Color Photography – Page 34 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Mountain Magnolias. A True Joy.

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Peter’s Creek Magnolia 52221a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Two months ago I published a brief introduction to using the leaf scars as a way of identifying trees. One of the examples I found was the Mountain Magnolia on the edge of my property. The long purple buds an easy identifying trait but packed up tightly inside that bud is one of our finest natural treasures.

The Early Spring buds of Mountain Magnolia.

The leaves inside the buds are probably the largest of our native trees. Young princess trees have a much bigger leaf but the mature princess trees leaves are tiny compared to mature mountain Magnolia. Inside that bud is several leaves that can be twenty inches long and eight inches wide. I think that the one in this image is too young to flower because I’ve never seen it bloom. But in the surrounding forest there’s others that put on some of the beautiful floral shows on my mountain. When fully open they’re average is ten inches in diameter with a fragrance that is unmistakable.

A Mountain Magnolia flower bud read to start its show.

One of the mature Mountain Magnolias in my backyard.

At this stage the flowers are just starting to open and I’ve always thought that they reminded me of doves rooting as a flock. The whole property is filled with a sweet scent and in recent days this is where the Eastern Towhee has been. He sticks to the shadows and flees any time we come out to see him. His favorite hiding place is in the thick undergrowth beneath this tree where the large leaves shelter him from both sun and rain.

A closer look at one of the Mountain Magnolia flowers starting to form.

We’re so blessed with wildlife here that it’s almost impossible to pick a favorite. But I really do look forward to seeing these beauties.

Another forming flower on the tree in my backyard.

This particular tree was one of the first to spring up after the Derecho of 2012 leveled my forest. Ever since the Mountain Magnolias have been a sort of symbol of hope for me. Beauty often springs from brokenness.

The Magnolia flowers seem to go through several stages before they fully open.

The small seedlings that came up to grow didn’t flower for a few years. I watched as year after year they graced the landscape with their huge leaves but no bloom.

In this stage they are already pumping out that sweet fragrance.

I’ve always commented about how opportunity slips so easily into the past. But it’s also true that the past carries away our sorrow as well. As the Magnolias and their companions reclaimed what the storm had broken I began to see that beauty doesn’t fade as much as it goes into a transition. The larger trees that fell made room for the seeds that lay dormant waiting for their turn to grow.

Once fully open the spectacular flowers reveal an intricate cone.

The flowers are only open for about two weeks and easily bruised by rain. The cones in the center will form a bright red cluster of berries that are dispersed by birds and squirrels. A lot of them will simply fall to ground and leave a black lump that’s often mistaken for bear scat. You can have a little bit of fun with your younger siblings by pointing them out and implying that we’re not alone.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

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Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

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Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

A Creek To Play In

Appalachian Heritage & Culture, Color Photography

Bare feet carefully tread through ankle deep water on a hot day. The feeling of slime on your toes isn’t exactly pleasing but does bring up slight giggle in flash of memory and reliving that past incident of witnessing as friend fell in slow motion and was soaked to the bone. The indignation of slipping and rising again covered in green goo was the very thing that made slapstick fun so long as pride bore the only injuries. Often the excuse for wading in was the collection of bait for a fishing expedition. Flipping over rocks and watching for crawldads to dart away. Your reflexes have to be lightning quick to catch one and do so without receiving a pinch. The crawldads are masters of defiance and sometimes catching one ends with wishing for the ability to let go. The caddisfly larvae cling to the underside of the rocks in a cocoon of silk and stone. In places where the painted sandstone is found the cocoon can be quite colorful and resemble jewelry. Some artists will even raise the insects in captivity and give them little bits of gold, silver and semiprecious gems to spin into their silken armor and mount the cocoon in a set once it’s discarded.

In the deeper eddies it’s not uncommon to find a green newt hovering just below the surface. They know that the fish won’t get them because they are poison but that doesn’t stop the children from catching them and making them into a temporary pet. In the young imagination they are really dragons and dinosaurs. Just very small ones. Spotted salamanders wriggle in shallow drainages that feed the creek and they too go into a bait can if caught.

At the end of the day it’s too late to do much fishing. Let’s just let them all go and they’ll be there for us next time. It really wasn’t about the fish anyway.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

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Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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Forage Friday #108 False Solomon’s Seal

Color Photography, Forage Friday, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled False Solomon’s Seal 51821 and was taken specifically for Forage Friday. All photos found on my website are my original work and are available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Please remember that Forage Friday is presented as trivia and not to be mistaken for medical advice.

The old man tread cautiously along the path. Large rocks near the trail would be a perfect place for a rattlesnake. He carried an odd walking stick that still had a branch protruding from one side and the tip was cut to a wedge shape. He used the stick to gently push back the undergrowth before taking a step. A basket made of woven willow shoots hung from his shoulder and rested on his hip. His wide brimmed hat partially obscured his face and he whistles an old Scottish tune as works. He takes note of the types of trees that surround him and quickly assesses the ferns and other so called weeds. Soil science as we know it today is unknown to him. But he knows the pointers that gives him an idea of what grows here. He’s wise enough to know that he should only harvest no more than one third of the bounty that his maker has blessed him with. A little of this and a little of that goes into the basket. A few mushrooms from the old stumps. A couple of bulbs are dug from the hillside using the wedge of his stick as a lever. The protruding branch allows him to dig in by stepping on it. He rejects the false hellebores and their poison. A little farther down the trail he spots his prize growing in the dappled sunlight. He has found the False Solomon’s Seal. The treasured shoots have a flavor somewhat like asparagus although slightly bitter. They will go into the pot and the rootlike rhizomes will be quickly broken up and replanted a little closer to his cabin. His gray beard parts with a smile as he begins his harvest.

