Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
During my Rivanna River float, earlier this summer, my Pentax went for an unexpected swim. Clearly not what any nature photographer wants to happen but things don’t always go as planned. Thankfully I saw the camera fall into the river and pulled it out before it had time to sink too far below the surface. For the rest of the trip I was left shooting with my iPhone and had the camera out in the sun to dry. Continue reading “Butterfly On The Camera”
Sometimes seemingly random items catch my eye. When I noticed this open coconut laying on the ground something drew me to it. Maybe it was the contrast of textures and colors? The rough, fibers of the husk surround the smooth interior of the coconut shell and the rich brown shell encases the milky white remains of the nut.
I haven’t been able to identify this butterfly. It was at the Butterflies LIVE exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden so it may not be native to the United States. If anybody knows the species I’d appreciate a comment.
Another male House Finch from the snow we had last week.
This weekend we had spring-like temperatures making it hard to believe I took this photo only about a week ago. This male House Finch made for a colorful subject with the snowy white background.
This was wooden decking may have been part of a boat, long ago. Now it sits, slowly decaying along the shore of the river.
I wanted to capture contrasts in this image. The bright sunlight filling the upper right corner of the frame versus the dark shadows of the stones. There’s also the serene, softly moving ripples on the water contrasting with the smooth but fixed and solid stones.
Sometimes we can find our duality in the simplest places. Without hard there is no soft. Without bright there is no dark.
This damselfly was patrolling a small, sunny patch of ivy when I encountered it in late August, near Richmond, VA. It seems like a common species but I haven’t been able to identify it.
I had some other ideas for this week’s photo challenge but I was walking through the woods and the reflection of the trees in this stream caught my attention. Perhaps too literal a treatment of this week’s theme but I liked the color and the stillness of the water at this spot.
This pine stands alone near the top of a hill, in a meadow at Shenandoah National Park.