Color Photography – Page 119 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

The Feathered Little Minstrel.

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Indignant Mockingbird “and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

One of the things that I most look forward to at the end of winter is the return of the birdsong to my forests. And the rock star of the Appalachian Mountains is the mockingbird. Not all mockingbirds migrate. Some do and some don’t. Perhaps the ones that stay can’t really afford to take time off work or maybe the others are retired and have no reason to brave the cold. But the ones who stay seem to hold their peace through the dark months. Even though this winter has been a little on the mild side it wasn’t until after I noticed the days getting longer again that I heard the familiar rapidly changing song of the mockingbird. He likes to hang out in the picnic area in back of the office at my day job where he can find the occasional dropped morsels of food. I was thrilled to hear him again but he apparently wasn’t really as happy to see me. Being a city bird he’s pretty used the presence of humans and so when I sat down he hopped over expecting a tip for his songs in the form of a few crumbs. I however only had my camera in hand. The feathered little minstrel hopped around examining the grass for signs of a meal but upon finding only the grass he turned and gave me look which was captured in tonight’s feature image. I can’t really blame him for his Indignant attitude. After all, he welcomed me with a song and received nothing in return. And that really hurts when you work for tips!

Having expressed his scorn the mockingbird quickly moved to the trees and returned to his song hoping that the next human who comes along would be a better tipper.

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A Quick Look Below The Surface Of The Forest Floor

Color Photography

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Bracken Fern 011120” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The cool damp air is thick with the scent of the moss as I approach the the steep hillside. I have come to this spot on the edge of my property to look for signs of the seasonal progression. A leaf that seems pushed up a little or a mushroom starting to form.

The ground here is almost vertical. In fact it’s so steep that have been tempted to carve a set of stairs directly into the earth to allow for better access to the little bench above. The soil depth is almost nonexistent in this spot. Just below the moss is mineral earth. There’s no duff because the steep ground allows the rainwater to run down and carry the soil nutrients with it. But the moss seems to require very little from the soil. I have recently learned that science is interested in how this works and has found that there’s a special relationship between the moss and bacteria that might be feeding it. The nuts and bolts of how this happening is a little beyond my ability to go into but it allows the moss to colonize places where other plants can’t go. The moss builds a thick layer and the ferns come. They colonize the moss and I’m willing to bet that they are also being fed by the same bacteria. At some point there’s a fungal mat that connects it all together and allows the plants to actually communicate chemically. The really amazing thing is that the cutting edge research is said to indicate that the connections allow this team of colonists to co-opt disease causing bactira and force them to work to the benefit of the plants. The researchers also say that when artificial fertilizer is introduced into the system that this delicate balance is disrupted and the disease causing bactira is no longer able to be co-opted by the colony and goes back to being a disease. The implications are that the very thing we have been taught to do to make crops healthy could be causing crops to fail. I have to do more research on the subject and I’ve given a very simplified version of the story. But if it’s something that you’re interested in my source is The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast.

But here in the forest everything seems to be working the way it did when God set the world in motion. The bacteria, moss, fungus and ferns along with other plants are turning bare ground into rich forests. It seems to happening fairly quickly too. I stripped this very spot a couple years ago when I needed the moss for a project. Now I can barely tell that the cycle had ever been disturbed.

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Looking Forward To Longer Days.

Color Photography

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Pipevine Swallowtail on Blue Lobelia 9919” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

As the night shrinks away earlier and arrives later day by day I grow eager for life to return to my forest. We still have a lot of winter to endure but today I had actual, real life, daylight to enjoy as I walked out of the office of the day job! I was thrilled because that hasn’t happened since late October.

It’s a welcome sign on my natural calendar indeed. If it were within my power I would declare a national holiday on the first day that there’s real daylight at the end of the workday.

I suppose that’s what fueled my desire to post a butterfly picture tonight. The image of the pipevine Swallowtail visiting one of the wildflowers in my yard brings me back to the days that last until bedtime. I can look into the photo an mentally transport myself to that place where I can feel the sun.

