Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
I recently visited the Butterflies LIVE! exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. This photo of a Tiger Longwing on a red coneflower was one of my favorite shots from the trip. If you’re in the Richmond area Lewis Ginter is definitely worth a visit.
This small Eastern River Cooter was basking on a sunny log in the Rappahannock River as a paddled my canoe past it last July. I don’t know much about the turtles of Virginia so I may have misidentified this one.
Goldfish and water lilies at the Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond, VA.
This Carolina Chickadee hopped around on this branch and never sat still for long. Shortly after I took this picture two younger Carolina Chickadees appeared. They must have been recently fledged and following mom (or dad) around to learn the ways of the world.
Weighing in at only 0.3 – 0.4 ounces (8 – 12 grams), the tiny Carolina Chickadees always inspire me. How can something so small endure everything nature throws at it? From snowy winters to droughts and heat waves, these little birds somehow endure it all.
Please click on the image above to see a larger copy of it.
The fixed, hard stone provides an ideal path for water to rush down the mountain. The stone may seem immobile and rigid but in time it will be defeated by the steady pounding of the water and the quiet, patience of the moss. For now they share this space and offer a beautiful, peaceful spot to sit and rest.
This post was inspired by Brenda of A Meditative Journey with Saldage. When I saw these ferns they reminded me of the type of image she frequently posts. That being said, I’m sure she would have done a far better job with them than I did.
This Canada Violet was growing along a hiking trail in Shenandoah National Park when I was there last May.
I love these mountain pools in Shenandoah National Park. This one is downstream from Dark Hollow Falls but you can find scenes like this throughout the park.
Click on the image to see a larger version of the photograph.
This daisy fleabane was blooming along a hiking trail in Shenandoah National Park at the end of May.
Knowing “bane” loosely means something that is hated by or makes something’s existence more difficult, I thought fleabane was an interesting name for a wildflower so I looked it up. Folklore has it these plants can be dried and used to keep fleas away. That explains the name.
When my friend and I reached the bottom of Dark Hollow Falls I decide to challenge myself a little. I switched to a 50mm prime lense, rather than the two zoom lenses I had been using all morning. My challenge was to only shoot with the prime lense for the rest of our hike.
When we arrived at this spot I immediately found myself frustrated because I couldn’t frame the entire waterfall with a 50mm lense. It was simply too big and we couldn’t get very far away from it. Knowing my wide angle zoom would easily frame the scene only made the whole situation more annoying. Sticking to my self imposed challenge I started looking for different perspectives and ended up with this. I am absolutely certain I would not have taken this photo if I was using the lense I normally shoot with.
Sometimes forcing yourself to do things differently can lead to different ways of seeing things.