Posts Tagged: Picea rubens
Prong Trail
It was becoming obvious that this would be an unusual day.
21mm Zeiss Distagon ZF.2, Nikon 800e, Ps CS6.
The Centurion
The Centurion guards the approach to The Gate. The weather here is always bad. If it is cloudy it will be windy with fog, cold rain, or snow. When the sky is clear it becomes a furnace with the rock reflecting heat and glare like refractory.
21mm Zeiss Distagon ZF.2, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
The Two Sisters: Keepers of the Keys
One must pass the Sisters to enter The Gate.
28-90mm Leica Vario-Elmarit, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
Approaching The Gate – Revised
In no particular order… approaching The Gate.
I revised this on 10/27/13 and replaced the original file. You are looking at the revision.
21mm Zeiss Distagon ZF.2, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
Milky Way Rising…
over Roaring Plains Wilderness. A look back in time, and a look back to the center of our galaxy. Earth is on the outer edge of one of the great spiral arms of the galaxy Milky Way.
21mm Zeiss Distagon ZF.2, Nikonn 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
Ephemeral Gestures Part Two
I was talking with friend and photo-buddy Bob Clark (http://roberthclarkphotography.com) a couple of days ago about things photographic. We both have times when we wonder what the heck are we doing out there. Just what are we making images of, why, and who cares anyway. We are both driven… compelled to make images. To satisfy our egos? God, I hope not! Are we just making pretty pictures? Again, god (or is that dog?), I hope not. There is no social commentary in either of our works. And often no overt sign of humans other than the extent to which we reveal ourselves through our images. Sometimes I think I just like to show people the cool stuff I found. But it has to be more than that. I can’t need affirmation that badly, can I?
I think of Minor White and his friend Paul Caponigro, both really powerful and influential photographers and superb craftsmen. Both of whom have had a significant influence on me forty some years ago. White conceptually through his teaching, and Caponigro through his images… they really expanded my ideas of what an image could be, and in a way that connected to my view of the world and to the photography I was doing at the time. Without question they are living in my images today.
A couple of points: Paul Caponigro, not John Paul Caponigro… Paul is John Paul’s father. And this is Dolly Sods Wilderness, one of the most extraordinary places in the Mid-Atlantic region.
28-90mm Leica Vario-Elmarit, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
Roaring Plains
Roaring Plains is a remote wilderness near Dolly Sods. It is largely northern boreal forest like Dolly Sods, so it shares many of the same characteristics. But because it is more remote Roaring Plains has a sense of isolation I rarely experience on Dolly Sods. Out beyond Roaring Plains is Mount Porte Crayon (elevation 4770 feet).
The red berry clusters are on an American mountain ash, Sorbus americana, and yes they really are this intensely red. The twisted tree in front of is probably black cherry, Prunus serotina, though it might be fire cherry, Prunus pensylvanica. It had already dropped it leaves so I couldn’t tell. Leaves down by September 15 and its twisted shape suggests that the weather here is a tad more extreme than in flatland. In back and to the right is a red spruce, Picea rubens.
28-90mm Leica Vario-Elmarit, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
Olsen Bog
This is the headwaters bog for a primary tributary to Big Run on Backbone Mountain. The trees in and immediately around the bog are spruce, Picea rubens, including these drowned snags. I think beavers are still active here. You can see a large lodge left of center here. The bog is also home to lots of carnivorous pitcher plants, (Sarracenia purpurea I believe). They have plenty to eat here!
I don’t know much about bogs, but I believe this bog is quite different from the Canaan Mountain bogs. Yes, I’m sticking my neck out here, but I believe this one was at one time a shallow lake or large beaver pond that has over time sedimented and formed a matt of vegetation. Unlike the Canaan Mountain bogs that are clearly on a slope, this bog appears to be flat. It also has more water under it and there are some areas of open water. It feels different.
80-200mm Zeiss Vario-Sonnar CY, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
On Allegheny Back Mountain
Allegheny Back Mountain near the once-upon-a-time town of Spruce. The headwaters of the Shavers Fork are in this area. Always a wonderful place to visit. I wish we were successful in having this tract included in the last wilderness bill. We sure did try!
28-90mm Leica Vario-Elmarit, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.
More Red Run Bog
I thought it would snow any minute. This needs to be a big PRINT. The amount of detail in there is scary.
80-200mm Vario-Sonnar CY, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.