Janet Brien's photos

Our property is covered by oak forest which is divided by a large meadow. There is a huge variety of plants and animals to photograph, and with a macro lens, there is no end to all of the subjects to discover and capture. One of my favorite types of plants are the lichens, and we have many that grow here. I love these shrubby lichens, and their name, "Fruticose," means "shrubby"! :)

This is a close-up of a stump I found while wandering around on my property. I love the intricate pattern and interesting texture.

Growing poppies quickly became a mad love affair to me because they give so much and require so little in return. From happy seedling to freaky looking hairy bud, and then to breathtaking blossom and finally to their alien-like seed pods, these flowers are a feast to the eyes! I discovered the Poppy Game soon after they began blooming in my garden the first year, which is where you try to catch a poppy blossom opening up before the outer casing falls away. It happens fairly rapidly so you must be outside as the sun hits the flowers or you will likely find blossoms opening with the outer husk laying on the ground below. Sometimes the flowers seem to want to pose for me, and this particular June 1 morning in 2014, I managed to find an opening poppy with its casing AND a lovely poppy bud in the background fading into soft bokeh. :)

The year 2013 was a special one because that was when I decided to do my 365 photography project. I'd thought about it a lot before I committed to this challenge because I didn't want to fail. I was successful but I didn't expect to end up with so many pictures I was happy with. In fact, I wasn't able to show lots of the ones I finished, and there were and are still hundreds that need my attention. It was during the year that I became unhappy that I had so many unfinished pictures which really deserved to see the light of day. And now, every day I post a picture for my 366 Archive project, it makes me so happy! Here is a picture I took in January that year, a beautiful mushroom covered in frost in lovely morning light!

One of the coolest things about having a garden are all of the insects that come to visit. Of course there were plenty of pests, but lots of beneficial insects as well. Wasps don't spread much pollen, but they do a little bit, and they certainly are fun to observe and photograph! This one spent a lot of time slowly crawling around this fallen morning glory blossom before finally flying away.

(+1 in a note above) There is a town near our home called Shady Cove, and every year during March, people come from far and wide to visit Daffodil Hill. On each side of the road that leads to the top are acres and acres of daffodils in every variety that you can imagine. What a sight! Steve and I went up there three years ago and I took hundreds of pictures. After we left, we ended up driving around taking pictures of flowering trees that were in full bloom as well. When I got home I was so exhausted that I processed only one picture for my 365 project (see the image in the note above), and I've only finished a couple of other images...what a shame!! Along with this one today, I'll be sharing other pictures when I can in the months ahead! :)

Steve and I went to Cottage Grove a couple of years ago so we could ride our bikes on a 30-mile tour of the covered bridges there. We had a wonderful day, and as we were making our way back at the end of our ride, we saw this handsome train bridge lit beautifully in the late afternoon sun.

After a wildfire raged over one of our meadows, through our shop and up our hillside, I finally had the courage to take a closer look. With camera in hand I wandered up the ravaged hillside and took pictures of what I saw in the aftermath. Here is a heat-scorched madrone leaf laying on the burned soil.

When I decided to work on a garden a couple of years ago, one of the things I wanted was pumpkins. I got lots of varieties and it was a lot of fun to watch them sprout and grow. Pumpkins grow on vines, which means tendrils! I love the way these look, and how incredibly strong they are! I captured this one clinging to the deer fencing that enclosed my front garden. Explored on February 28, 2016. Highest placement, #46.

