Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Photographs of plants and plant life
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.
These yellow irises are growing near the edge of the lake at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. In the background is the Conservatory which has something blooming 365 days a year.
I don’t know what type of flower this is but it is big and very bright red. It was growing on a vine in the Conservatory at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden when I photographed it in May.
This group of roses was one of those small scenes I just couldn’t resist photographing. The composition probably breaks all the rules but I like it just the way it is. To me the three roses in the background on the left seem balanced by the larger, fully blooming rose in the foreground and the opening bud in the upper right.
The dark green leaves of the rose bush are riddled with insect damage. Some photographers might be temped to “repair” them during processing but I like the imperfection of the scene. It reminds me that, upon close inspection, even the beautiful things in life are not perfect.
Wild Daisies grow along an open trail on a late spring morning in Central Virginia.
Sun, rain, plant, earth, and gardener all played a part in producing these magnificent buds. How many hours of sunlight, drops of rain, atoms of nitrogen, and beads of sweat have gone into them?
This bed of purple Iris flowers was in full bloom when we saw it. The dark green leaves and rich purple flowers seem to go on for ever.
A simple buttercup grew in a patch of grass along the trail I was hiking. After stopping to take photos of something more compelling, I noticed this flower and thought it deserved a little attention.
The moss and saplings growing from this semi-submerged log make up a tiny little forest of their own. A microcosm of the world around them.