Monthly Archives: May 2014

Back to the woods

Red Trillium, aka "Stinking Benjamin" in bloom

So here we are, back into the woods for the second week of springtime woodland images. As you may recall from my last post, the Trilliums were just in bud. Now they are in full bloom. They’ll probably last only about another week. So if you want to photograph them you best get out there now. As with any flower, you always want to photograph them at the peak of their perfection… ideally just after they have opened, in order to catch them without any of the flaws that come with age.
Trilliums can be hard to photograph. They are only about a foot high, which in itself isn’t all that bad. But the flowers hang down, facing the ground. In order to get this shot I had to take the camera off the tripod (something I don’t like to do for macros) and hand-hold it braced on the tripod leg for stability while laying on the wet ground. Being on the forest floor where there isn’t much light, I had to pump up the ISO and decrease my aperture in order to get a fast enough shutter speed for a hand-held shot. Sometimes it takes a few shots to get a good one, but it’s worth it.

young fern sproutsSince last week, the biggest change I saw in the woods, other than the Trilliums being in full bloom, is the emergence of every sort of fern. Some are just sprouting, while others are almost a foot tall; but they are all for the most part still in the ‘fiddlehead’ stage with the heads still curled up to some extent.

One tip for photographing ferns and other vegetation in the woods is to look for plants with a limited shaft of light falling on the, while the surroundings , especially the background, is in shadow. This will make the main subject really pop.young fern in sunlight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s another image that required removing the camera from the tripod. This is known as Bellwort, aka “Wild Oats”. This was the only one I saw in bloom, but they were all over the place. They will likely be in full bloom next weekend. The flower itself is only about 3/4 to 1″ long, so it required that I get really close to get this shot. It, as well as most of these images, was shot with a dedicated 105mm macro lens. You simply can’t get this close to a subject this small with a “macro” zoom lens
bellwort, wild oats
This is another photo that definitely required a macro lens. The largest cap in the group of mushrooms is about 1/2 inch at most. This little cluster was growing on the side of an old tree stump. The time to find mushrooms in the woods is commonly in the fall, so I was lucky to come across these.small mushrooms on stump
This last photo shows last year’s fruit of the Partridge Berry. This plant is very small and creeps along the ground. The leaves are only about an inch long at most.  It is very plentiful, but most of the berries are gone at this point. I’ll give you one guess where the name comes from.partridge berryNext weekend some of theses flowers will be gone, some will be in their glory, and others will just be starting to open. Combine this will all the other wonderful things that will be happening in the wood and you’ll definitely want to get out there with your camera. If you don’t live next to any woods, Thorncrag is a wonderful place to search. But wherever you go, be mindful of where you step. you don’t want to destroy some emerging beauty for the sake of a photograph.

Just a reminder. all images seen here are available for purchase or licensing.

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The Rewards of a Long Winter

Red Trillium, aka "Stinking Benjamin" ready to bloom

Red Trillium, aka “Stinking Benjamin” ready to bloom

It has been a long, cold, hard winter. There’s no doubt about that. And sometimes even now in early May, it seems like spring will never come. However, Mother Nature knows it will, and she will not be denied. A walk through the woods will tell you that. Wild flowers are not only emerging, but some are about to bloom, as the Trillium shown here is testament to. This photo was taken on May 3rd, and it may well be in full bloom by the time some of you read this.

The woods in spring is a magical place. All sorts of new life starts to emerge. You could call it the reward for making it through another long winter. Some times in the middle of January, when the temperature is 10 below zero, it’s hard to imagine that anything in nature could survive and come back as resplendent as ever. Winter can be a tough time photographically too. There’s not a lot of “pretty” things to photograph. It’s cold, and you really have to make yourself go out there if you hope to shoot anything interesting… and even then you really have to look, and use your imagination.

New ferns and old leaves

New ferns and old leaves

But when spring comes along, the whole world changes. Sure, there’s still not much in the way of pretty landscapes. Let’s face it, we don’t live in the Rockies, where everything is photogenic regardless of the time of year. But we have the woods. And the woods are a treasure-trove of photographic images for the creative photographer; New flowers, new leaves, dappled light hitting the forest floor, rushing streams. The possibilities are endless. And there are new things happening every week, even every few days. Spring in the woods is one of my favorite times of the year. You can use a dedicated macro lens if you have one. But if not, a zoom lens with close-up capability will work well too. These images were all taken with an 18-200mm zoom. Remember to compose to avoid distracting elements, and choose an aperture that will blur the background, letting your subject stand out.
Even if you’re not into photography, get out there in the woods and look around… you’ll be surprised at what you see.

I’ll be posting more “Blogs from the Woods” as the season progresses, so stay tuned.

Water coursing over the rocks in Bobbin Mill Brook

Water coursing over the rocks in Bobbin Mill Brook

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