Color Photography – Page 134 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Autumn Crossing

A slow drizzle of rain floats through the hills. It’s just enough rain to bring out the color of the leaves along the Kanawha River. I know by the mood of the clouds that the winds are well on their way. The high winds that come about this time of year just after the color peaks strips the leaves from the trees and scatters the fall colors. I have one chance to catch them before this happens. The curved railroad bridge between Alloy and Deepwater has always been one of my favorite subjects and I’m actually ahead of schedule for my morning commute so I pull the big blue truck onto the berm and try to get as far off of the road as possible. When I opened the door of the truck the smell of the rain mingled with my morning coffee and invigorated my soul. I only have a few minutes to grab a handful of frames so I got right to work. The gracefully curved bridge with it’s rustic feel mirrored in the Kanawha River was the perfect subject for catching the colors of fall on the Kanawha River. I could spend all day exploring different angles and settings but it the day job that pays the bills. So, I tuck my cameras away and grip the steel cable as take one more breath of fresh before moving on to the next opportunity.

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The Light Catchers

Color Photography

The precious sunshine beams down to caress and energize the leaves. The leaves reach out to catch the life giving rays and glow with joy. The late Autumn sun enriches the golden tones of the sugar maple. The deep reds of the Dogwood echo the maples and the whole world takes on the appearance of a stained glass window.

As I stroll through this natural sanctuary I can’t help think about the light’s interaction with the leaves. They not only catch the light but they also hold it and as it soaks in the leaves become light sources themselves.

When we are able to catch and hold the light we can become a source of light for others. Our faces shine with a bright smile and joy beams out of our eyes. Our lives are fully enriched when we reach for the light.

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Liquid Flames Of An Appalachian Fall

Color Photography, Prints Available From Lloyd's Lens Photography

The crisp Fall air is disturbed only by the occasional gust that sends a cascade of brightly colored leaves pouring out of the forest. I have been working long hours and it’s well past time for a breath of fresh air so I grab a camera and meander around my property. Earlier this morning my dog “Scout” had flushed out a great blue heron out of the creek that runs through the front of my yard. I knew that after such a chastising from the porch that the odds of the large crane-like bird returning were long but I decided to give my best and venture out to the edge of the forest and see if it was there. The heron was long gone and probably stalking the Gauley River by now. I took a deep breath and drew in the scent of the fall. Fall has a sweet earthy aroma that similar to sphagnum moss but sweeter and mixed with the smoke of my closest neighbor’s fire. He’s already burning the oak that’s been curing for at least a year. I listened to sharp call of a female Cardnial keeping up with her mate in hopes that they would wander within range of my lens. The squirrels are still playing in trees but the leaves are still giving them plenty of cover to hide in. I turned my attention to the water as it flowed over the large flat sandstone bottom of the creek and fomed a shallow pool. Different shades of yellow, orange and red floated through the pool and swirled in the eddies. I decided to try for a shot o f a leaf in the water. Then the light spoke to me. It spoke in the form of swirling and flickering tones of fall leaves backlit by the autumn sun. The light told me a story of flames dancing on the water and eventually merging with the stream to become the liquid flames in the image. I love it when a photo gives me that otherworldly feel. I didn’t even really need to do much editing to this one. I simply adjusted for clarity and took out a tiny bit of noise and it instantly became one of my favorite “abstract” photos. I was so inspired by the look of the orange and yellow that I cropped it down and turned the flames upright.

Today was the last day of sunshine in North America. Tonight somewhere in the inky blackness an hour of sunshine is taken away and gives birth to the cold gray world of winter. But, I now have a fire to keep me warm until April.

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Forage Friday #31 Juniper Berries

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is Juniper Berries On Eastern Red Cedar. The photos in this post were taken just for Forage Friday. All of the photos are my original work and are available as prints by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

DISCLAIMER : Juniper Berries are one of the plants that I have not actually used. I have done some research for the article but since I’ve not used it myself I’m strongly urging you to double check all information for accuracy. The Web MD article on Juniper Berries lists them as possibly safe. Therefore I wanted to point out that there are some cautions. With that said, we’ll also see that there’s also some traditional uses that would indicate that they’re relatively safe.

