Leaves
The Start Of Something Big
This image gives you a close-up view of a sunflower just beginning to bloom. At this stage, I think they have a dangerous look to them; not nearly as inviting as they are when the flower is fully opened.
This is another shot taken from the farm field across the road of our rural Wisconsin home. All the blooms are open and “sunny” by now. I’ll post more sunflower photos as the season progresses.
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Fern of Fancy
This fern, found in the woodlands of northeast Wisconsin, was in the final stages of unfurling. In the spring these ferns sprout from the ground and go through the process of spreading their highly divided leaves.
The delicate curl you see at the ends of the fronds will soon straighten out. These ferns can quickly take over an area of forest floor when they are growing in favorable conditions.
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Twigs in Transition
The leaves are changing. They are taking on their autumn colors…before they fall. These have a nice red glow about them with a slight hint of their former green.
I know I’ve been complaining about the lack of autumn colors in our area. Still, I’ve been able to find a few spots. Also, the colors may be getting better. I think I’m seeing more, anyway. I’ll have to make another excursion into the woods to see if I can find some worthwhile images.
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Soft Touch
This is a flower that seems to bloom backward. The flower head is pointed down (notice the downward direction of the buds to each side) but the petals turn up. This plant is part of the Cyclamen genus.
I’d like to tell you that I took this photo of an exotic plant in some exotic foreign land but, alas, it was taken in the kitchen of our home. I was working on my camera, making micro-adjustments to the focus of my various lenses. It’s a process of fine tuning the auto focus function to account for the minor differences in lenses. Even lenses of the same brand and model can have minor differences. The camera will focus each of them the same so focus could be off…usually just a bit and mostly unnoticeable, but still off. Of course, we’re typically wanting a very precise focus on most of our images so tweaking settings to get it as close to perfect is a worthwhile endeavor.
So, after making my micro-adjustments, I just snapped a few photos to test the focus accuracy. This is one of those test shots. The plant is one my wife keeps on a cabinet in front of a window in our kitchen. I focused on it, taking advantage of the pleasing green of our lawn outside the window as the background. Of course, the lawn is out of the range of focus so you’re not seeing blades of grass; you just see a solid green background. You’ll also notice a kind of cross-hatch texture in the background. That effect was created by the window’s screen.
Sometimes, if your looking, you’ll find “interesting” and “exotic” in the most common places.
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Early Morning Stretch
Sometimes I just pick up my camera and wander around my yard to see what I can see. On a recent morning stroll around the yard, just after sunrise, I snapped a few photos of the pea plants growing in the farm field that surrounds our property.
This shot appealed to me for several reasons… The green glow of the plant in the morning light, the tiny drops of dew still clinging to the plant in the cool of the morning, the graceful curve of the vine-like shoot and the small buds that will bloom a pretty purple flower.
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Springtime Vibe
These sweet, tiny, wildflowers are known by a variety of names such as, Spring Beauty, Virginia Spring Beauty, Eastern Spring Beauty or Fairy Spud. Not all clusters are as vibrant in color as these, most plant blooms are white with very subtle striping.
They bloom in early spring. The life of the individual flowers is short. They bloom lasts only three days, and the five stamens on each flower are only active for a single day. They can be found in many different habitat types, especially in forests. I found these in the woods of northeast Wisconsin.
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Carnival of Autumn Color
The wide variety of hues in this patch of sumac reminded me of the bright colors you might find at an autumn carnival.
I had a few minutes before I had to be an an appointment so I thought I would make a quick stop at a local waterfall to, hopefully, catch a beautiful fall scene. Well, the waterfall didn’t have much water falling; barely a trickle. Even if it were flowing, there wasn’t much color in the foliage surrounding it. However, there was a small patch of sumac in the area that was bursting with color. Normally the sumac turns a bright red. I’ve not encountered sumac in transition with such a wide range of colors before. It made my stop worthwhile.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Red Vine
On a hike though Wisconsin woodlands, the deep red color of the leaves on this vine, draped across a moss covered rock, caught my eye.
This was on a trip to photograph waterfalls in Marinette County. On a very difficult, rocky trail to a viewing spot, I noticed the contrasting color. Even though I was there for the waterfall, I couldn’t resist a quick capture.
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Branching Out
One of my favorite spring images are the new, delicate leaves that sprout from trees emerging from their winter dormancy.
As I walk through the woods I’m always scanning my surroundings for something that catches my eye. This sprig was captured by the late afternoon sunlight and highlighted by a back-light of filtering through the trees, making the very common uncommonly interesting. (At least to me.) It was just another twig among millions that caught my eye.
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The Early Stretch
One of the glories of spring is “new growth” – as flowers bud and leaves sprout in the woodlands. This is a twig bursting forth with new life; awakening from its deep, winter slumber.
A lot of my images are captured on hikes through the woods with my wife. When we hike, you can bet my camera is with me. I often stop in mid-stop and begin focusing on something that would seem painfully plain and ordinary to most people. In these moments, something has caught my eye and sparked my imagination. I see some shape or texture or exquisite light that I want to save – if possible. (It’s not always possible.)
Often the greatest challenge in photography is being able to capture, with a camera, what my eye sees. Sure, you can snap a photo of a scene or object, but the camera has a difficult time of capturing the essence and full spectrum of beauty our eyes can perceive. (With, no doubt, some artistic enhancement provided by the filter of our own soul.)
Let’s be honest. This is an image of a simple, ordinary twig. But there is something about the warm glow of late afternoon light that is revealing the texture of the leaves…something about the early stage and directional flow of the leaves. To me, this simple twig has a seductive quality to it. I’m glad I stopped to capture it.
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All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.