Drops and moss

Water drops on a tuft of moss:

As winter fades, it’s hard to find color in the woods. I went out looking for a bright green tuft of moss. This one wasn’t quite the bright emerald I imagined, but the drops were nice in the late afternoon light. Taken at 2x or 3x magnification.

Tags: drops, green, Nature, Photography, Plants

20 thoughts on “Drops and moss”

Steve Schwartzman on March 9, 2020 at 5:13 am said:

A little world on a stalk—times three. It’s impressive that you got all of them in focus.

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 1:07 pm said:
  
  I stacked to get the stalk on the left in focus. The other two are in the same plane of focus. Thanks, Steve!
  
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  - Steve Schwartzman on March 9, 2020 at 3:18 pm said:
    
    Ah, so that accounts for it. Three non-collinear points always form a plane, but not necessarily the plane we’d like to have for a picture.
  - tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 5:05 pm said:
    
    I tried moving the camera to get them all in the field of best focus, but I couldn’t make it happen at the aperture I wanted to use. So I stopped fussing and took an extra image for stacking.
Reed Andariese on March 9, 2020 at 9:23 am said:

Very nice Tom! Great detail on the 3 drops!

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 1:09 pm said:
  
  Thanks Reed – drop details catch the eye. I had to stack to get the stalk on the left in focus.
  
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serialphotographer on March 9, 2020 at 3:55 pm said:

Superbly seen and shot Tom, love it

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 5:06 pm said:
  
  Thanks!
  
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vanadze17 on March 9, 2020 at 5:06 pm said:

I love this cliché ! Very nice detail on the drops.

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 5:07 pm said:
  
  Merci!
  
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M.B. Henry on March 9, 2020 at 5:42 pm said:

Wow, so intricate!

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 9:40 pm said:
  
  It was exciting to find something so pretty in ordinary mosses – thanks.
  
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Steve Gingold on March 9, 2020 at 7:14 pm said:

Nicely done, Tom. Green is green at this point in time.

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 9:38 pm said:
  
  It’s a wonder to find color at the beginning of mud season. Thanks, Steve.
  
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shoreacres on March 9, 2020 at 9:29 pm said:

I like the contrast between the ‘whatevers’ that the drops are hanging from — so smooth – and the more angular growth at the bottom. The complementary colors are pleasing, too, and the translucence of the green leaves (?)

As should be obvious, I don’t know a thing about mosses!

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- tomwhelan on March 9, 2020 at 9:37 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much. I don’t know anything about mosses, either 🙂
  [Just went off to do some reading, and I don’t know much more. There are around 1200 species in North America.]
  
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melissabluefineart on March 11, 2020 at 10:21 am said:

This photo is stunning! What a knockout. I confess, if there had been only two seed heads, it would have looked like a giant insect about to appear 😀

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- tomwhelan on March 11, 2020 at 11:35 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much, Melissa! They do look like antennae. Do you know anything about mosses? There are a few hundred rock-loving moss species – maybe it’s a Dicranum species, but I’m guessing.
  
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  - melissabluefineart on March 13, 2020 at 10:08 am said:
    
    Ha! I took a moss class once…. They are as mystifying as ferns which at first seem like they are going to be easy until you really get down to business and realize how helpful a microscope would be. I am content loving their soft green moistness. 🙂
Athira on April 10, 2020 at 4:51 am said:

Sooo nice

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