Indian Pipe (Ghost Flower): Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Headlands Trail (old visitor center), Wells, Maine, USA, August 2026 — The Indian Pipe plants are just beginning to emerge in the forests of Southern Maine. Yesterday I found my first sizable, healthy-looking patch, under the pines beside the trail at Rachel Carson. Indian Pipe, according to online sources, is a Mycmo-Heterotroph. It lacks any chlorophyll at all and steals its nutrients from the underground fiber networks of Russula and Lactarius mushrooms, which are themselves in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of mature trees. So the energy that keeps the Indian Pipe alive is produced by trees, bartered by mushrooms, and stolen by Indian Pipe. If that is not strange enough for you, I don’t know what would be. The fresh flowers always droop down toward the ground, but as they mature, they will turn up, showing off the black and gold parts, which attract bees and other pollinators. Because it needs no sunlight to grow, you find it in the deepest, darkest, mostly damp shades of the undergrowth. It always makes it a challenge to photograph without artificial light. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 140mm equivalent. Aperture with Macro modifications, from my tiny carbon fiber tripod. Processed in Photomator.

The Northern Blazing Star is just coming into flower on the Kennebunk Plains. The Plains are still very dry, and it might not be a bumper year for Blazing Star, but there are a few somewhat dusty-looking blooms. And a few somewhat dusty-looking Monarchs as well. The Monarchs favor the Blazing Star, and I always see them on the plains in season. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 600mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with insect modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2026 — This is 5 overlapping landscape mode 14mm frames, with the Viltrox 14mm f/4 and the Sony a7CR with its 61mm sensor. Processed in Photomator and merged and rendered to a 94mp image, 16783×5600, in Bimostitch. It is a bit over 180 degrees of view. There is no way to really display it for full effect, but it is a fun image and captures the amazing sky in a way no single frame, even a 14mm with its 100-degree field of view, could. Next time I will try turning the camera on its side and taking more frames. 🙂 That would be a really huge file. 🙂 Bimostitch, by the way, is magical!

Hydnellum peckii, or Bleeding Tooth fungus: Kennebunk, Maine, USA. You just never know what you will find in the Southern Maine forest (or any forest for that matter). This strange-looking mushroom gets its common names from the drops of amber to red liquid that emerge from the fruiting body. It is not always this lumpy. It is also called “strawberries and cream” and “Devil’s Tooth,” although “Dracula’s Tooth” might be more fitting. I am pretty sure I have never seen it before, and I certainly have never photographed it. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 72mm equivalent field of view. Aperture with macro modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Another photo of nothing in particular—or everything in particular. Sony a7CR with Viltrox 14mm f/4. My custom landscape modifications to the Neutral Creative Look. Processed and color-graded in Photomator.

Orange Coral Fungi: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — It has been several years since the fruiting bodies of the Coral Fungus have appeared in the little patch of forest along the Bridal Path near home. I have checked each year, many times. The last time they emerged, it was a spectacular bloom. There were large masses of it all through the forest. I was delighted to find this small bunch along the trail this year, and it makes me hopeful for a full display again. We will see. I will be checking regularly. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 103mm equivalent field of view. Aperture mode with macro modifications. f/18 @ 1/30th from my little carbon fiber tripod. Processed in Photomator.

Hunt’s Bumblebee: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2026 — In the gardens at Randall Davey, I met a visiting bee lady from the upper Midwest who was in western bee heaven, and who was eager to give me a lesson on the varieties of bees we were observing in the garden plants. I was happy to let her. Most were Western Honeybees, of course, but there were at least three other varieties, including this striking male Hunt’s with its bright orange muff. She was really excited about the Hunt’s. I became more so as she talked. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 500mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with insect modifications. Processed in Photomator.

New Mexico Whiptail Lizard: Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2026 — another lizard from the same little park down the street from our Santa Fe family’s home. The New Mexico Whiptail is a hybrid species—originally two separate species of whiptail. The offspring had, oddly enough, two different chromosomes, one from each parent species, so that they can reproduce without a mate. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Western Fence Lizard: Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2026 — Showing the seldom seen blue throat patch (or at least the blue throat patch which I have seldom seen). Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 600mm equivalent. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Rufous Hummingbird; Randell Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico. July 2026 — Another hummer from Randell Davey Audubon Center—the most numerous and aggressive of the 4 species common there. A male Rufous will hang out sometimes many yards away from the feeder and then come swooping in when any other hummingbird presumes to come in for a snack. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 600-800mm equivalent field of view crop. Processed in Photomator.