Clouds descend to the ground at sunset in Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I was captivated by the mountaintops set aglow by the setting sun.
Cowboys out to herd cattle in Southern Utah
Aspen leaves gather in a puddle during fall. My wife noticed the water also reflected the clear skies and foliage of surrounding aspen trees, making for an attractive abstract
Late evening sun lights up part of Capitol Reef NP. The area saw intermittent cloud-cover during our visit which caused part of the landscape to be lit while others were shaded. I have tried capturing the interplay between light and shadows in the Colorado Plateau against the fall foreground.
Closeup of a pine tree trunk recovering from a forest fire. Pine trees are extraordinarily resilient to fires and many of them even require heat from a fire to release their seeds from their cones. Here we can see the living trunk underneath covered with burnt scales.
A pine tree recovering from recent forest fire. We can see the living tree underneath the burnt outer bark. I enjoyed seeing the texture of the outer scales against the living trunk underneath them.
A clump of mushrooms grows against a chopped down tree trunk. Mushrooms and other fungi do not photosynthesize like plants, and rely on moist soil or dead/decaying plants and trees for food. They are an important part of nature, recycling nutrition from dead organic matter back into the food chain. Here I isolated a single clump against the flat trunk to highlight the color and shapes against the texture of the wood, and slightly over-sharpened the trunk to bring out the contrast. I liked the hints of lichen and moss that add subtle elements to the image.
Pine sap flows from a tree that had seen a recent forest fire. I was drawn to the golden sap against the charred pine bark scales. I particularly liked the wrinkled texture of the thick polymer sap as it flowed down and solidified.
I found these wild pullball mushrooms on the roadside in N Montana. These mushrooms do not have stems and the head grows directly on the ground. Puffball mushrooms are typically less poisonous than other types and have found their way into our food. They also have medicinal properties - Native Americans used them to absorb moisture from wounds and keep them dry. More recently, research indicates they may have antitumor properties.
