Finally a post that fits the blog name. Without going all Disney on you about the cycle of life, death is most certainly part of it. While I don't seek out dead things to photograph (even though there's plenty of roadkill these days), I didn't avoid it when presented with an opportunity. I thought there... Continue Reading →
Yeah, fall is supposed to be all about the foliage, but I always like to buck a trend. Mushrooms offer endless subjects these days and hiking with me is basically an exercise in watching me put the camera on the beanbag and shoot another one. Since I always use natural light, sometimes I have to... Continue Reading →
Woo hoo! Another fall-themed indian pipe shot. The brown stick phase of these little guys is so interesting, but I find it difficult to capture well. It's the texture and the funny shape the seed pods take that attracts me. Their dark coloring is a challenge, too; hard to light. I think I did ok... Continue Reading →
Lately I have been a bit starved for inspiration. The same-old-same-old just isn't doing it for me. As a result, I shoot less. I'm not bothered by this. Ups and downs are part of my normal. When I do go in the woods I just can't see if you know what I mean. I think... Continue Reading →
It's raining now and probably will for most of the week. That means more mushrooms, but it's not like we have a shortage now. All were shot with the OM 90mm. I don't know what I'd do without that lens.
and you should know that by now. Here's a group of tiny things that have found themselves in front of my lens. oh and something a little different, from Ryan and Wood Distillery, based in Gloucester, MA. Haven't been shooting so much as last year, but I am going to California in September and so... Continue Reading →
or perhaps at our feet. Mushroom season of course. This year with a lot less rain, there will probably be a lot fewer 'shrooms about, but those that are are rarin' to go. I shot a few in full shade, but they are so flat and lifeless compared to this shot with the sun lighting... Continue Reading →
Wahoo! Another beauty photographed. Never have I shot these before, but while out doing some river work (my favorite, the Piscataquog, and I'll post about that soon) I found some near a pond's runoff streams. This flower has become quite rare in some areas due to people picking and digging it up a lot. I... Continue Reading →
Another one that isn't so much elusive, as limited in photographic potential. It's limited in a few ways. First it lives in bogs and fens which are relatively rare habitats made rarer by man's manic need to fill in wetlands and build subdivisions on them. If you live in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee or Illinois the... Continue Reading →
So is the title Nancy Drew-ish or Sherlock Holmsian? Either way, it was an incident to be sure. I decided to head up to Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp Preserve on Tuesday. I was after some solitude and afternoon light. Little did I know that they were logging the surrounding forest. But, being the trooper that... Continue Reading →
Elusive in the sense that they require a specific and rare habitat, not that I don't have them nearby or that they are scarce in that location. I'm lucky. I live near a kettle bog (two actually, but one has more trail, luckily the closer one). A kettle bog, named for the shape of the... Continue Reading →
After a colorless winter and a dive straight into spring with all its rainbow colors, I sometimes come off a color binge and process a series of monochrome images. Usually I try for something with lots of interesting texture and a definitive structure and these leaves are perfect. I have no idea what they are,... Continue Reading →
This little wonder hides in plain sight. For years I've been marching past stands of them, ignoring them as just part of the undergrowth. This year though I looked closer and wondered what they were. Then the other day I noticed they made the most delicately strange little flowers under those leaves. I wasn't prepared... Continue Reading →
Yesterday on the return leg of a hike up some small mountains in southern NH, I spied this beauty on a striped maple. It's a rare and wondrous luna moth and the backlight was a bonus. Judging by the bushy and feathery antennae, it's probably a male. It had newly emerged from the cocoon and... Continue Reading →
For the last few days I've been grounded with the car in the shop for new brakes and some other fiddly bits. So I went into the yard with the 90mm macro, a 25mm extension tube and a ring flash. What do you know, abstract macro. And if you know where your towel is... Continue Reading →
Crazy, huh? Spring is so...springy. The two Ws are just irresistible - wildflowers and waterfalls. I've shot these particular falls before, but after a big storm knocked branches and whole trees down so the cascades were a mess. When I saw fellow photographer Jeff Newcomer's recent post about Garwin falls, I saw they were clear... Continue Reading →
If you hang around this blog you'll quickly realize I love the woods. Forests of all stripes and ecologies fascinate and enchant me. Mostly I look for the small scenes and tiny things that are often overlooked. This year I want to also try to show the larger view of why I hang out in... Continue Reading →
"It looked like I had another chance at the twenty dollars." - Philip Marlowe, The Little Sister There's never a bad time for Raymond Chandler now is there? When I went to see if another flower was blooming, I found that the hepatica still were and this line from my favorite Chandler came into my... Continue Reading →
Earlier today I took a quick stroll around the yard, looking at this and that, checking on things that might be emerging. It's not officially spring, but it sure feels like it out there. We've got spring peepers peeping already and I saw a garter snake around the 10th. Amazing. Anyway, on my quick stroll... Continue Reading →
The other day I decided to walk in the common land at the end of the road. It's woods and has a couple of old roads running through it and it was logged sometime in the past. There are some trails, one in particular runs to the back of a nearby horse stable and gets... Continue Reading →
From this morning. I couldn't resist the patterns or the light.
Even though it's hunting season up here, I still get into the woods. I feel a bit funny being so conspicuous in my blaze orange though. So many times I've gone completely unnoticed by other folks. Not when I'm on the trail or right next to it, but if I go off trail and am... Continue Reading →
One of the internet search terms that often leads people to my site is for the Olympus 90mm f2 macro lens. I'm not exactly sure where they end up since I use that lens a lot and post many shots taken with it. Like this one. I found this little crawler on my backpack yesterday... Continue Reading →
Phew. Our most recent heatwave is over and I can probably get back outside. I say probably because it's horse and deer fly season and those just make me miserable. They're relentless and will bite you to death if given half a chance. Lately I've been playing a bit more deliberately with bokeh and its... Continue Reading →
A follow up to the last post, I went out back to the carpet of whitlow grass again and found it buzzing with tiny mining bees (1.5 cm or 5/8 in). The sun being strong, but slightly diffused by clouds I went back in for the camera. So glad I did - Isn't she sweet?... Continue Reading →