False Solomon’s Seal was a native treasure. Being a perennial plant that is propagated in a similar was as potatoes it’s also one that’s easy to establish if you have the right growing conditions. It likes rich, well drained soil and as I said in the story, it wants dappled light.

The spot where I found the one in tonight’s Feature Image was growing among hardwoods like birch, maple and Hornbeam. There is a ditch below the roots that usually holds water but plant itself is above that. One of the problems in the mountains is the steep grade of the mountains leading to fertility loss in the higher elevations. It also means that the fertility will be concentrated in spots where the water settles in divits and benches. It’s in these places where most herbs are able to take advantage of the sediments and flourish.

The young shoots are collected from the place where they naturally break off from the main stem. If you start near the top and gently flex the stem while working your way down there will be a spot where the stem snaps off. Usually everything above that spot is tender enough to eat. Below that spot the stem is still edible but may be tough to chew. So it’s a good technique for conservation to find that natural breaking point and leave the rest to regrow and reproduce. The exception of course is when you want to propagate the plant.

The rhizomes of this plant are generally referred to as a root and is segmented. Each segment represents one year of growth just like the rings of a tree. And just like the stem it will have places where it naturally breaks. These nodes can be planted and will generate a whole new plant similar to planting the eyes of a potato.

The roots are edible but only if you follow a special process. Native Americans would soak them in lye overnight to neutralize the toxins and then after a thorough rinse they can be parboiled. They would also dry them and use the roots in teas to treat constipation and coughing.

In summer the pyramid of flowers at the tip of the stem will give rise to ruby red berries. The berries are edible but large quantities are laxative. When we review accounts of Native Americans using the berries they generally mix them with something else like cranberries. The mix would sometimes be crushed into a juice or dried berries added to a tea.

Traditional medicinal uses include using a tea made from the leaves to wash rashes for the relief of itching and to staunch bleeding. The root seems to have been valued more for medicine than food. The root tea was used as a laxative and stomach tonic. The root tea was also used as a treatment for Rheumatism but I’m not sure if that was a wash or if it was internal. The most interesting use for the root was to “cure” insanity. The method was to place the dried root in a fire and the crazy person would breathe the smoke to regain sanity. It’s usually mentioned as a side note that this was also done to stop babies from crying and it leads me to wonder if burning the roots brings out a sedative quality. Of course that’s a question for a biochemist to answer.

My bottom line opinion is that if you have a place where you can harvest False Solomon’s Seal without damaging the natural population it’s food value makes it worth the effort. It’s a very attractive plant in early Spring and even though the berries are only able to be consumed in limited quantities they are food for songbirds and game birds like turkey and pheasant. The latter two being an indirect harvest.

That’s it for tonight friends. Good night and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

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To Catch The Wind

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Eastern Red Cedar 51821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Thick evergreen boughs shake lightly in the still afternoon air. The Eastern Red Cedar is just beginning to flower and soon the light colored cones will be replaced by fragrant blue berries. I hoped to find a Cedar Waxwing building a nest or simply hanging out among the boughs but whatever the sly bird was it made a hasty egress on the other side of tree. I remember when this particular Cedar was just a tiny sprout growing among the brambles on the border of my parent’s driveway and the neighbor’s fields. In those days the only occupants of the large open hill were cattle. On warm Spring days the huge open field was the perfect spot to try and launch a kite. In the days before drones a kite was the best way to touch the sky. I seem to remember that we had one with Snoopy on it and the other was embossed with the markings of the Red Barron. We were by no means expert kite pilots. In fact we were happy to just get them airborn most of the time. We were thrilled if one made it above the trees! Now we have drones of every imaginable type and automatic return with high quality video. But the connection is virtual. The skill of reading the wind by the slightest vibration of a string and knowing that it’s time to reduce or increase tension is rare if not lost within the general public. And now it’s the little sprout that I used to brush past on my way to the open field that touches the sky. My she stand for generations and hopefully one day see children rediscover the lost art of catching the wind with a string.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

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Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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Weeds?

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Vetch 51821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Springtime in the Appalachian Mountains is always an explosion of colors. Small wildflowers seems to erupt from every mountain hollow. It seems like when you blink a new life appears before you. Vetch isn’t a native species but it is one that has adapted here. I do sometimes wonder if it’s capable of supplying a full range of micronutrients and phytochemicals for the wildlife that is native we’ve learned so much about our world since the days when learned people who had the best intentions brought so many alien species to North America. But it is sometimes used as fodder for livestock and it does fix nitrogen in the soil. The honeybees aren’t native here either but we do seem to consider them important to the balance of nature. And they do seem to enjoy the brightly colored pea like flowers of the Vetch along with the native bees and other pollinators. I was once advised by a marketing expert that I should probably not publish as many weeds but I to be honest I think that I have a different definition for what a weed is. The common aspect is that a weed is an undesirable plant growing in an inconvenient environment. And when I look at my forest with tree of heaven sprouting hither and yon I have a tendency to see their point. That particular tree is one that if I could completely remove from North America I would. I find no redeeming qualities in it whatsoever. However, that’s not true for every species. The deer on my mountain seem to enjoy the European clover, apples and even the Asian vetch that grows in the ditches and fallow fields. So the question becomes if it’s undesirable to whom? But I digress. The truth is that with a few exceptions like tree of heaven most of the alien species do offer at least some benefit.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

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Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

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