Orbs

02Dec09

This is a highly magnified image of a grass stem that has spikes or hairs. It was a foggy day, dew formed on each spike. With the lens wide open for a minimum depth of field, the spikes and the stem fade, and the dew drops almost float free.

Filed under: Macro, Photography   |  7 Comments
Tags: abstract, art, Macro, Nature, water

Frost

28Nov09

The season in eastern Massachusetts is still in transition between fall and winter. Leaves are down for the most part, with pockets of greenery here and there. The asters are pretty much gone, but I’ve seen a few late goldenrod and evening primrose blooming. The late fall cricket chorus is over, only a few hardier bugs remain.

Last week was our first hard frost. This is a view of frost on a small blackberry leaf:

Filed under: Macro, Photography, nature study   |  5 Comments
Tags: ice, ice crystals, Macro, Nature, winter

Watkins Glen

20Nov09

Another image from my late summer visit to Watkins Glen – looking down in to a narrow part of the gorge:

I went to Ithaca a couple of weeks back, and there were icicles in the gorge already, even though the day temperatures were around 60, night temperatures around 40. Although I’d love to see these falls in the winter, the parks close the trails because of the dangers of slipping. There are big fines for entering the gorges in NY State Parks when they are posted as closed.

Filed under: Nature, Photography   |  5 Comments
Tags: Nature, Photography, waterfall

California Bobcat

12Nov09

On my California trip, I took a hike down the Tennessee Valley Trail in the Marin Headlands. I was scouting out the area in late afternoon, gawking at the pretty hills, on my way to a beach, Tennessee Cove, when I ran into this creature:

In the East, I never run into wildlife like this at the right time. Foxes run by me in the woods when I have a closeup lens on my camera, or I see a fisher in bad setting in low light.  Not so in this case – this animal was a quite willing to let me watch it at length in the late afternoon shadows.

Filed under: Nature, Photography   |  8 Comments
Tags: Nature, Photography, wildlife

Cataract Falls

06Nov09

Last week I visited Cataract Falls Trail on the north slopes of Mt. Tamalpais (Marin Co., California). There were literally dozens of falls along the mile or so of the trail, the tallest around 20 or 30 feet. Here’s a smaller cascade:

The trail was narrow and went straight up, 1100 feet in the first half mile. Pretty steep for me! The canyon was  shady, filled with redwoods and ferns. At a sunny clearing near the top I found a handful of butterflies: 4 Red Admiral, 1 California Sister.

Filed under: Nature, Photography   |  5 Comments
Tags: Nature, Photography, water, waterfall

Heath aster

24Oct09

There are only a few flowers left these days, mostly asters in protected spots – blue asters, heath asters, other white asters. Here’s a series of images of one tiny heath aster, around 10mm across.

Shooting wide open gives a dreamy, minimalist  look and hides the imperfections in the flower. Click a thumbnail to view a larger version – to go back to the four thumbnails, click Heath aster in the post title.

Filed under: Flowers, Macro, art   |  4 Comments
Tags: art, Flowers, Macro, Photography

Leaf abstract

20Oct09

A closeup of a dewy blackberry leaf:

I went out looking for dewy insects early one morning last month, and didn’t find one. There were lots of  beautiful leaves though.

We’ve had our first snow and frost, the leaves are changing, but grasses and hardy plants like blackberry are still pretty green. As it got cold, insects have become hard to find. Last week, it seemed like the insect season was over. This week, it’s warmed up and there are bugs everywhere. One pond and meadow I visit was empty and silent last week, and today there were dozens of grasshoppers underfoot, a few spreadwing damselflies and skimmer dragonflies, and a single cabbage white. For flowers, there are mainly asters left.

Filed under: Macro, Nature, nature study   |  4 Comments
Tags: green, leaves, Macro, Nature

Leaves and moss

17Oct09

The small leaves on the right are tiny blackberry leaves growing up through the moss:

The maple leaf dropped in to make a group of three. About the only closeup I could do on a blustery day – this shaded spot was the only place where everything wasn’t blowing around.

Filed under: Macro, Nature, Photography   |  5 Comments
Tags: complementary colors, Macro, Nature

Watkins Glen

11Oct09

A waterfall image from my last trip to the Ithaca area, two falls in the narrow Watkins Glen gorge:

This looks lonely and wild, but it’s a high traffic area.  Lots of people walk through the gorge on a path built into the rock, out of sight, on the left.  The worst part is that passersby throw coins into the stream, as if it were a fountain in a city park.  Another beautiful place, but not as unspoiled as Lucifer Falls in Ithaca. I’ll go back in a few weeks, with luck I’ll visit a few new falls.

Filed under: Nature, Photography   |  5 Comments
Tags: art, Nature, Photography, waterfall

Leafhopper

07Oct09

A leafhopper on a jewelweed leaf:

Jewelweed acculates lots of drops after a dew or rain – the leaves seem to repel water , not absorb it. I started taking pictures of a jewelweed flower and then looked left and saw this leafhopper surrounded by drops.

Filed under: Insects, Macro, Nature, Uncategorized   |  5 Comments
Tags: Insects, Macro, Nature