Tag: tree

Diversity of the Earth – pt. 1

Where water and life meet

This weeks WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Earth, which is appropriate, given that Saturday is Earth Day.  So I figured that I would do a weeklong series of different views of the Earth that I have experienced.  Feel free to join in with the fun!

The first one, highlights some of the interesting aspects of our planet, such as water, a biosphere, temperature variations and the colors green and blue…

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Frozen Tree in Wachusett Reservoir

This image dates back just over 11 years on a chilly March day in 2006.  Due to wind and water movement, the ice tends to creep up on the shores of Wachusett Reservoir, which caused this lone tree on an outcropping to become entangled.

Technical Details

This image was captured with Canon EOS 1D MkII using an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.  Exposure settings were at 1/400 second and f/11 with 200 ISO.  It was a rather chilly shot!

Assyrian Trees in Maine

Trees across the ages

It’s interesting to see that plant species can travel around the world and keep their name across many cultures and languages.  Today’s tree is one of those interesting species: Sumac.

In Assyrian the name of the tree is ܣܘܼܡܵܩܵܐ (pronounced Sumaq), Arabic سماق (summaq), Latin sumach, French sumac.  The original meaning of the name is simple: red.

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Sumac in Summer

During a nice day in southern Maine, we walked along the coast, and as I looked up to the perfect Summer sky, I noticed the almost subtropical tableau that was above my head.

In all this wonderful day was truly enjoyable.

Technical Details

This image was captured with an iPhone 6S using the standard Camera app.

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 15

Out of a small blossom…

On this Wednesday, l’m focusing on one of my favorite kind of trees: Apple!  As I followed an apple orchard in a past year, it really gave me appreciation for what happens every year.

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It’s Spring!

These beautiful blossoms will soon wither and start their transformation into what will at first be tiny little nodules, which will grow into full size apples during the Summer season.

What natural processes leave you filled with Wonderment?

Technical Details

This image was shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III with an EF 100mm f/2.8 lens.  Exposure settings were 1/200 second at f/11 and 640 ISO.

Quotes of Worth – vol 1

Exploring the unknown

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing–and keeping the unknown always beyond you.”
– Georgia O’Keeffe

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Arbor Fugit

Bringing the unknown into the light, exploring what might lie hidden, changing our view of the world around us, these are all aspect of the Kryptomorphaics series.

Here, in Arbor Fugit, I explore the energies that are stored in this powerful weeping willow, its ability to filter and re-radiate the light that it accepts from the Sun.  One of the surprising aspects to me was the variety in color cast that came from this wondrous tree.

What do you sense in this image?  Does it call out certain things?

Every leaf has a halo

Simple beauty on a cold day

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Leafy halo

During the same day that I captured the images in yesterday’s post, Another shot of cold, I grabbed the opportunity to catch these leaves backlit by the sun.

I had just finished shooting some shoreline details and was walking back along the water’s edge to climb up the embankment and trudge through the snow.  The clouds were beginning to look more interesting, which caused me to look up and notice the small cluster of leaves still attached in this hard winter.

Positioning the leaves in front of the sun gave me exactly the look that spoke to me, with a bit of drama in the clouds and the structure of tree from above.  The way it is presented here is without any touchup in postprocessing, as I like the little bit of warmth that flows forth in this mostly black&white image.

Technical Details

I captured this with a Canon EOS 5D MkIII using an EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II.  The settings I used were a bit unusual, as I wanted a shallow depth of field, so I used f5.6 at 1/8000 second (probably the first time I’ve ever used that shutter speed).

Shot of the Week – vol 6

Embrace the Sun

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Embrace the Sun

Yes, she’s back!  Here we find the Yoga Tree gently embracing the Sun, as it rises up into the Winter sky.  A heavily overcast day with a glimpse of better light to come along the horizon.

Simple beauty is something we can often find during this season, as form and shape stand out more than color at this time of year.

Hope you enjoy this one and have a wonderful day!