A Tale of Two Simons

by Posted in Landscapes, Nature, People, Plants, Trees, Woodland Leave a comment
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I’d like to recommend a couple of wonderful photographers who have great YouTube Channels. They’re both nature photographers, but each with his own take on the genre.

The first is Simon Booth (Above). Although he does take wider nature views, he seems to be fond of more intimate landscapes: fungi, leaves, mosses, lichens, grasses and the like. Although I’ve taken such pictures occasionally in the past, Mr. Booth had inspired me to do more.

The second is Simon Baxter (Below). He specializes in woodland photography. I also do my share of woodland photography, and I find it very difficult! Woodlands are very “busy” and it’s hard to find an uncluttered background. How does Mr. Baxter do it? I suspect is a combination of a good eye combined with lots of patience and persistence, qualities that, unfortunately, I lack. Anyway, Kudos to him. I love his photographs. I doubt that you will find better examples of woodland photography on YouTube. Another reason to watch his channel is his dog, Meg. The title of his channel is “Simon Baxter and Meg” and she’s popular with his viewers (including me). He generally takes her with him on his photo walks. You can see her running around in the background having a great time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier looking dog.

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Seed Head

by Posted in Nature, Plants Leave a comment
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I have no idea what these are. They resemble dandelion seedheads so that what I’ve titled the post. But seedheads for what plant? That’s the question and unfortunately, I don’t have an answer.

I just looked a bit more, and I suspect that it might be something called Miscanthus (or silvergrass). If so it’s considered to be an invasive species. Looks nice though, particularly when seen close up.

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Taken with a Sony A6000 and Venus Optics Laowa 85mm f5.6

Rubus Macro

by Posted in Macro, Nature, Plants Leave a comment
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What’s a “Rubus” you may ask? Well, my initial inclination was to call it a “Bramble”, but it seems this might have been incorrect. According to Wikipedia:

Rubus is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species, commonly known as brambles.

Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus, and bristleberries are endemic to North America. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are also common in the genus. The Rubus fruit, sometimes called a bramble fruit, is an aggregate of drupelets. The term “cane fruit” or “cane berry” applies to any Rubus species or hybrid which is commonly grown with supports such as wires or canes, including raspberries, blackberries, and hybrids such as loganberry, boysenberry, marionberry and tayberry. The stems of such plants are also referred to as canes.

Bramble bushes typically grow as shrubs (though a few are herbaceous), with their stems being typically covered in sharp prickles. They grow long, arching shoots that readily root upon contact with soil, and form a soil rootstock from which new shoots grow in the spring. The leaves are either evergreen or deciduous, and simple, lobed, or compound. The shoots typically do not flower or set fruit until the second year of growth (i.e. they are biennial). The rootstock is perennial. Most species are hermaphrodites with male and female parts being present on the same flower. Bramble fruits are aggregate fruits formed from smaller units called drupelets.

Around 60-70% of species of Rubus are polyploid (having more than two pairs of each chromosome), with species ranging in ploidy from diploid (2x, with 14 chromosomes) to tetradecaploid (14x).

So, it seems that I wasn’t entirely wrong. I merely underestimated the complexity of the species. You’ve got to love that last sentence. I particularly liked: “…with species ranging in ploidy from diploid..to tetradecaploid”. Clearly, this article was not written for the uninitiated reader.

I just liked that way that the sinking sun was backlighting the thing.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and Venus Optics Laowa 85mm f5.6