as this one that I had to jam myself into the branches of a dead tree next to it. No way to shoot from any other position so I suffered for my art a bit. Pokey.

Then there is the occasional trail shot that works. What marvels us with our brains doesn’t always translate to a 2D image so it’s not often that I get one so nice. Working with direct sun is challenging, too, but I think I have it dialed in pretty well.

Lately I haven’t been out shooting often and even my kayak trips haven’t resulted in much of anything. I’m not worried since I have other creative outlets (silversmithing and jewelry making), but it is a little weird to have basically nothing in the queue for the blog. Usually I have anywhere between 4 and 10 posts ready to go, but I’m in a sort of fallow period right now and if I skip a Sunday or two, I hope you won’t hold it against me.

I find I am drawn to many of the same things though. The trail shot. Moss. Mushrooms. Dappled sunlight. It’s all wonderful and amazing, but what gives me a tiny bit of pause is a twinge of why bother since I’ve shot it all before? What else can I do with photos that I haven’t done before? Is being innovative or novel important? Should it be? Is it the only way to enjoy photography?

I guess it’s all in my head as to which way I choose to go – boredom or fascination. Fungi still fascinates though and when I saw this Amanita Fulva on an old stump, I had to stop. It’s just starting to dry out and is still pretty perfect. The egg at the base always kills me. It’s a feature of this species in particular. It’s interesting that with such a persistent universal veil (the egg skin so to speak) that the cap doesn’t have any warts like other Amanitas. Instead it’s slightly grooved and mostly smooth.

One way that I’ve sort of cheated the system is to convert to B&W when I’d normally leave everything in color. Mostly it’s in editing, but I did switch into the Leica Monochrome profile for this next one –

I just loved the little ‘shroom surrounded by the abundance of sporophytes. Both are my weakness and despite the huge amount of photos I have, I still stop and my brain lights up at all the tiny perfection in scenes like this. I stop, set up and painstakingly go through the focus bracketing process. You would laugh your head off at me talking to the mushrooms and moss, telling them how wonderful and beautiful they are and worthy of my notice. Not that my notice is any great shakes, but you know what I mean. The more time I spend in nature, the more I value and respect all life and its role on this planet.

Whether it’s a big landscape, or a small one, I still have a curiosity and appreciation that moves me to get down there and work.

So while I might be taking a bit of a hiatus for a time, it won’t be long. Fall is right on the doorstep and that always gets me out the door. Plus I am attending a workshop at the beginning of November. After that, with any luck we’ll get some snow this winter. Think of that!