Things are finally turning green and the sun is shining.
Plants
8
May 11
Twisting Grass
The curving lines of dry grass provide so much picture fodder.
Taken in Elk Island National Park.
Taken near Beaverhill Lake.
If anyone knows what species of grass these are, I’d be very curious. I’m getting better at my fauna taxonomy, but when it comes to grass, I’m lost.
20
Mar 11
Standing Up Just a Little Straighter
Metaphor for life? I have no idea.
Kind of cool picture? I think so.
Taken on Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park.
18
Mar 11
Astotin Cattails
I went for a hike on Astotin Lake yesterday. I’ve been to the shore often enough looking out at all those islands, but I’ve never been on the lake. I decided, before it all melts, to walk out and see some islands up close.
I headed out, wondering how far I’d get. The crust on the snow wasn’t thick enough to support me and made it even harder to walk through the thigh-deep snow. I found a few old snowshoe tracks which usually held me up, and got out onto the lake. It turns out that further out onto the lake, it is easy walking. Once away from the shore I was only sinking down a few inches. This was a pleasant treat, and I got to three islands before heading back.
Here are some cattails (Typha latifolia) from the shore of an island in Astotin Lake.
15
Mar 11
Fireweed
A couple weeks ago I was out at Clifford E Lee Wildlife Sanctuary. It was dreadfully cold and winter depression had set in. I walked around for a while, not really inspired—just trying to soak in enough sun to stay sane. I hardly even looked through my photos when I got back. Today I was going through them and found this:
Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) has provided me with so much color and so many great curvy lines to work with that I feel compelled to do a bit of a tribute to fireweed.
20
Dec 10
Frosted Cow Parsnip
Backlit frosted fennel (edit: actually Cow Parsnip) in the morning. Taken in Cooking Lake Rec Area.
Please correct me if I’m ever wrong in my plant or animal identification – I’m no expert.
2
Dec 10
Harebells and Forest Lanscapes
In the interests of geographical diversity, today’s photo is from Morden, MB. I went for a great hike with my family around Lake Minnewasta this past summer. For those who have not been here, the park is very nice for people who like the resorty villages, but the trail is absolutely beautiful. These are harebells (Campanula rotundifolia — as opposed to the hairy flowers like this which are bluebells) against a lichen covered tree trunk.
As I was getting this photo ready for the post today I kept having problems. I like the photo – the complimentary purple and orange, the contrasting textures, the brightness of the flowers. But something didn’t feel quite right. I kept on going back and trying to edit it differently. I think I finally figured out my problem with it, which can’t be fixed with processing – there’s no clear focal point. The eye has so many places to go, but there’s no clear line to follow, no one point to rest at. I was going to scrap the whole post and start again, but I thought you might be interested in my thoughts and processes on how I reject photos I’ve taken.
And now, in the interests of posting a photo I’m actually happy with, here’s one from the same hike.
13
Nov 10
Contrasting Colors and Texture
I’m thinking of trying to post a photo (almost) every day here. Apologies to the facebook people I’m spamming with this. Hopefully a significant number of you will enjoy it.
I decided to look back through some of my old stuff today, which is always interesting. I’m happy to report that the percentage of my photos I actually like has gone up over the years. This is one of the first photos I took on a digital camera – it’s from my old Canon A60 point and shoot. Taken in Crowsnest Pass, AB.
