Rediscovering Photography - It's a Digital World

Archive Page 6/1/04 to 6/15/04

Jun 14, 2004 - Mon
It was off to the Sand Prairie Wildlife Management Area after work today. I had not been out there since May 5th. There were a number of prairie flowers blooming and I have been trying to identify them so I can get pictures up here. The following is another photo of Prairie Smoke. There were a number of patches of these blooming in the prairie area. It is a member of the rose family. The wind was blowing with quite a bit of breeze and I could imagine what a large hillside of these flowers on the original prairies must have looked like on a windy day. It would be pink and grey prairie smoke:
 
I can't believe that I have spent most of the last two hours trying to identify the following flower. I believe it is a Shell Leaf Penstemon.
 
Here is a photo of the entire plant:
 
Jun 13, 2004 - Sun
I was able to get a variety of new photos today, but this is the most unusual one. It is Prickly Pear Cactus, and it grows wild in Minnesota. Click on this Minn DNR link that talks about these cactus growing at Blue Mounds State Park.
 
The sky was filled with puffy cumulus clouds all afternoon. I took this picture over a prairie restoration project area. About 15 minutes later it started to rain and I got soaked. Needless to say that after religiously carrying my rain coat all spring, I didn't have it with me today.
 
The following is an Ox Eye Daisy. A number of them were blooming a little ways from where the above photo was taken.
 
I took a number of shots of some Painted Turtles sunning on a log. I used my 300mm lens with a doubler hand held. I should have used the tripod so I could have used a faster shutter speed as many of the pictures were blurry. Here is a shot of one turtle:
 
Jun 12, 2004 - Sat
The sun has finally come out again. We don't remember how many rainy days there are in the spring. It is good to get the rain, but there are a lot of gloomy days in a row. I went out to Quarry Park today. It is a very nice place with lots of trails, swimming and fishing areas. There were many people at the swimming area. I talked to some people today who told me where to find a couple of flowers that I would like to get pictures of; the Yellow Lady Slipper and Indian Paintbrush. I will have to check it out.
 
This is a wild rose bud:
 
These were very big mushrooms growing on a dead oak tree:
 
Here is another mushroom. It was extremely large and bright orange in color. The log it is growing on is approximately 2 feet high. I could see it yards away on the trail. It is the biggest and brightest fungus I have ever seen:
 
This is a 'rock art' picture I took in one of the quarries. The water makes it look like a big arrow:
 
Jun 6, 2004 - Sun
It was a very nice sunny day today. I went back to Mississippi River County Park again today. I met one of the people who work for the County Parks Dept. His name was John, I didn't get his last name. He was very helpful and I was amazed at his knowledge about the park. He showed me to the spot where the following flower grows. I have never seen anything like it before. Then afterwards, we walked back to his service shed where I had parked the Jeep and he gave me a Root Beer. Thanks to him, I had a very nice afternoon.
This flower is called Prairie Smoke. The flower is made up of long silky tendrils. It is so very different.
 
This is a slightly different angle.
 
The following is also a new find for me. It is a Celadine or Wood Poppy.
 
And another new find. The following is Common Fleabane.
 
And another new find, The following is a Wild Geranium:
 
Jun 4, 2004 - Fri
It has been a very poor time for photos for the past two weeks. I have been out a few times, but the sun has rarely been out and I haven't been able to come up with much that is worth sharing here on the site. A couple of photos follow that have some interest, but mainly to me.
 
Here is a new wildflower. This is called Virginia Waterleaf. I have no idea why. Even though the weather has been dismal, I am pleasantly surprised by how many flowers are out in the woods. New types appear each week.
 
And another shot of Virginia Waterleaf:
 
Last Wednesday (6/2) the sun came out for a while. The following shot is another example of how it seems to be so difficult to translate what a person sees into a photo. The photo is not that good, and it really doesn't capture how really beautiful it was when I took it. Looking at the photo, all I see is a fairly uninteresting shot of the river. When I was there, it looked beautiful but it is hard to describe in words. I will have to learn how to better capture these type of scenes.
 
This is another example (in my opinion) of a shot that really doesn't come close to bringing a feeling of how nice it was to actually be there in person. This was taken at the Mississippi River Co Park north of Sartell. It is a 8 or 9 mile drive from Sauk Rapids. You should go out to the park at sunset and see this for yourself.
 
This is a new wildflower that is just starting to bloom. They are very small. One of the things I am discovering is how hard it is to take photos of very small objects out in the wild. It is surprising how dark it is in the woods, especially on an overcast or rainy day. I keep carrying more and more equipment, but now I am trying to figure out how to bring light with me. The regular flash from the camera is not very effective.
 
One thing that wet and rainy weather seems to be good for is mushrooms. Here are a couple of mushroom photos. I'm sure you'll all be terribly interested in these.
 
 
Jun 1, 2004 - Mon
Well, nearly a week has gone by and no new pictures. They are forecasting the sun to be out tomorrow. We will see.
 
Previous Entries:
5/16/04 to 5/31/04
5/1/04 to 5/15/04
4/16/04 to 4/30/04
4/1/04 to 4/15/04
3/16/04 to 3/31/04
3/1/04 to 3/15/04

 

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