Blog Archives
Color or Black and White
Friends, a very common orange monarch butterfly on purple/pink blazing star, i really dont like these colors together, i think they clash as my mother used to say when i would try to wear these colors as a teenager. I know that clothing theory is foreign to todays’ youngsters, but in my days it was a taboo if you wanted a sophisticated look. But I still don’t like these colors together, is the answer to present this image in black and white values. I like it better, what do you think? the black and white is below, til Tomrrow MJ
Goldfinches
Friends, these are goldfinches male above and female below, they are raising their young and feasting on the tickseed sunflowers, they build their nests late in the summer so they can line the nest with thistle seed, fluffy seeds make a great pillow for little goldfinches, also thistle seeds are great food and they will come to them even in the winter months, a hardy little bird, most of them remain in the northland in the winter and keep us company on cold winter days, til Tomorrow MJ
Blazing star detail
Friends, this blazing star is now in bloom at Crex and this image is a close-up magnification of the one inch buds, the details are hidden when all the little flowers are open by the mass of purple styes so one needs to see at the earliest stage of blooming to see the tiny blooms. i love the macro approach so i can see the substructure of things. Guess that is why i was a microscopist in another life, seems like a very long time ago. Only six years ago but seems forever, I am much happier now til Tomorrow MJ
Milkweeds
Friends, this natural history story is present in one photo, the bloom and two stages of buds with a spent bloom in the background, i like this kind of shot. Lots of color in the swamp milkweed, this plant grows on a tall stem with its feet in the water. Three types of milkweed grow in Crex Meadows, the common milkweed that is a pale pink, the butterfly weed that is bright orange and this swamp weed that is brilliant pink. The structure of the flowers is similar in all the milkweeds that grow here and the image below is a magnified view of the flowers. The wildflower season in Crex Meadows is winding down, but soon the prairie blazing star and goldenrod will predominate. AAAchooo!!, til Tomorrow MJ
Hummer?
Friends, at first i thought it was a hummingbird, then a huge butterfly, but after closer examination I discovered that i was photographing a moth, a very large moth that hovers like a hummingbird and is similar in size, hence its nickname, the hummingbird moth, it drinks the nectar through a proboscis like a butterfly, a very long straw to drink its soda. Its real name is the white-lined sphinx moth. Below is the moth from the front. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Inside
Friends, Searching for remnants of the tall grass prairie on Thursday yielded many shots of this Queen Anne’s Lace. This image tells the flower story, the beautiful sweet blooms attract many bees and then the flowers fold into the seed pod up above the flower. You can still see the structures inside the spent bloom, i like the insides of this image. Do you? til Tomorrow MJ
Turks Head Lily
Friends, this beautiful wildflower is native to this region but somewhat rare to find in Crex except in areas that have been burned and not mowed. The biggest threats to its survival are people picking wildflowers and the whitetail deer who think this lily and the wood lily make a delicious snack. So don’t pick and scare away any deer you see eating these pretty flowers :), til Tomorrow MJ
Wild LIlies in Motion
Friends, another experiment with multiple exposures, these lilies were moving in the wind so i have shown them in a high key image with multiple exposures. Photography is an expressive art despite what some think and this expresses what i saw and felt in the Namekagon barrens on a windy hot day in June. Having fun with Photoshop. til Tomorrow MJ
Namekagon Pine Barrens-Wilderness
Friends, In the early morning light, the Wood Lilies are so nice with backlighting. With this bloom I got a bonus, a yellow butterfly also liked this bloom that I was photographing. I like that you can see his circular proboscis and antenna on his head. Sometimes the unsuspected details make the image more compelling. These Lilies are common on the sandy pine barrens of the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area, a new area for my photography. The Namekagon River runs into the St. Croix River and they are both part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers network. A real wilderness area where canoes rule!, til Tomorrow MJ
The Wild Lily
Friends, In Crex Meadows the wild Lilies are blooming here and there on the prairie grasslands. Their bright orange attracts the eye and my camera. These are a bit different than the domestic day lilies in that the cup where the petals meet are not closed and each petal is separate from the others, six beautiful orange petals with spots. I didn’t like the glare from the full sunshine so i used the Orton effect to soften the image. Thanks to Denise Ippolito and her book “The Softer Side of Macro”, well worth the read for you wildflower fans. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 