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.

Mum abstract

Mum abstract, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Sometimes the real world needs a little more visual interest. This image started out as autumn colored mums. I decided to explore some of the filter setting in Color Efex 4.0, and ended up with an interesting abstract of the original photo.

Autumn Reflection

Autumn Reflection, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

At first glance this probably looks like an autumn forest scene, which it is in a sense. Take a closer look, though and you'll have some optical surprises. I love these kinds of pictures just for the "aha!" feeling of recognition.

Larkspur

Larkspur, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Delphinium menziesii, I think (Ranunculaceae). This one was seen in the alpine zone of the Siskiyous - at some ski area that I can't recall the name of at the moment. During the American Penstemon Society meeting in July there were many opportunities to photograph wildflowers other than Penstemon. I'll be posting more when I have a chance to work on those photos.

For some reason, let's say MY BUSY SCHEDULE, I've bounced around from event-to-event on photo processing since the summer. I do hope to eventually catch up. I finished the AAW symposium, the Turning 2011 symposium, almost done with the Dublin Irish Festival, and I still have to work through the American Penstemon Society meeting, our trip to the Pacific Northwest, our trip to Maine, and the fall photos I've recently taken. What this usually means, in practice, is that I become much, much more selective in my choices of what to process the farther away an event becomes in time since I was there doing the photography. Now, if I could just be brutal in my photo processing workflow up front I might be able to stay on top of my photo processing.

Autumn at Highbanks

Autumn at Highbanks, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Being in a large city makes it hard to get out to the rural areas. However, Columbus has many metro parks that are little islands of natural habitats, if somewhat impacted by invasive weeds. It is nice to be able to take a walk in the woods within half an hour's drive from my home - especially during the autumn.

Highbanks is interesting year round, though. In early spring there are the ephemeral flowers that burst into bloom before the forest canopy fills in. During May the Warbler migration is in full swing and you can see gems of bright color flitting all through the high canopy and underbrush of the forest. Summer brings out the raptors and the interesting insects along with the dominant summer flora. Autumn speaks for itself. Winter is awesome after a new snowfall - that's when you can see all the animal tracks of the species that inhabit the park.

If you have to live in a big city, make sure there is a decent park system to give you some time with nature.

Autumn mums

Autumn mums, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Continuing my autumn theme for this week: these are some mums I photographed at Highbanks Metro park last weekend.

Autumn at Highbanks #2

Autumn at Highbanks #2, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Autumn is really my favorite season of the year. Maybe it's the low angle of the sun illuminating a brilliant blue sky after the long days of muggy weather during the summer. Maybe it's the beautiful colors of leaves in the warm hues of yellows, oranges, and reds. Possibly it's the cool nights and warm days, which are ever so much more comfortable than hot, humid days and nights. At any rate, this image sums up the nice feelings I get from this time of year.

Autumn Leaf

Autumn Leaf, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

So many beautiful colors, so little time to enjoy the season.

Autumn Reflections

Autumn Reflections, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Yesterday was a perfect day for walking at High Banks Metro Park. My son and his fiance came up from Cincinnati to spend the day with us, and we decided to take my three trouble makers (aka, Emma, Topper, and Luna - the three dachshund members of our family) for a walk on the pet trail. The foliage is fading in some parts of the park, but there are many vibrant trees still in full color. This image is from one of the pools of the creek that flows through the park.

I like the reflection of colors and shapes reflected here with the leaves floating on top of the water.

Today's color is yellow

Today's color is yellow, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Yellow composites are usually a challenge to identify. I'm no expert on the Asteraceae, so I generally just name these species "DYC" for Damned Yellow Composite, and leave it at that. I do love them, though, so I often photograph them and hope that someone will tell me what they are. (Hint, hint....).

Bug's Eye View # 2

Bug's Eye View # 2, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

This is the second of a series of photos I took from a bug's eye view of Darlingtonia, a bog plant in southern and the coast range of Oregon. The clear panes at the top of the pitcher-like leaf must be very confusing to insects who are attracted to the interior space. A good strategy for a carnivorous plant. You can see the downward pointing hairs on the interior, also.

Bejeweled

Bejeweled, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I do a coloration pattern for my "Leaf Saturation" series that is very similar to what is observed on this beetle carapice. I started the series a few years ago, but saw this beetle for the first time this past summer.

Here's the plant it visits:




Here's one of my leaf saturation bowls (photo by Jerry Anthony Photography):

Benoît Averly

Benoît Averly, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

At the Turning 2011 symposium I had a goal of doing some portraits of featured demonstrators over the course of the weekend. My favorite portrait is this one of Benoît Averly. I'm posting the bulk of my photos from the symposium on my woodturning FB page at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150391300903582.411395.60983528581&type=1

Turning 2011 symposium

The Ohio Valley Woodturning Guild does a symposium every other year.  I started attending in 2001, and I've been to all but one ever since then (I missed 2005 because of my trip to Australia to demonstrate in another symposium).  The attendance is capped at 250, which makes it pretty cozy and easy to visit with folks.  The symposium takes place at a church camp, which has housing and dining facilities as well as a huge hall for setting up the demo areas.  The only drawback is the difficult acoustics in such a venue, but the quality of the demonstrations and demonstrators more than make up for that.

In addition to the featured demonstrators, there are guest demonstrators who fill in the early morning and late afternoon time slots.  I'm doing two demos in that framework - one on 3D carving and the other on coloring techniques.

Here is a snapshot of the symposium.  I didn't spend a lot of time processing these images, so they are nearly straight from the camera.

Al Stirt demonstrations include platters, fluting, surface texturing.

Jimmy Clewes knows how to throw some shavings.

Betty Scarpino does a great demo on sculptural aspects of her work.

Kimberly Winkle demonstrated techniques for making a stool, and surface enhancement techniques. 

Avelino Samuel's demos included hollow forms with spirals and straight flutes.

Keith Holt has a series of demonstrations on multi-axis turning to explain his approach to using the lathe for sculptural work.

Benoít Averly's demos focus on box making.  I purchased one of his hut boxes and am delighted to add it to my collection.

Richard Raffan - always a class act.

AAW booth at the trade show

John Jordan, Al Stirt and Basil Kelsey

Stubby Lathe demo in the trade show

Doug Thompson of Thompson Tools (buy them - they are amazing!).

Jim Burrowes demo

Youth Turning

Youth Turning - I think this guy is pretty happy with the program.