A walk at the lake.

Clearfork Reservoir

I deviated from my usual routine.  I went for a walk at Clearfork the other morning.  I noticed how low the lake has become.  This shot was to show that.  If my memory serves 60% of the water for the City of Mansfield comes from this lake.  I heard and saw two birds one of which is not in my collection.  They were the belted kingfisher and the downy woodpecker.  The shots were only good for a record and to make an ID.

I noticed lots of limbs on the ground and some pieces of bark all of which had lichen on them.  I collected them and made images.  Following are a couple.  

Lichen Squamulose

Apothecia on a Foliose Lichen

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Christmas Card

Christmas 2010 Note Card

I was walking down this trail as usual when I spotted this little malformed tree.  The light was such that the green stood out strongly against the background.  I really liked the bird nest in the foreground on a different plant.  I made the shot because of the light.  I came home and processed it and thought that it would make a nice Christmas Card.  It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  I borrowed some balls from Carol and went back the next day.  The light was different, of course, but it was also good light.  The green tree did not stand out so dramatically but I thought I could rectify that in Photoshop.  I had already decided that the bird nest needed a bird.  What better bird for a Christmas card than a Cardinal.  I found a shot of one in my database from Jan. 2004.  The image was a digital capture of the bird sitting at the bird feeder in my back yard.  Back in those days I sat in the bird blind near the feeder to photograph birds.  

I think this is the perfect card to receive from Larry's Images.  It is my style with a few embellishments gesturing toward modern commercialized holiday tradition.  I am working up a way to sell it in a box containing ten cards and envelopes.  I just ordered the boxes.  When they come, I will know what shipping will cost.  The box of cards will cost 19.95 plus shipping.  The cards are 100% Cotton paper.  They are Museo Artist Cards and you will not find higher quality.  The ink used is pigment based Epson Archival Ink.  These are quality, one of a kind cards.  You won't find them anywhere else for this price.  Get them while they last!

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The new calendar.

2011 Larry's Images Calendar

I said that I would not do it again this year.  Last year it turned out to be extremely expensive.  It seems that I could not help myself.  I thought that the one picture version might be decidedly less expensive.  I than thought that I would need to select one image for us to look at an entire year.  I made this one not thinking about using it on a calendar.  If fact, I was still in the mode of I will not make one this year when I shot it.  The then read an article in one of my magazines (see Nov. 9 post) which described the ideal landscape shot.  I found myself thinking of this image as I read the article.  I decided that it was good enough to look at for a year and made the calendar.  I calculated the cost which is a difficult task.  The printer does not have a cost estimator as some do.  I used the best information I could find on the web to calculate the cost.  I decided that I could sell it for $9.00.  I think that it is a nice usable calendar.  I know that some people do not like wall calendars.  I grew up with them and find that I like to have a calendar where I can glance when making plans.  I also like to know in what phase of the moon we are.  I like knowing when the seasons change as well as the time.  I like to look for what holidays are coming.  I like knowing that I have one month before and one month after the year so that I can continue to function until I get a new calendar.  This calendar has all of those features.  It is for sale at Gorman Nature Center and on my website.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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Further lichen discovery.

lichen unknown

This is a lichen I have walked past for years.  It is on the ground.  I don't get down very comfortably and so it had gone ignored until my interest in lichen was raised from a previous shot (see yesterday's blog).  I remembered its presence and made this shot.  It looked to me like there were little "mushrooms" growing in it.  I decided that I needed a lower perspective to really show them. 

lichen closeup

I found that I had much difficulty getting the little mushroom tops sharply focused even using Helicon Focus.  I re-shot it several times without success.  The best that I could do was this tight crop of the largest one.  This is close to the realm for which Helicon Focus was created.  I finally decided that a different angle might help.  That increased the pain factor for me but my interest was peaked and I wanted you to see them.

most recent closeup

I think that this is very intriguing!  It has been there all along and I had not taken time to get down and look.  It is otherworldly!  You may notice that I still have some sharpness issues with some of the "mushroom" tops.  It does, however; give a feeling for this little world within a world.  When walking on the trails at Gorman be careful where you walk.  You might be stepping on something like this.  Thankfully I haven't.

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A new plant?

xanthoparmelia lavicola lichen

This time of year, I start seeing different things.  This lichen has been there but I have paid little or no  attention to it.  I photographed it the other day knowing that it was a lichen.  I also made a closeup image of it.

closeup

In this image you can see that moss is also growing on this log.  It is unrelated to the lichen as far as I can learn.  I came home and looked up lichen in Wikipedia.  They had shots of this particular lichen and I was able to identify it.  I learned that a lichen is a composite organism.  It is a symbiotic association between a fungus and either alga or cyanobacterium.  The green component is the alga or cyanobacterium.  It must have light and carry on photosynthesis to produce its food.  Generally speaking, a symbiotic association is one where the two organisms mutually benefit one another.  The article I read is still difficult for me but I am trying to simplify it so that I can grasp it.  Please bear with me.

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