No matter what Egon says, I crossed. Cold Brook was running very low. I've posted about Senter Falls since I've shot there a few times - here and here and here and here. Boy, I guess I go there a lot, huh? They're always beautiful even when the water is minimal which it was the other day and... Continue Reading →
Moody mushrooms
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 →
Step into the past
A couple of years ago, when I first saw photos of Royalston Falls in Royalston, MA, I knew I had to go see them for myself. For the longest time I thought they were on the Tully river, but it turns out that the watercourse is actually Falls Brook. Original, huh? Hey, I didn't name... Continue Reading →
Autumnal Indian Pipe II
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 →
Falling into Autumn
So short, but so glorious. Autumn in New England is an amazing time. Even though I've been a bit creatively stymied I'm out more than ever just to be there. Not only is there terrific color almost everywhere you look, but there's also the crunch of leaves underfoot and the scent of them in the... Continue Reading →
I’m Back
Didja miss me? Yes it's true. I'm a bad blogger. Autumn is almost over (well photographically speaking) and I haven't posted ONE shot yet. Haven't even posted anything from my California trip either. Considering I was inspirationally and creatively pooped out was part of the problem. Several times I didn't even bother taking the camera... Continue Reading →
More Mushroom Madness
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 →
Mushroom Madness
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.
I do sweat the small stuff
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 →
It is upon us
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 →
Piscataquog: Middle Branch
I'd been meaning to get back here since the first time I explored this little swatch of conservation land. It contains the middle branch of the Piscataquog river and has some interesting aspects to it like a pond and some defunct bridges. Unfortunately the light wasn't overly cooperative and when the sun came out I... Continue Reading →
Elusive Wildflowers Part 8 – Cardinal flower
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 →
More from Ponemah Bog
Are you dead from the suspense yet? Sorry about that. Here is some more from my latest dawn trek to the bog. The wider views are all done with my regular 12-60mm lens, but I spent some time finding some landscape slices which was pretty rewarding. It's a fun way to see things that is... Continue Reading →
Elusive Wildflowers Part 7 – Horned Bladderwort
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 →
Elusive Wildflowers Part 6 – Wood Lily
Serendipity. Isn't that a great word? Almost as good as propinquity. But I digress. I say serendipity because a couple days ago I was thinking about wildflowers and how much I'd like to discover some wood lily in my travels. My parents had one growing in the front yard when I was a kid, and... Continue Reading →
Make Me Blush
The day of my epic face-plant yielded another present that I would have definitely missed had I gone home. All three of you that read this thing know that I had (have) a mini-project (obsession) going with Indian pipe flowers. I don't know what it is about these luminous beauties, but I am so drawn... Continue Reading →
The Incident at the Cedar Swamp
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 Wildflowers Part 5 – Grass Pinks
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 →
There Will Come Soft Rains
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 →
Gimme all your lupines!
Ah Monty Python, what a bunch of mad freaks you were. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check this out - Part 2. You really have to like MP to find it funny, but I always think of it when anyone mentions lupines. And the other day when I shot some, I... Continue Reading →
Elusive Wildflowers Part 4 – Indian Cucumber Root
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 →
Luna Waxing
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 →
Don’t Panic
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 →
Tools of the Task
Lots of people have done a 'what's in my camera bag' type post and have dragged every last bit of kit out of each and every nook and cranny of their bags. Kind of interesting, but out of all that stuff I'd like to know what a person really uses to create her images. I... Continue Reading →
Waterfalls and Wildflowers
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 →