One of the more common plants that I have grown up with is the Eastern Red Cedar. It’s an evergreen that’s fairly common in the Appalachian Mountains and because it gets timber sized it’s often mistaken for a type of pine tree. But pine trees have true needles where the juniper has leaves that are more like scales. The eastern red cedar is a beautiful tree that’s often planted as an ornamental if the right soil is available. As kids we always thought of them as Christmas Trees because of the pyramid shape they have.

I have always thought of the red cedar as a utility tree. That’s one who’s properties are more useful as a non-food / medicine. The bicolor wood is absolutely beautiful when polished. It has a creamy colored sapwood and red heartwood that’s pleasing to the eye and wonderful spicy aroma. Because of smell red cedar is traditionally used to make cabinetry. The smell keeps pests like moths from infesting natural fiber clothing and cedar panels are sold for closets. Cedar chips can be purchased by the bale as pet bedding. Early in my life as an artist and craftsman I was commissioned to create a cedar bed frame. I saved as many scraps and as much sawdust as could scrape up to make air fresheners. When I was a kid most #2 yellow pencils were made out of cedar. Even as I write this I can slell the smell of the old fashioned hand cranked pencil sharpener in my third grade classroom.

The wood is usually pretty stable and I could fill the whole post with lists of things you might use it for but this is a #ForageFriday post so lets move on to the food and medicine.

As I stated that the disclaimer there are some reasons for caution. For example, Juniper is known to cause miscarriages and diabetes are cautioned to consult with a medical professional due to the risk of kidney damage. Even a healthy person shouldn’t consume the berries in large quantities or for an extended period. But the berries are used to flavor gin.

The key seems to be moderate use as a spice on wild meats. There seems to be plenty of recipes online calling for small amounts of juniper berries and one marinade I saw called for a total of 3 berries in the mix.

Anyone can have an unknown allergy but juniper allergy is a known thing so keep that in mind.

I’m not really the kind of person who uses a lot of cologne but in the 90s I did have a favorite scent that was made from juniper berries so if you’re the kind of person who has a talent for making scents juniper is one that you might try to craft from wildcrafted berries.

The last little tid-bit that I have tonight is that even though we call it a berry it’s actually a cone that encases a single seed. The part we call a berry is actually scales. And, the white powdery substance that coats the “berry” is a wild yeast that us probably what lead to it’s use in making gin.

A closer look at the berries showing the wild yeast.

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Water Colors

Color Photography

A cool misty rain sweeps through the hills of West Virginia on a late October morning. My schedule is rarely this open so I allow the big blue truck to take me wherever it wants to explore. No. I haven’t upgraded the truck to a robot. I don’t need to in order for it to speak to me. For those who attuned to the road just know what their vehicles are saying. Sometimes they want to race. Sometimes they want to slowly cruise and enjoy the sunshine. But if it’s a four wheel drive it’s likely to be in the mood to explore and maybe throw a little bit of mud into the air. On this particular day my truck suddenly decided to see what was on a side street and took me off the main highway. I struggled to hold him back as we traveled down the narrow lane. Then my big blue truck urged me pull into a parking lot where we found a Sassafras tree in full Fall glory. You may not believe it but four wheel drive trucks have a sixth sense and instinctively know where to find beauty in nature. I pulled up as close to the tree as I could and took out my camera. “Roll down my window down!” The truck urged. I had already planned to shoot from the cab so I could keep the lens clean but I allowed my truck to believe it was his great idea. Then he whispered, “God paints our world with watercolors.” As I observed the mists collecting on the red, orange and yellow leaves I knew what he meant.

I shot several different angles and settings and became so inspired by the beautiful leaves that I created a special one to post to Lloyd’s Lens Photography on Facebook.

Image Titled “God Paints With Watercolors”

I had to remove the post because Facebook deemed it to be spam and as most people who admin a business page knows there’s no appeal. If the algorithm gets you then that’s it. All we can do is wait to see if Facebook decides to take down the whole page. Now, the only reason why I even bring this up is because I have had so much positive interaction with different Facebook groups that I’ve shared with for the past few years. For those who are relying on seeing my posts come up in group feeds there’s a pretty good chance that Facebook will no longer allow me to deliver the blog to you that way. But if you enjoy my blog and my stories then you can sign up for my daily email at the bottom of my Welcome Page. As time goes on I’ll be adding other social media platforms like MeWe.com and putting more effort into things like Pinterest and YouTube and Twitter but for now be blessed and if you enjoy the photos or the stories please leave a comment in the comment section of my blog and let me know where you saw the post.

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