I found this lovely mushroom just two days shy of exactly two years ago. It's always such fun to find them, and one of the things I most love is how they all look like little fungus people with a story to tell. This one, for example, seems to be peering down at me with a mixture of curiosity and boldness. Perhaps it's thinking, "Just what are you and who do you think you are, stomping around in my forest?" Staring down at me as I lay on the leaves and moss, I could imagine it continuing with, "Why, you're disturbing the serenity and frightening all the creatures into hiding! Do please go away from here this instant!" :D I have folders brimming with wonderful images like this to share...how will I ever get to them all?! But at least I can share a few, and I hope that you like this one! :)

(5 more in notes above) Living in rural southern Oregon has shown me that even on my own property, some of the most beautiful flowers in the world can be found. This is a close up of a Henderson's Fawn Lily, which blooms during March all over our hillside and lower forest. This lovely blossom faces downwards, so getting a proper picture requires one to flop onto the ground and angle your camera up for a "face" shot! These flowers are usally lavender-purple, but some species are creamy yellow to bright yellow in color. There are a few of the creamy yellow ones along our ridge top, a wonderful surprise for me to find! If you roll your mouse over this picture, you will see other pictures I've taken of Henderson's Fawn Lily, and a couple of Oregon Fawn Lilies too! :)

It's the third week of February and this morning we woke up to a world of frost! What a perfect opportunity to share a frosty image from my archives! On this extremely cold December morning in 2013, the frost formed wonderful crystals, and this rusty screw was positively covered with it!

If you think of a California Poppy, the image of a brilliantly orange flower should pop into your head. However, did you know that they come in other colors too?! When I planted my raised bed garden a couple of years ago, I got an enormous mix of poppy seeds, which included normal California poppies and some other types as well. Only one other type appeared, but what a gorgeous plant it was!! And how perfect that the first bloom opened on the Fourth of July!! This is a White Linen California Poppy, and I'm happy to say that it came back last year, and I I'm looking forward to more lovely blossoms this year too! (By the way, if you would like to order seeds, I was very pleased by the offerings from the Vermont Wildflower Farm .)

(1 more picture above in a note) Until I moved to southern Oregon, it never occurred to me that acorns look different depending on the species of tree they come from. Our home is surrounded by mostly White Oaks with a few Black Oaks here and there. Once I saw each kind, it was totally obvious! This is a White Oak Acorn, and if you roll your mouse over the picture, you'll see what a Black Oak Acorn looks like (fully ripe and on the ground). I think both of them are really interesting with super textures to appreciate! I found this one in September 2013 while walking around on our property. :)

Steve and I are very fortunate to live in a very beautiful area of southern Oregon, within just a few miles of the lovely Upper and Lower Table Rocks. I took this picture from the top of the Lower Table Rock, showing the Upper Tablerock and Mt. McCloughlin in the distance. As I was processing this image, I took a look at Topaz Lab's Black & White filter set, and found this sepia tone filter with vignette that give this image a cool vintage look! :)

In July 2013, Steve and I drove up to Cottage Grove, Oregon, where we spent the day on a 35 mile bike ride visiting the many covered bridges and enjoying the lovely countryside. At one point we passed a fence inlaid with beautiful handmade metal artwork and went back so we could take pictures! I just LOVE the bokeh behind the art--I think it was a red car with shadows from a tree.

(4 more pictures in notes above) One day in October of 2012, Steve came into the house with a plastic box and asked in excitement, "Guess what I found in the shop?!" I had no idea, so it was a wonderful surprise to discover that he'd captured a baby Gopher snake! He knew I'd like to see it before he released it, and naturally, pictures were in order! After a few minutes of happy clicking, we brought the box outside, tipped it on its side in the meadow, and quick as a flash, our young friend slipped out of sight in the bushes!

(+5 more pictures above in notes) In July of 2013, Steve and I went on a bike ride that took us out into the lovely Applegate Valley. Along the way, we found an amazing garden that framed the gate to a nature and educational center called Pacifica Gardens. We'd never seen it before, and I was completely stunned by the number and variety of echinacea flowers growing there. We spent about 20 minutes taking pictures, and when I got home, I processed a few of them, but other than five lucky images, the folder has sat there, just gathering dust. This is the first of my unearthed treasures, a glowing golden blossom that took my breath away! I am happy to report that I've processed five other pictures so far, and I have plans to finish up at least half a dozen more. Such incredible flowers, they make my heart go boom!! :D Explored on February 20, 2016. Highest placement, #79.