a walk in the spring woods

Posted on by Tim McMurdo
 
Virginia Bluebell
Virginia Bluebell
 
Dutchman's Breeches
Dutchman's Breeches
 
 
 
In yesterday's post, I mentioned that Thursday included a long hike in Clifton Gorge. The gorge was carved out by the Little Miami river, whose banks are heavily wooded. This time of year, the leaves on the trees and bushes have barely begun to emerge, leaving the spring flowers exposed for the eye to see.
 
The Trillium (both white and red) is just beginning to bloom along with the Virginia Bluebell. It won't be long before the woods are carpeted with white and blue. For two weeks or so, the gorge will be full of color.
 
One of my favorites is Dutchman's Breeches, a plant that lives on the side of the limestone boulders and displays small drop like white flowers that have the shape of….well, they are shaped like a Dutchman's breeches.
 
There are many thousands of species of flowering wild flowers and plants in the gorge. I can identify many of them. However, I've included two of my favorites in hopes that you can identify them. You can view them in the last two photos. The small bamboo like plant grows to about 18 inches tall and grows under the trees near the river banks.
 
I hope all of you have a great day. I'll bring more photos of the gorge's wild flowers the next time that I visit.
 

 

 

identity unknown

Posted on by Tim McMurdo
Mystery yellow flower
Mystery flower

 

This flower is in the vegetable garden at the farm. I have no clue what it is. I am hoping that one of my fine readers can identify the mystery plant for me. Is it an herb a vegetable or just a pretty flower with no purpose other than to look good?

If you can identify this flower, please share it’s name in the comments.

Thank you, and have a great Tuesday.

orchids in gray part two

Posted on by Tim McMurdo
Orchid bloom
Leopard Print

 

The more I looked at these wonderful orchid blooms, the more I became enamored by their beauty. Especially close up.

Orchid bloom
Droplets

 

Orchid bloom
Hello Gorgeous

 

Orchid bloom
Petalicious

 

Orchid bloom
My Cup Runneth Over

 

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I promise that my next picture of a flower will be in full and spectacular color.

Happy Valentines Day to all of you.

orchids in gray part one

Posted on by Tim McMurdo
Orchids
Breaking Wave

 

I recently visited an orchid show at the Franklin Park Conservatory, in Columbus OH, with a local photo group. The goal was to capture the gorgeous and colorful blooms.

 

Orchid bloom
Come Hither Look

 

The shoot was a lot of fun and I think it was a success. My problem was that in post processing, I kept wanting to see the flowers in black and white. Forget the color, I was fascinated with the gray tones.

 

Orchid bloom
Pinwheel

 

And so, you my viewer, are stuck with my vision of gray when you could just as easily be looking at spectacular colors. Sorry folks. This is my photo blog and you have to play by my rules. Sometimes life is unfair. Sorry.

 

Orchid blooms
Hello Gorgeous

 

Still, are you really suffering so much?

Tim

 

sunflower abstract

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Yesterday, we took a look at the problem of approaching a subject that is overwhelming, like an entire field of sunflowers. We broke down the field into individual flowers. Today, we will break the flowers down even further.

In subjects like flowers, we will often find patterns that become abstract when they are isolated. In this image, I avoided the flowers petals so that we could focus on the pattern found in the center of the flower’s bloom. Experiment and see what kinds of patterns and abstract designs you can find.

Have a great day.

sunflower petals

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Just south of us is the village of Yellow Springs, one of our favorite places to eat, hike, and people watch. This time of the year, we can add the activity of viewing the sun flowers. Every year the Tecumseh Land Trust plants an entire field with gorgeous yellow sunflowers. Photographers and sight seekers come from miles around to see the yellow scene. As a photographer, I get dozens of calls and text messages from friends, updating me with the status of the blooms.

You would think that photographing the flowers would be simple. However, in actuality, they can be overwhelming and the lack of a specific standout subject can make for composition nightmares.

My solution is to attempt to see the trees for the forest. This means looking for the details.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at another way to tackle the problem of the overwhelming numbers of sunflowers.

Have a great Monday.