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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
The Piscataquog is my favorite river. I know, weird, huh? It's an important waterway not only for people, but for many animals and plants that thrive in the ancient glacial habitats along its course. It has 3 branches (north, middle and south), runs for 57 miles with little interruption and its name translates from a... Continue Reading →
Do you remember me stalking a plant that wasn't blooming and me not knowing what it was? Well today was my lucky day and I finally found it blooming. It's columbine! Yay!! Another one I'd never shot before. I don't remember even seeing it outside of books. Sa-weet. The light was really spectacular, but... 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 →
I was right. It took two trips to get these in bloom. Somehow I'm not satisfied with my work, but for now it will do. The light went from terrific to flat in a short time and since it was still pretty breezy, I packed it in. Here's what I got though. Shot with a... Continue Reading →
My photographic journey with this flower has been an interesting one. Despite the long hours I spend in the woods and my quest for wildflowers to photograph, I'd never seen these beauties except in the photographs of others. A photographer acquaintance of mine even refused to disclose the location of the flowers a couple years... Continue Reading →
Phew. A second trip got me what I wanted. Hepatica in bloom. The wind though was relentless and the light harsh, so my photographic options were somewhat limited, but I got a couple that I'm happy with. This first one is the same group of flowers in the trail that I shot on my first... Continue Reading →
In the event that I get crap out of the camera tomorrow, here's what I shot today. All three were shot with my old Olympus 90mm. It's round-lobed hepatica, a very early riser in the spring wildflower pantheon. And one I've never shot before. The name refers to the leaves which are quite distinctive and... Continue Reading →
Another reason I'm fascinated with Indian Pipe wildflowers is because they over-winter and I can photograph them in January!
This year I set myself a goal. A mini-project if you will. Borne out of the fact that I hadn't been able to take a decent picture of indian pipes. Seriously. I tried. I'd see some next to the trail and set up. Everything sucked. I even shot some in winter and those are passable,... Continue Reading →
Part 10 of the lifecycle of the Lily of the Valley study - berries go from luscious and ripe to fallen and decaying.
Fruit ripens and an unexpected visitor drops by.
After some weeks of relative sameness, the plants are beginning a new phase - the die back. I love the contrast between the still verdant leaves and the dying leaves. The textures are still terrific. And of course I couldn't resist a monochrome conversion. The shapes and light variation in the early morning is perfect... Continue Reading →
Hey - these guys make fruit!
The latest set of photos in the Lily of the Valley life cycle study. The bloom is off the rose so to speak.
The lilies of the valley are in full bloom.
Lily of the Valley life cycle study progress...the most beautiful phase yet.
Much delayed progress post on the Lily of the Valley life cycle study. April 8 - 21st.
Part 2 of my study of the lifecycle of the Lilies of the Valley growing by my front door.
First images in the life cycle study of Lily of the Valley
