So it’s a photo blog

And the urge to shoot just isn’t with me these days. Strange. But it isn’t new. Back in the 90s and 00s, things ebbed quite a bit for me with photography. Not since going totally digital though and so it’s been a long time since I’ve had a lull quite like this one. Mostly it’s the sense that I’m not doing anything new or novel, so why bother. There isn’t an urgency at all. I’m happy to stay inside and work at my bench creating new pieces and learning my craft. I do a little blogging about making jewelry so if you want a link to that, let me know.

Anyway…

Outside of dedicated trips in the kayak or the woods, a lot of what I’ve shot is random and kind of one off. Like this little gorgeous creature I found under the trash can on the driveway one day –

It’s only the second time I’ve seen a Blue-spotted salamander and oh boy did it make my day. This one is smaller than the first one I photographed; only about 1 1/2 inches. I am so glad I didn’t roll the trash can away, but picked it straight up to move it inside the garage. They really are this blue, but I did finally figure out what the green is. Previously I thought it might be algae, but it’s a reflection of the trees behind it. In other photos where the angle is different, it disappears. Isn’t that cool?

And believe it or not, this is a 21-image stack. I missed a bit of its back, but it did eventually move as it did during some other bracketing attempts. So glad I got this one though with that little tail curled up. When I was done, I gently coaxed it onto a leaf so I could move it to a safer location. Because amphibians have such porous skins, I try not to handle them directly if I don’t have to. They can absorb all kinds of chemicals like soap, bug spray or lotion residue from our hands and I’d rather not expose them to that stuff.

Here’s another chance encounter in the yard –

A poppa Red-bellied woodpecker on the hunt for snacks for his brood. The pair was kept quite busy this year with their current crop of kids. I could hear them all around – they are very vocal – and when he came near, I went to the edge of the deck and got this photo. I have no idea what it is he has, but he beat it to death on the tree and then flew off to silence the begging. I just love them so much and am glad they stick through the winter with us. The Flickers and Sapsuckers fly south so we lose them for a while.

Another one from the yard; I can’t resist Shield bugs whenever I find them. They are skittish as heck though so I have just one shot and then it flew across the lawn and driveway to a group of trees. I love the angles of the antennae here. They’re so inquisitive.

This one isn’t from the yard, but from a kayaking trip with a friend –

It was hilarious. She was behind me and then said, hey, there’s a big stripey spider on your back heading for your hat. Up it went and I paddled to the side so I could take off my hat and see what we were dealing with. It’s a male Fierce Orbweaver and is about 1 1/4 inches with those fuzzy legs.

He really liked my hat and left a trail of silk behind him as he explored and thought it might be an ideal place to make a web. Alas it wasn’t and as much as I liked him, I transferred him to a clump of bushes and grass where he quickly set up shop as you can see. As I watched and said goodbye, another spider of a different species investigated his anchor lines of silk. As the big guy went to check it out, it quickly took off and hid. Good thing; most spiders are pretty blasé about cannibalism and will take anything that moves. I hope he had a good rest of the summer and will tuck in somewhere secure to overwinter.

During the same trip we encountered this family of swans who were wary of us, so I didn’t approach any closer so as not to disturb them too much. They never took their eyes off of us while we puttered around near them. Check out one of the gosling’s feet! It kept doing that while we watched them. Bad light, but what can you do?

Here’s another shot that I wouldn’t have necessarily found if it hadn’t been for my friend’s natural curiosity and willingness to paddle her kayak anywhere –

Pitcher plants! Backlit! Yay!

I only have this one photo which took a while to get into position for, and then the earth rotated and the sun was out of the scene. The plant is on a partially submerged log that was absolutely covered with them and other bog-loving plants. Old stems with withered flowers were all over and it was really cool to spend time exploring this little ecosystem. My friend and I are exactly alike in our awe of and willingness to explore nature. All the small details and sometimes strangeness can capture our attention for a long time and we never are bored with it. We only get together once or twice a year, but it usually includes a walk in the woods or a paddle, and it’s so great. She and her husband just built a yurt in the semi-wilds of NH and one of these days I’ll get up there to have a look.

Moving on –

This gorgeous water lily is from a different (and solo) paddling trip. It was just so perfect I couldn’t pass it up even though I’ve photographed them so many times. I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was for this – not one bug or bit of debris – and that reflection!

This next one I haven’t photographed before, but it’s a pretty common flower and was blooming all over the place when I was on the upper reaches of the Turtle-Flambeau flowage.

It’s called Bidens beckii or Water beggar-ticks. It isn’t connected at all to the plants you see on the surface. Its whole structure is submerged and looks like a feather boa down there. Flowers though, can’t be pollinated underwater so up it goes. And there is one of the most common pollinators – a kind of beetle that I’ve seen all over these and other aquatic flowers.

And last, but not least, another shot from that relatively unproductive paddling trip on the Turtle-Flambeau flowage –

I just loved the perch the bird picked. It was a bit wobbly and tippy and clearly too small for a grown Bald Eagle. It did stay long enough for me to paddle over before deciding it had enough and flew off to circle and drift higher and higher for a few minutes as I watched.

As I type this, I’m planning to head out into the woods on a bit of Ice Age Trail I’ve never been on before. The fall colors are just too much to resist. Oh and speaking of fall, I’m going to try to work with Tamaracks again and am going to a workshop in Tennessee to photograph waterfalls. So there will be pics and maybe stick season will be short instead of forever like last year.