A moth orchid plant photographed in natural light. Orchids are predominantly tropical plants with very intricate structures. They have symbiotic relationships with various other species, mainly insects on whom they depend for pollination, and even a type of fungi which helps them process nutrients.
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
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.
As the evening draws to a close, a flock of juvenile whooping cranes dance in a recently harvested corn field in Wisconsin. These magnificent birds have been raised by the Crane Foundation and radio tagged for tracking.. I was trying an abstract and liked the ghostly image which seems to convey the danger these cranes are in.
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.
One of the images I had in mind was an abstract of tree limbs in front of a full moon. The super moon provided an opportunity, but I had to be quick as the moon was rising fast across the trees.
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.
A tulip bloom closes its petals at evening. New blooms open their petals in sunlight and close as sunlight decreases.
Snowgeese fill the evening skies at the Bosque del Apache NWR on their way to roost. Mountainous scenery and colorful skies in the area provide a setting for dramatic images at this location.
The center of the moth orchid flower. Orchid flowers contain both male and female parts, but depend on insects such as bees and wasps for pollination. Orchids attract these insects through a combination of shapes, fragrance and nectar. I wanted to highlight complex shapes and patterns within the bloom.
Interesting patterns in a riverbed in Southwest Utah created by rainfall the previous day. The landscape is made of red sandstone and white salt, which are seen in the image.
I have tried to capture the intricate structure of this delicate flower, which I noticed in Milwaukee's Riverside Park. The early summer growth provides a complementary background.
44th Annual Sustaining Our Culture Pow-Wow
Native American cultures have several mesmerizing forms of dances accompanied by equally captivating rhythm. I have tried to capture the movements created by the dancers in their majestic attires.
A dragonfly rests on a dry reed in the Horicon Marsh NWR.
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 close look at a pebble in the middle of a fast-flowing stream.
Frozen dew drops thaw out in early morning in N California. The locations here often see fog in the evenings and night, and the temperatures do not get up above freezing till later in the day.
I enjoy seeing and photographing tree abstracts, especially colorful ones such as these aspens. I liked the soft color palate in this image which to my mind, perfectly captures fall in the Mountain West.
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.
A Canada anemone from Milwaukee Riverside Park. The upper Midwestern US with hot and humid summers and year round precipitation allows for the growth of several kinds of plants and flowers in different habitats.
A least skipper gets ready for the evening on a milkweed plant at Milwaukee's Riverside Park. Butterflies have a symbiotic relationship with plant species - the caterpillar of each species feeds only on certain species of plants. Presence of these plants is critical to the survival of the insect species.
While we admire flowers for their aesthetics, their colors, shapes and aroma all have specific functions. They have evolved to be attractive to pollinators which is necessary for the plants' propagation. The iris bloom shown here is a good example. It has evolved a complex shape and color scheme which attracts insect pollinators. The entrance to the flower is separate from the exit. The pollinating insect that lands on this flower first finds stamens on which it deposits some of the pollen it has collected from previous blooms. The pollen stems on the iris are located at the exit and the insect collects them on its way out to other blooms. This sequence ensures the iris is not pollinated with its own pollen.
A curious harvestman eyes me late in the evening at Milwaukee's Riverside Park. The texture of the leaf provides a secondary point of interest in this image. Harvestmen are not true spiders in that they only have one part to their body, whereas spiders have three parts.
A small lichen patch on a pine tree trunk plays host to slugs and worms in Wisconsin's Nicolet National Forest. Rains in late spring create a cool and wet environment that aids in growth of lichens which provide food to other species.
After a heavy blizzard, snow on tree limbs at Milwaukee's Lake Park provide an interesting abstract. I made this B&W with sepia overtones to highlight the contrast between the snow and dark branches.
Western Spotted Orb Weaver Feeding on a Green Darner
A female western spotted orb weaver spider feeds on a green darner dragonfly caught in its web. My wife and I saw this dragonfly getting stuck in the web and the spider was on it in an instant. It moved away as I set up my camera, but came back in a few seconds once it realized I was not a threat. Spiders use different kinds of web materials for different parts of the web as well as tying up its prey as seen here.
Sandhill Cranes Takeoff Abstract
A group of sandhill cranes take off past sundown to their roosting spot at the Bosque del Apache NWR. I was shooting long exposure panning shots and liked the combination of the cranes against the cornfield they were feeding on, especially in the evening light.
I came across several of these beetles in Milwaukee's Riverside Park one summer morning and they seemed to prefer coneflowers for resting. It was only when I took this image, I noticed how well they blended with the flower, so this is likely a camouflage mechanism.
A chicory flower I came across in Milwaukee's Riverside Park. Chicory was introduced in the US by early Europeans and grows in disturbed soil. The chicory root is edible and was used as a substitute for coffee during World War II. I like the delicate structure in the filtered afternoon light.
I came across this group of avocets feeding in a Bay Area harbor late one evening. It was interesting to observe the flock feeding in a circle. One avocet would dredge the bottom bringing up invertebrates and crustaceans, and the next member would move in to feed in that spot. The steady movement of the birds and low light gave a opportunity for an abstract.
Fall foliage reflects in the Bad River at Copper Falls SP. The resultant abstract is an impressionist painting-like image.
A hoverfly rests on a false sunflower blossom in Milwaukee's Riverside Park. Hoverflies look like hornets - a mimicry that makes potential predators avoid capturing them. The colors on the hoverfly are perfectly complemented by those on the dominant flower.
Cow parsnip flowers during early summer at Milwaukee's Riverside Park. Seasonal rains ensured a lush growth which provided a complementary green background to the flowers.
I tried telephoto lenses for landscape images for the first time at Yellowstone NP and was pleasantly surprised at the results. Here, the lens isolated the waterfall, highlighting the cascades over dark rocks.
Sandhill cranes land to join their feeding colleagues at a cornfield in the Bosque del Apache NWR. I particularly liked the dynamics in this image that conveys the social behavior of these birds as well as the chaos of feeding at end of the day before going to roost.
Close up of a dandelion seed pod. These are seen as weeds in most lawns but are important to many natural habitat, often jump-starting damaged ecosystems. Their edible leaves are often added to salads.