Shot This Weekend. May 17, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: apple blossoms, strawberries, violets
3 comments
These last few days have been strange, with a diffuse, colorless light bathing the world in shades of gray. The sky was boring, and I jonesed for some color and a bit of intensity.
So it was natural, I suppose, that my eye would be drawn to the blossoms of apple and strawberry, our local hero fruit and berry.
A bed of apple blossoms:
…and a wild strawberry tangling roots with a little violet:
I’m really pleased with the elements in that last photo. It has a couple of things wrong with it, but the subject matter isn’t one of them.
This Is A Cool Yard. May 16, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: flowers, Savoy, terraces
5 comments
Along the main road up in Savoy, a steep front yard has been terraced with stone walls laced with Spring flowers:
Later in the season these terraces will be tall with tomatoes and draped in pumpkins.
It looks good like that.
Reflections. May 16, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.2 comments
A few shots of the vernal pool on Mount Negus:
…and:
…and:
That is all.
In The Rain. May 16, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.add a comment
Unsettled weather here, but I’m making the best of it.
An apple tree:
…and violets in the rain:
That’s Spring in these parts.
Spring Babies. May 13, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.11 comments
A lot of animals in these parts bear their young in the Spring, which makes this a great time to wander the woods with camera in hand.
Of course, one can’t count on seeing wildlife for anything more than a fleeting moment, but today I got a bit luckier than that.
These fox kit photos are all hand-held with Gizmo, my 400mm prime lens, in low light, so please excuse the graininess and soft focus.
This little guy was the bravest of three, trying to determine what I was without straying too far from the den:
Gizmo’s short depth of field cut through some pretty impressive brush!
I tried to be still as black flies swarmed me and gnawed on every exposed inch of my skin, while the kits scanned the bushes for the source of my scent:
A second ventured out from the confines of the den, while a third never quite got up the nerve:
Here they’re reacting to the yelps of their mother who, with a small rodent in her jaws, was wisely keeping her distance; the less experienced kits, though, concluded that I was a harmless old lump and settled down to wait for their dinner:
Momma made a quick cameo appearance, but disappeared again before I could get her picture.
That’s OK, I know where she lives. 😉
Lady’s Slippers! May 13, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos.Tags: Lady's Slippers
4 comments
Here in New England our most common wild orchid is the pink Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium acaule. Here are a couple of shots of some particularly pale specimens, though I’m fairly certain they’re not white Lady’s Slipper (C. candidum: )
The true white species isn’t found this far east these days, though their range used to extend at least into New York and Pennsylvania.
Besides, the hint of pink visible in this close-up seems to nail them as C. acaule :
At any rate, they’re beautiful, dream-like additions to our Berkshire Spring wildflower scene.
Enjoy!
Random Shots. May 12, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, Love and Death.Tags: Bissell Bridge, cemetery, covered bridge, sunset
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A few from today.
The newly refurbished Bissell Bridge, where I worked today:
The Mill Brook is really nice through this section.
A cemetery in Colrain, with a wash treatment:
I like this treatment better than the full color original, though that was interresting to me as well:
…and as long as we’re seeing in color, here’s a shot of evening on the Deerfield:
…and a sunset over Mount Todd:
Hope you like ’em.
Ruby Tuesday – The Little Things. May 11, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature, macro photos, Ruby Tuesday!.9 comments
Red things one misses as one walks briskly by.
Flowering moss on a planet of silver lichen:
…and tiny grapes grape flowers* take shape amidst tender, new leaves:
See more postings for Ruby Tuesday over at Work of the Poet. (Thanks, Mary, for keeping this ball rolling!)
* And thanks to Elsie for the clarification in comments!
Painted Trillium. May 11, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.Tags: painted trillium
5 comments
These guys are just too pretty:
Stoutly drawn, boldly executed.
At any rate, I like them. Long may they live.
The Cold, Cold River. May 11, 2009
Posted by littlebangtheory in Uncategorized.Tags: cold river, existential blatherings, fog, mist
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Our local Cold River is a seasonal thing, raging during the Spring thaw and swelling preposterously during periods of heavy Autumn rain.
But mostly, it’s a small, rocky creek in a deep, narrow valley. And morning finds it casting off its quilt of mists and vapours, consolidating itself into a stream once again after an unobserved night off:
The transit runs both ways, with the river’s exhalations moistening the sky as the sun concentrates on vaporizing the aqueous world below:
I have to admit to loving it here, at the risk of proving myself to be provincial. It’s not the most magnificent example of anything, it’s just what I know.
And I like it.
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