Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Late last spring I planted a dogwood in the backyard. By that time the tree had already boomed so I wasn’t really sure what the flowers would look like. All summer I faithfully watered our new tree hoping it would produce flowers this spring. Finally, a week or two ago my care for the tree paid off. It’s in full bloom and the flowers look great. This is a close up of one of the many blooms.
From the other side this sycamore looks solid and nearly invincible. When walking around it you quickly discover there’s a gap at least 5 feet in length, exposing the inside of the tree.
A Junco rests on a snowy branch while out foraging in the snow. How such a small creature survives the winter never ceases to amaze me. Does it wake on such a morning wishing it could sleep a little longer, rationalizing that later the snow will melt and its burdens will be just a little lighter?
My Grandmother used to call these brown anoles “tiny dinosaurs”. It’s easy to see why. I photographed this one on the side of a tree in Florida last winter.
A crow watches the field below from a barren tree in the Big Meadow area of Shenandoah National Park.
This pine stands alone near the top of a hill, in a meadow at Shenandoah National Park.
This tree stood along a trail I was hiking one morning. I thought the vivid, rusty bark contrasting with the greens of the moss and pines made this an interesting study of color and texture. The early morning shade provided the perfect soft, even light to produce the deeply saturated colors just as I remember seeing them.
This lonely tree grows on a rock outcropping in the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone. I photographed it one cloudy morning but the result was even, flat lighting, leaving the photo without much of a sense of perspective. The next day I was lucky enough to return at just the right time. The cliff face and tree were bathed in the warm, direct morning sunlight but the opposing canyon wall and the foreground elements were still in shadow. As a result, the subject is literally highlighted.
The Rat Snake is quite a capable climber. This individual took to the trees when we met each other on a lakeside trail in Central Virginia. It seemed to be just as happy making its way through the branches as it was winding across the forest floor.
I’m not much of a pine cone photographer (is there such a thing?) but the colors on this cone really caught my eye. It grew from the branch of a fallen tree that was clearly still very much alive.