Baby Sundews! April 21, 2008
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: Green River Moss, Rube Goldberg, sundews
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Spring springs, and things bloom.
On the schist road cuts delineating the northerly edge of Route 2 in Florida, a relatively rare colony of sundews thrives on the perpetually wet biomass draping the soft, digestible rock. I’d photographed them before, with my fancy point-and-shoot, and the results were gratifying.
So I went back there today, scheming to catch the beginning of the seasonal cycle of these cool little plants.
After some crafty parking in a pre-improved pull-out (I specialize in Minor Modifications to Existing Structures) I got out my ladder and camera kit and started walking the narrow space between the traveling lane and the jagged rock wall.
Ten minutes later, I saw what I came for and set up for the capture:
This will be the inside cover photo for my forthcoming book, “Half-Assed Photography: The Rube Goldberg School.”
My prey was cornered, cut off from escape, powerless as I trimmed away last year’s intertwining grasses, now brown with memories of their season. I opened her up for Spring to see, for the Sun to see, for You to see:
This little beauty is a thumb’s width across, but will soon be three times that.
At the risk of setting the bar where life doesn’t lead me, I’m planning on a seasonal goal of visiting selected natural sites repeatedly over the course of a year, and trying to discern the changes. This and the Green River Moss photos will be the first installments.
Little Bang Theory 
Fantastic. I love nature porn.
cool!
The Green River Moss series will be incredible, R. Moss has always been one of my favorite things; I think since before I could speak, I noticed it and probably touched it. But it was you, my friend, who taught me to fully appreciate it, in all of its gorgeous and quietly erotic splendor. Thank you.
A lovely shot of a lovely creation, though the getting of it appears to have been aesthetically challenged.
Good work.
jB, any shot with me in it has the capacity for being aesthetically challenged :LOL:
It’s true, the mechanics of photography can be overwhelming at times, but it’s like so many other things which require props and pre-planning: once you’re there and doing it, the Situational Miopia kicks in, and the world resolves into your subject. I’ve ignored Cops ’till they went away, I was apparently judged harmless and not worth rousing from my trance…
And PS, I hope you’re right. I’m still, as you privately noted, on a pretty steep learning curve, and I pitch a lot of what I shoot, so the mediocrity which makes it here represents The Best Of The Worst.
But I’m trying, and I’m a persistent little bastard, so I hope to do better at time passes.
sherry, DCup, thanks!
I think you’re climbing quickly, CR. This is an example. Beautiful.
Rube Goldberg, hell. The way you set up your tripod on the incline is pure minimalist function beauty. Maybe you should pitch a book about capturing nature in challenging situations. (I’m intimate with a writer/ copy editor.)
Love the photos and the dinners. I wish you’d post more recipes, though.
Peace,
The Rooches
I was just wondering how you managed to flock up your shoulder?
Well, I thank you for ruining your bod just for our personal enjoyment!
Jess, I started the demise of my shoulder by paddling a C-1, a closed canoe which looks a lot like a kayak, but is paddled with a single-ended paddle. The “roll” if one flips over involves some interesting underwater convolutions which place one’s shoulders in a double-dislocate position. Hitting rocks or strong currents while thusly exposed (which I did plenty) does some damage.
My main sport-of-choice, rock climbing, added insult to injury by stressing my bod repeatedly over decades, and never really letting things heal.
I know, I’m an idiot. But a fun one. 😉
Tim and Not-Tim, I’m not a recipe guy, though if I do something which feels original, I might pass on some notes. Glad you enjoy the food stuff, which has been lacking lately as I try to get a handle on the workings of my new camera. I’ll try to get back to Dinners With in the near future.
Man, look at the flower, putting it all out there – erotic and carnivorous!
I enjoy your anthrophomorphic, sensual descriptions. I hope they will be in the book, too.