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Encountering A C-17 Near The Mountain Top

Color Photography

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “C-17 Globemaster III 111419 A” all of the photos are my original work and are available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

My big blue truck rolls through the access road to my day job. The road crosses a ridge that’s near the airport and national guard base so I’m used to seeing all types of aircraft in the area. What I didn’t expect was a large military jet that was so close to the mountain top that it was almost in my lane. ( Not really, it was just an optical illusion. ) I quickly whipped the truck off road and jumped out with my lens. The C-17 Globemaster III was low. Really low. For a moment I wondered if it was going to come down in the empty field to my left. Then it turned and was heading straight for me.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/contact/ — Image Titled C-17 Globemaster III 111419 B

It’s an every day occurrence for the massive C-130s to fly over and shake the ground as they thunder along skimming the treetops. But this the first encounter I’ve had with a C-17. The large jet just seemed to float as it banked and began to drop altitude. By the time it was directly overhead it felt like I could just reach out an touch it.

C-17 GLOBEMASTER III 111419 C — Image Titled C-17 GLOBEMASTER III C

The jet has a 170 foot wingspan, is about 174 feet long and cruises at 450 knots. As close as it was I expected to be in the jet wash but it didn’t so much as shake a leaf as it sailed through over my head.

In the late 70s and early 80s the air national guard would practice maneuvers over the farm and the odd sonic boom would rattle the windows. But this behemoth moved like it was an airborne whale with a graceful purpose as it continued it’s turn and floated down on the base.

As big plane settled below the horizon I knew it was time for the big blue truck to follow suite and proceed to the parking lot to rest while I work.

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Forage Friday #43 Wild Garlic

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Crow Garlic — Hello friends!Tonight’s feature image was taken just for Forage Friday. The purpose of photo is to show wild garlic in its natural state.

Disclaimer: Wild Garlic and Wild Onions have multiple dangerous look-alikes. Not the least of which is an Appalachian plant known as Fly Poison (Amianthium). Fly Poison is said to be so toxic that people have died because they touched the leaves and failed to wash their hands before eating.

As I was crossing my yard I suddenly picked up a strong odor of onion rose up from the grass. I looked down to find that I had just stepped on a cluster of garlic.

Locally known as “wild onions” or “Crow Garlic” this stinky little plant is just as useful as it’s larger cousins found in grocery stores and gardens. As children thus was one of the first plants that I learned. I was taught to pinch off a bit of the leaf and smell it before I tried it. The rule of thumb is to never eat a plant that looks like a onion but doesn’t smell like an onion. As stated in the disclaimer the Fly Poison plant is one that has a reputation for causing fatalities. I am pretty sure that I have fly poison on my place as well but it doesn’t come up until Spring where the wild garlic is available almost all year round.

The green leaves of wild garlic can simply be snipped with a set of shears and sprinkled like chives. Mixed into butter for garlic bread or just tossed into a salad. The bulb is small but as you can see in the photo they grow in clumps and collectively a colony of wild garlic can provide a fair amount of mass. When it goes to seed the top will have a cluster of tiny bulblets that will eventually take root.

I find the flavor to be a bit stronger than regular garlic so it doesn’t take advantage much to get the flavor.

Like the garden variety of garlic wild garlic has a long history of being used in folk medicine. Science has proven that garlic has some antibiotic and antimicrobial use and it’s high in some vitamins and minerals including a form a sulphur that can be absorbed by the body.

About those vampires and garlic. I thought it be a fun fact to look up how that came to be but like everything else the internet is ablaze with debate. Some say origin goes back as far ancient Egypt while others believe that Bram Stoker was the first to weaponize garlic against the forces of darkness. Being a Gen-Xer it’s my opinion that the use of holy water laced with garlic was pure genius by my favorite vampire hunters from the 80s. Namely, the Frog Brothers.

The world may never know for sure how garlic became the bane of vampires. But no matter if the Frog Brothers drop by to fill their super soakers with their special anti vampire blend of holy water and garlic juice or if you want a little garlic bread to go with your spaghetti there’s a fine source of flavor and medical plant that’s probably in your back yard right now.

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