By now, you've probably figured out I'm not a wildlife photographer, but will take the opportunity when it presents itself. I got a few of those lately so I wanted to put together a critter collection post. Spring certainly is springing and everyone seems to be out and about, even this guy - I haven't... Continue Reading →
So, two new things for you today. First being this gorgeous wild bleeding heart I found in my yard today. Never before have I seen or photographed the wild variety and so when I saw it today, I got right out there. I didn't use the E-30 though. Nope. New camera making its debut on... Continue Reading →
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 →
Alchemy is the ancient "science" of turning mundane elements into gold. For a long time many people (including Sir Isaac Newton) believed it was just a matter of time before they had success. As far as I know, it has never worked. Except maybe it has.
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 →
By now you must know how much I love indian pipe wildflowers and how even though my original project was for one season, I still shoot them almost every time I see them. Usually they bloom in June and sometimes spill over into July. But October? October?! Psyche!! Yes, I did place one of those... 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 →
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 →
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 →
As these are pretty common flowers (apart from the columbine, which I shot a few weeks ago) I'm not including them in the elusive category. Popular and ubiquitous or not though, I can't resist them. Wait!!! How did that last one get in there?? Heh.
They aren't showy or rare, but I couldn't resist the artful arrangement of leaves in the early morning sun. I have shot them before, but not with a flower closed like this. I think it adds a tiny bit of the unexpected. Some tension maybe and makes you imagine the days to come.
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 →
Granted it's not the only type of fern to remain green in winter, but it just looks so pathetic sometimes that it's irresistible. I found it while exploring some ruins in the Townes forest in New Boston, NH. We've had so little snow that I noticed swathes of evergreen fern all over the foundation. They... Continue Reading →
