365 Alternates

These leaves are laying in the remnants of snow on the icy pond, and the spots you see are melting droplets from a tree's branches above the pond! :)

1 image above in a note! :) Today when I went over to investigate the mesh frame on top of my garden tub, I found a very interesting formation that was hanging down under the mesh. It appears that the snow that was sitting on top melted and dribbled through the mesh and re-froze, and then the weight caused part of it to detach, leaving just the top adhered. The result looks quite a lot like a fancy diamond pendant, perhaps in the shape of a cross. I put another picture above as an inset so that you can see it from the side. This way you will have a better understanding of how it melted through the mesh! Totally neato! :)

Here is a side view of one of the lovely frozen droplets at the ends of the pine needles in the previous image. You can see the trapped air bubbles in the icy droplet, and you can also make out the interesting, "filament frost" on top. (I'll be sharing some crazy pictures of this filament frost in the future, I got some beauties!)

These icicles were right next to the front stairs of our porch, and even though I've taken lots of icicle pictures, these are so perfect that I just had to share them! :)

This is the mushroom I found growing in a sea of moss on a thick branch which is supporting the massive trunk which will eventually fall to the ground. I'd say this little guy is about 1/2" in size, and isn't it funny how enormous the moss looks?! They look like bushes! :D This picture ended up taking a bit of work to process. I shot it at f/18, which meant the background was quite clear. I tried so many things to mess with the background, but in the end, the best solution turned out to be usine Topaz Lab's Lens Effects: Bokeh SLR Lens suite of filters. There are many lens choices and apertures to experiment with, and I chose the "Canon 85mm f1.8". In order to use it though, I had to use my method of removing some of the mushroom in that layer. Otherwise, the filter effect creates a large blurry halo around the mushroom. However, I think the result has turned out pretty well with plenty of massaging to work the mushroom into the image. I hope you like it! :)

I walked about 50 feet from the house to an Oak tree that has moss growing all over its lower branches. I've seen some beautiful things here before, and I was delighted to find this lovely acorn cap nestled in the moss. I originally planned to make this my Picture of the Day, until I looked up and saw the acorn cap balanced between two twigs! :)

After I took the picture of the wasp galls on the Oak leaf, I looked over at the small Oak saplings right next to me. I now know where to look to find the itty-bitty mushrooms that grow on these trees, and it didn't take me long. At the base of the sapling I found this darling little mushroom, about 1/8" in diameter! So cute and perfect! :)

I found this mushroom about 5 minutes after I got up onto the hillside and actually, I almost stepped on it! It was fun getting images from various angles and depth of field, but when I saw that the bokeh showed the shape of the Oak leaf perfectly, I was delighted! :)

As I studied the lichen for just the right frozen droplets, I discovered many fine spider webs here and there with frozen tiny droplets on them! I enjoyed trying to get crisp images, and this picture turned out the best! :)

This fern plant isn't large, with each frond being only a few inches long, so I thought it would be fun to try getting some close-ups of the undersides, which are so fascinating to me. What you are looking at are spores, which is how ferns reproduce. Ferns are one of the world's oldest plants, and they do not reproduce by flower pollination like most other plants. The next time you are admiring a fern, take a look at the underside, and you'll be surprised how interesting the spores look! In fact, the spore vary drastically from one species to another, and I find them quite beautiful! :) If you would like to know more about spore reproduction in plants, Wiki has a very nice page here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporogenesis

This picture shows a close up of a blackberry vine, complete with frosted thorns. Crazy, isn't it? I've never seen such well-defined crystals before! Explored on December 12, 2013. Highest placement, page 7.

Here's a close-up of a dried blossom, I think they look so cool! :)