Posts in Category: wildflower
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Jack-in-the-pulpit: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, USA — taking a break from lupines for a day 🙂 I know of one place where I might find Jack-in-the-pulpits growing “in the wild” but have not gotten there yet this year. This plant is from the small and very overgrown demonstration garden (some ranger’s, or more likely, summer intern’s, good idea from several years ago, now pretty much abandoned) at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters buildings in Wells Maine. The Jack-in-the-pulpit is a very strange flower…with a very strange name…but I am always delighted to find one growing where I can photograph it. Nikon B700 at about 80mm equivalent with Macro setting. Program mode with my standard birds and wildlife settings. -.3 EV. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Bee in the Lupines
The lupine stands, of course, attract large numbers of bees and other pollen feeding insects. This large bee was among hundreds working the patch. You can see by the swollen pollen sacks on the hind legs that life is good for the bees among the lupines. And, of course, the bees are doing their part to ensure another crop of lupines in this meadow next year. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode. Vivid Picture Control. Low Active-D Lighting. -.3EV. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Lupine time
It is that time of year again and you will have to bear with me as I get the Lupines out of my system. 🙂 This meadow, the best display I know of in Southern Maine, is about 10 miles from my home, 20 miles round trip on my electric recumbent trike, and a pleasant journey that also includes a stop at Emmon’s Preserve for dragonflies or whatever else is on offer. The Lupines are definitely the star of the show in early June. What we have here is three different perspectives on the same scene from the same spot. 18mm wide angle with the iPhone SE2020 and the Sirui 18mm lens, and then at about 110mm and 580mm equivalents with the Nikon B700. It is a good show indeed this year. 🙂 iPhone shot with the standard camera app on auto. Nikon shots, Program mode, Vivid Picture Control, -.3 EV. Processed in Apple Photos, with Polarr on the Nikon shots.
Wild Geranium
Wild Geranium (Cranesbill), Forever Wild for All Sanctuary, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — it is wild geranium season here in Southern Maine. You see them in ditches along roadsides and in meadows along forest edges. This stand was at the Forever Wild for All Sanctuary along the Mousam River in West Kennebunk. This is a “telephoto” macro with the Nikon B700 at about 1350mm from maybe 8 feet. Program mode. Vivid Picture Control. Low Active D-Lighting. -.3EV. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. I am impressed with the image quality of the 20mp sensor in the B700. It seems significantly better than that of the 16mp sensor in the P610/P950/P1000…though that is only an impression…I have not done comparison tests.
Canada Mayflower
Canada Mayflower (sometimes called False Lily of the Valley): Mousam River Wildlife Preserve, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have never seem much in the way of wildlife at the Mousam River Wildlife Preserve, one of the Kennebunk Land Trust properties here in Kennebunk, but it is a nice walk a mile down along the ridge above the Mousam River as it broadens out into the tidal basin. This time of year the woods are full of Star Flower and Mayflower, and I did find one lonely Lady Slipper Orchid. It is not easy to find a Canada Mayflower in full bloom as the individual flowers on the single flower spike do not open all at the same time. This is the best one I have ever found. Nikon B700 at 24mm and macro. Program mode with Vivid Picture Control and Active D-Lighting set to low. -.3EV. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. I enjoy the more than life size macro on the Nikon B700. It works great for wildflowers even at its 24mm equivalent.
Fringed Polygala and Trailing Pine
Fringed Polygala and Trailing Pine, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Kennebunk, Maine. — Sometimes nature arranges the most wonderful still-lives. This juxtaposition of color and texture certainly looks intentional…artistic in every sense. Nikon B700 (which I bought as a backup camera for trips and for a knock-about camera on my trike adventures, and with which I am having a lot of fun) at about 500mm equivalent. Program mode. Still experimenting with Picture Control modes for the best results with this camera. This was shot in Vivid, with Active-D lighting set to low, and -.3 EV exposure compensations. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Painted Trillium
Painted Trillium: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, USA — It used to be, not so many years ago, that the Trilliums were bloomed and gone before the first Lady Slipper Orchid was in full bloom…but these past few years they have bloomed together…and both seem to be blooming later. Maybe I am misremembering, and certainly my sample is too small to draw any conclusions. All I know is that after several trips to find them at Rachel Carson, I was happy to see them blooming near the Lady Slippers. Painted is the only Trillium we have here in Southern Maine, or at least the only one I have found. Nikon B700, the first two macro at 107mm equivalent and the third at 1440 equivalent from about 15 feet. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Lady Slipper Orchid season
It is, at long last, Lady Slipper Orchid season here in southern Maine. I have been watching my spots for two weeks waiting for the bloom. Last year a gentleman I met walking pointed me to the most amazing spread of Orchids that I have ever seen…several hundred plants, at the very least, spread along a hillside in the woods above a stream. The exact location will remain undisclosed as some Lady Slippers were dug up nearby last year. Lady Slippers are almost impossible to transplant, as they rely on a symbiotic fungus in the soil, but it does not stop people from trying. So, despite my broken wrist and various deep bruises and a well tweaked back from my walking encounter with a truck on Saturday, I went out with three cameras to see how they were doing this year. I was not disappointed. The shot above is with my go-to Sony Rx10iv at 31mm equivalent. (Program mode for ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/250th). The following shot is with my new Nikon B700, which I bought as a back-up camera to carry on trip (and which might become my preferred dragonfly camera). I am reacquainting myself with the Nikon way of doing things. It was also taken in Program at 68mm equivalent with macro engaged, ISO 100 @ f4.1 @ 1/1000th, -1 EV.
And finally here is a shot with my iPhone SE2020, the Moment thin case, and the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Standard Camera app on Auto. I really like the “in context” effect of the ultra-wide perspective.
Day Brook Pond
I am falling behind…not because I am not posting every day, but because I am taking too many photos 🙂 Not a bad problem to have. Of course a string of rainy days might cure that, but for now, I am going to group this set taken at the same location on the same outing: I rode my trike out to Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains near home here in Maine, to see how spring was coming along. We have the Plains landscape on the way into the pond at 24mm equivalent (all with the Sony Rx10iv, this one with HDR, and the rest with my birds and wildlife modifications to Program), a Northern Water Snake (one of the largest I have ever seen) at 465mm, Dogwood in bloom against a stand of white birch at 24mm, two Painted Turtles sharing what appears to be a tender moment (but probably was not really) at 600mm, and Eastern Pine Elfin at 600mm and about 3 feet (this is a tiny butterfly, about 1/2 inch across). In leaner times I might have stretched this out over 5 posts, as each shot has an interest of its own. (I did already post the Elfin to some of the Butterfly groups on Facebook, but it belongs here too, in the context of the the visit to Day Brook Pond.)
Trout Lily in the sun…
Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine. This shot is actually form last week, but I want to post it before Trout Lily season passes us by altogether. You really have to get down low to fully appreciate the blossoms of the Lily, or Adder’s Tongue as it is also called. Someone posted a photo recently of a pure white Trout Lily…something I have never seen. According to Google the white flowering Trout Lily is actually a different species, but I do appreciate our little yellow troops on the floor of the Maine forest when they arrive in early spring. Sony Rx10iv at 78mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th.