Foxglove

Foxglove, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Digitalis - introduced from Europe, it is now widespread along roadsides, trails and disturbed areas in the western United States.

Despite its introduced status, I'm always heartened to see this plant in bloom when I'm in the Pacific Northwest. This one was photographed along a trail in the Seattle, Washington area.

Phyllaries

Phyllaries, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

What's a phyllary, you may ask? Well, maybe you wouldn't, so I'll tell you.

A phyllary is a modified scale-like bract that subtends the inflorescence of a flower in the Asteraceae. That's the sunflower family for you non-botany nerds out there.

I like this presentation of the common sunflowers we have in our Ohio prairies. It highlights the interesting phyllaries that support the big flower heads of these beautiful plants.

Tree in the mist

Tree in the mist, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

We've had a severe fog warning for parts of Franklin County this morning. I didn't get out to do a photo shoot this particular morning, but this photo is from last Saturday.

Fog photos are really hard to do. If you add any contrast, you lose the effect of the fog, but if you don't do something in the post process, the image is flat and uninteresting. For this photo, I did a filter in Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 that enabled me to get some detail extracted without losing the soft effect of the fog and blue-hour lighting from just before sunrise.

Polygala

Polygala, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another beautiful wildflower in the Siskiyous of Oregon.

St. John's Wort

St. John's Wort, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Something for a gloomy day. Hypericum is the botanical name for this plant, which is used for treating depression in the herbal remedy market. I've heard from some that it works wonders, but I'm always a bit hesitant to dabble in herbal remedies. This industry has no safeguards for the American public, and there are no standards for dosage, quality, processing, purity, etc.

At any rate, it's a lovely flower. This one was seen in the Oregon Siskiyous last June while I was at the American Penstemon Society meeting. We had a lovely day in the field looking for Penstemons, serpentine outcrops, and as many wildflowers as possible.

Bee's eye view

Bee's eye view, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Penstemon laetus from the Siskiyous of Oregon. I visited this during a field trip for the American Penstemon Society meeting last July.

The weird thing about this population of P. laetus was that most of the flowers were missing their anthers. Some insect munched on them. So, it was a treat to find a flower that still had the anthers.

Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Just needed a reminder of warmer and sunnier days. This is from July 9, 2011 - taken in the Siskiyous of southern Oregon.

What am I?

What am I?, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Nature produces some amazing optical effects. Can you guess what this is?

Harvest time awaits

Harvest time awaits, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I was really undecided about which version of this photo to post today. I did it in color first, which is really nice, but when I converted to monochrome and experimented with some filter settings, I liked the effect here a lot. I'll post the color version below this so you can see the differences.

Here is the color version for comparison.  I really like both images, but the monochrome has a much different feel to it than does the color version.

Pumpkin time!

Pumpkin time!, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Today we were in Granville because Meghan was taking the ACT test at the high school. Steve and I enjoyed a pre-sunrise stroll in the fog and took lots of interesting photos at sunrise. After warming up at a local coffee shop, we strolled through the farmers market. I bought 7 lbs worth of butternut squash, several pounds of pie pumpkins, fresh tomatoes and a selection of interesting jams.

The famers market was very colorful and full of interesting people to chat with.

Blue Hour

Blue Hour, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

There is a special time between sunset and full dark known in photography as the "blue hour." The lighting features the soft hues of blues, pinks and magentas, and it's a lovely, but challenging time, to shoot photos.

This one is from Lincolnville Beach, Maine, taken August 22, 2011.

Mount Cadillac in the fog

Mount Cadillac in the fog, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another view of Acadia National Park from August 25, 2011.

Mount Cadillac

Mount Cadillac, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Back to Maine today for a view of Mount Cadillac in the fog. This is in Acadia National Park - a beautiful place to see.

Autumn color 365/365

Autumn color 365/365, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

This is last photo of my 365; not a goal of taking a picture every day, but processing and posting a picture every day. What I learned from this experience was how to better compose a photo in square format, and how to use my photo processing software. I use Aperture, Nik Software Plug-ins, and Photoshop, with a heavy emphasis on the combination of Aperture with Color Efex Pro.

Dogwood brilliance

Dogwood brilliance, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I've always enjoyed looking for backlit leaves in the forest. It reminds me of stained glass illuminated by a sunbeam - especially during the autumn season.