Janet Brien's photos

Some day, if you find yourself walking through a moist, cool forest, take a moment to carefully peek under the bark and logs along the way. You never know what you'll find. Under a moist piece of rotted log, I found a tiny world. So small that it appeared to be hundreds of period-sized dots, I lay the bark down so I could take pictures with my macro lens. Staring nose-close with my "micro vision" so I could see what I was looking at, I gasped in surprise when I found an itty-bitty snail among a forest of miniature mushrooms. Incredible!!

Say hello to Sinky! Steve found him over at our shop a few years ago, sitting in the sink and enjoying the moisture there. However, Steve didn't think it was the best place for a frog, so he brought the cutie-pie over to a plastic wading pool next to the house and released him there. I was out there with my camera at the time and managed to get some nice pictures before he hopped off into the grass! :) (This is another picture of Sinky that I captured. My first pick can be seen by rolling your mouse over the upper left corner)

Steve and I have a friend who told us about the Ashland Garden Tour, because her garden was selected as one of the featured gardens. Steve and I went to visit her a week before the tour and I spent hours taking pictures that day. These lovely blue asters were just one of the countless beauties in her garden! Explored on Sept. 1, 2016. Highest placement, page 4.

You may remember me mentioning that it's quite a challenge to capture a poppy bud as it's breaking free from its pod-like covering. It usually takes only a few minutes for the sheath to split and fall away, so I was always on the lookout! I was delighted when I found this one and, as another bit of luck, I was able to include a poppy pod in the background that appeared to be admiring this lady in red with her hairy green hat!

We are approaching the first of September, which means our hottest days this season will soon be past...THANK GOODNESS! My favorite times of year here in southern Oregon are Spring, Fall and Winter, and it won't be more than a month or so before we'll start getting frosty mornings again! Here is a frost-encrusted blackberry cane, complete with a thorn, just in case you thought it would be nice to touch those lovely crystals! :) It will never fail to amaze me how detailed and beautiful frost is when you get a close look at it! :)

(One more image above in a note) At the end of 2014 I did a 10-week photography project based on the color wheel . It was a perfect opportunity to appreciate the many bags of mixed beads I got from my husband's work, Fire Mountain Gems & Beads. I ended up processing some extra images, and this is one of them, which features a fun transparent bead in front, with lots for bokeh in the background!

What a magnificent flower to have in a garden. Easy to grow, these plants will reward you with dozens of stunning blossoms over 2-3 months! They are a fantastic photography subject from bud to after they have dried up! And because they are large, they make fine practice subjects for photographers of all levels. Being large with a shape that isn't hard to capture, they are forgiving for newer photographers. For those who are adept at macro photography, the macro details offered by this flower abound! Hairy sepals, leaves and stems, velvety-looking centers, and as this flower matures, the brown area you see erupts into tiny yellow florets! Black-eyed Susans are MAGNIFICENT!! :) (I photographed this beauty in my raised-bed garden a few years ago, and had fun adding a texture to the background. :D)

(+2 in notes above) As the weather shifts from summer to fall, I know that mushrooms will soon be growing again. It's a wonderful adventure to go on a hunting mission because I never know what I will find! I wandered into our lower forest one morning and stopped to peer carefully at a large log, and discovered this happy little guy peering back at me! As I moved closer to take pictures, I realized that this fellow was actually growing through a crack in the log! I took some pictures from above to show that it was, indeed, growing through a hole (please roll your mouse over the upper left corner to see!). This particular log had rotted from the inside out, and lay on the ground like a bark-covered shell. Lifting it up, I could hardly believe what I saw!! This seemingly short little mushroom was actually a giraffe in a mushroom suit! I was able to hold the log up with one hand and take pictures with the other! When I went to process that third picture, I was astonished to see the countless other mushrooms growing there as well! What an amazing find!! Please click on that image to visit the larger version--it's fun to see all of the fun details of the mushrooms growing under that log!

I have saved my favorite picture from the Ashland Garden Tour for the last! Yes, after 42 pictures, I have FINALLY reached the end of this collection. How about this for an extremely unusual flower? I found these blossoms on a plant with sharp, pine-like needles. I've never seen anything like them, have you? A huge THANKS to Fizgig and Tiabunna for identifying this amazing flower for me! Explored on August 25, 2016. Highest placement, #3. (WOW THANK YOU!!!)

(+3 in notes) I didn't realize that I had this picture ready to go! In the same garden that featured the other columbines that I've shared, there were also these. In fact, I have another picture I shared earlier in this project, so if you'd like to see all of the columbine pictures at once, just roll your mouse over the upper left corner! Aren't they stunning! :)

(+1 in a note) Sometimes luck is in your favor, and it certainly was when I found this beautiful red and white columbine. I had never seen one before, but even more surprising was that there were purple and white ones and golden yellow ones as well! On top of that, the light was just right to show the translucence of the petals, too. You can see the purple and white flower by rolling your mouse over the upper left corner of this image!

(+1 in a note) Look at the pretty details of this flower! I took another picture showing this blossom with others in the background too. You can see that one by rolling your mouse over the upper left corner.

There is a reason that Marigolds are such a popular flower. On top of the fact that they are lovely, they are resistant to many insects, and they are also resistant to deer and other nibbling visitors. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors and are easy to grow. This cream-colored beauty was found on my Ashland Garden Tour, and the late afternoon light made it easy to get a picture that highlighted the subtle color of this flower, and I lucked out with a nice background for contrast. If you'd like to learn more about Marigolds, Wikipedia has a very nice article to get you started: Wiki: Marigolds

Thanks to Pam J for confirming that these are a kind of allium, more specifically, Ornamental Chives. I couldn't resist the opportunity to get some fun bokeh in the background with some crisp focus on the foreground cluster. Yet again, this is a picture I captured at the Ashland Garden Tour a few years ago.

Have you ever seen such beautiful, unusual flowers before?! I cannot even classify them for a proper description...they look like colorful grass, but they look like living fireworks too! Thanks to Ker Kaya for letting me know the name of this Australianf flower and getting information too I love them!! I found these flowers on the garden tour that Steve and I went on a few years ago. (If you'd like to see another picture I took of a single flower, roll your mouse over the upper left corner of this image.) :) You can learn more about them on this wiki page: Wiki: Pink Mula Mula

I love Penstemon, and when I found it growing wild in one of our meadows, I was overjoyed! I've seen this lovely flower in the wild before, but it's almost always been shades of blue and purple. So when I found this one in lovely blush pink during the garden tour Steve and I went on, I was delighted! What a soft, pretty color for this marvelous flower! :) (If you'd like to see some pictures of other Penstemon that I've photographed, roll your mouse over the upper left corner for a link.)

Such delicate details in something so small. Macro lenses give you the chance to see clearly what you either cannot see at all with your naked eye, or it's barely noticeable. I am blessed with what I call "micro-vision" and am able to see things extremely close up and tiny. Unfortunately I'm also blind as a bat, but I think it's a pretty fair trade! :)

What fun to have the excuse to play with textures! This pretty little flower was wonderful in every way...except that it was growing right in front of a white garage door. No worries...just change the background to a texture and suddenly the pretty little flower against a boring dirty white door turns into something artistic and fun! Explored on August 18, 2016. Highest placement, #59.