Face in a tree

Do you see it?

look up

Itty-bitty baby oak leaves
Southeast Ohio, April 25, 2010

Transformation

Remember this?


Now... it looks like this

Taking chances

Sometimes I let my camera do the seeing for me, especially when my subject is close to the ground and turning my head upside down doesn't seem like the best idea. I never know what's going to happen when I take pictures in this way, but there are always some pleasant surprises, like the sunlight streaming through these Wild Phlox flowers. Taking chances is one of the best things you can do with your camera. Get out there and play!

collage

"What are those?!" you might be wondering. They are catkins. A catkin is "a dense, elongated, and drooping cluster of flowers without petals. Most commonly, the flowers found on a catkin are of one sex. In some trees, such as the poplar, both male and female flowers are present. Catkins are typically found on trees which are wind pollinated, such as oak, birch, willow, and hickory." [source]  I believe these catkins came from one of our Aspen trees (aspens are a member of the willow family).  I left them inside the house for a few days after I took these pictures, and when I picked them up, they dumped yellow pollen all over my hands and the table.  I didn't realize the important role these fuzzy little clusters played until the evidence was in-hand (get it?).

Awakening

Today's Picture Spring prompt is "Awakening," where Tracey encourages us to "Capture something that is just waking up with the welcoming warmth of the season and honor it, I see you little one."
This is some Lily of the Valley that is coming up in my garden. I really doctored this one in Picasa, boosting the saturation multiple times, plus a few other modifications. I like the glowing effect that I ended up with.

Look inside

Look around

Well, I didn't follow today's Picture Spring prompt, which was "The Sky is the Limit." We were supposed to take a photo of the sky, but it was pretty bland up there today, and I was already taking wildflower photos anyway, so.... here are a few of my favorite photos from today of my favorite "weed," the Dandelion.

Icy surprise

I spent some time this past weekend at Ash Cave in the Hocking Hills region.


While I'm all for the wide-angle shots that seem to be required of something as large as this ice formation, I'm more about the macro shots as I'm sure you know by now.

Some subjects lend themselves to macro photography more than others, and ice is actually kind of tricky when it comes to macro. I had to really keep my eyes open to find something unique. Finally something caught my attention. Tiny limbs that were frozen just below the surface of the ice.


Interesting, but not terribly unique. But then I looked around and found a few more twigs under the ice, finally landing on one that was very unique.


I didn't really even fully realize what was going on with this until I looked at the pictures when I got home. The ice twig was cupped upward when it landed in this spot, and the ice grew up from the tips of each offshoot...




...giving the impression of a hand reaching out of the ice. How cool is that?


To see other icy images from this visit to Ash Cave, please visit my nature blog.

Pendants and jewels

The approach

perfection

bark

One of the many things about trees that fascinates me: bark. This is the bark of the Eastern Hemlock.


Photographed this weekend at Old Man's Cave in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio, where I spent a couple of hours hiking with my blogging friend Meg (Art of Rustic). If you want to read some fantastically descriptive ruminations on nature and country living, go check out Meg's blog. You won't regret it!

Eyes - the window to the soul

eye of the American Bison


eye of the Persian Onager




eye of the Southern white rhinoceros

All photos taken at the Wilds, Cumberland, OH.

bumpy

Sycamore seed pod, in the lightbox

Brrrrr

Frozen

From the photo archives, February 2007

Rainy day

Suspended

After the rain

Happy Thanksgiving. See you in a few days!