Lost Creek Reservoir

A few days ago, Steve and I drove out to Lost Creek Reservoir for a hike and some photography. We were there last spring and wow, what a difference! On our previous visit, this place was exploding with flowers and lush new greenery, but right now, the plantlife is only just beginning to wake up for the upcoming show. No worries for us, because when you have macro lenses, there are endless wonderful things to photograph! I remembered that one of my favorite plants grows here in a few places, the fabulous, prehistoric plant, the Horsetail (also known as snake grass or puzzlegrass). This amazing living fossil is one of the world's oldest species, dating back over 100 MILLION years!!! Isn't that INCREDIBLE?!! I have always lovd these plants because they are so unusual looking, but I have never taken a really close look at one before, nor have I seen a brand new sprout! What a cool plant!! If you would like to know more about Horsetails, Wiki has a super page here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum This image was taken in February, 2012. (Explored on February 12, 2011)

[best appreciated at full size against black] Little, tiny, itty bitty, eensy, weensy slug! I have Steve to thank for pointing this adorable little guy out to me, and he was hard to spot, measuring only about 1/2 an inch long! Here you can see him motoring along through the foliose lichen and moss forest, with a Pixie lichen towering over him. For another size reference, in the upper left is the "flower" of a moss plant, called a sporophyte...that's SMALL! Finally, you should take a look at where this guy is heading! Why...it's a mushroom! And that is probably what he'll be munching when he arrives, as it's a favorite food for mollusks! (In this image, you can see something on the mushroom...it's a BUG! I wonder if they will share?!) This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] It seems to me that if you like macro photography, you automatically love ferns. I don't know anyone that doesn't love these beautiful, elegant plants, and it seems that we all want to see close-up detail of these lovely fronds. With my new camera and macro lens, I am able to take the kinds of pictures I've always dreamed of. I've got a lot to learn about taking good pictures with a macro lens, so you'll probably notice the focus is off by a hair on the right, but I thought it was crisp enough to share with all of you! :) This image was taken in February, 2012.

*** First Place Winner at the Jackson County Fair! *** Steve and I drove out to Lost Creek Reservoir for a photography hike about a week ago and both of us were on the lookout for mushrooms! This area is very wet in the winter and spring, so we knew there would be plenty of fungus and lichen to take pictures of. As predicted, there were lots to take pictures of, but when I found this one, I squealed outloud to Steve, "LOOK!!!" Some mushrooms are extra special, and this is one of them. With its translucent cap and defined, deeply grooved gills, this stunning mushroom is prettier still because of the way its stem is curved as it grows out of the hillside. Illumination from above further enhanced the glowing quality, and finally, the background fell off into darkness to make this one of my most glamorous mushroom shots! I hope you like it! :) (By the way...if you like this mushroom, I'll be posting a cropped-in close-up to show that pretty detail in a few days!) I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in February, 2012. Explored on February 16, 2012.