Day 323 > The Mourner

The forecast for today said scatter showers. Riiiight. The rain has been falling steadily and by the bucketful since I rolled out of bed making for an absolutely lovely day of shooting. Ai, ai, ai. I can't think of a day with less perfect conditions for photography. Please be gentle when considering today's submission....

Day 322 > Deep In The Parkway

Sometimes wandering aimlessly can prove fruitful. A simple scene but something about the sunlight streaming through the trees and illuminating the creek just caught my eye this morning.
It was a tricky shot to capture with the sun shining directly toward the lens but with a little messing around I managed to avoid a lens flare and the combination of light and dark somehow balanced out for a perfectly lit exposure.

Day 321 > Holding On For Dear Life

In the lowland White Cedar forest of the Baird Creek Parkway, the old, old trees try to maintain a perilous grip on the earth, their very lives depending on it, as natural erosion slowly carries away the soil beneath exposing their roots. Inevitably, these trees will one day topple, unable to hold on any longer.

Day 320 > Pear-Shaped Puffball Mushrooms

No, an alien life form has not invaded the Baird Creek Parkway. These odd looking "pods" are actually the dried remains of the Pear-Shaped Puffball Mushroom. When they first appear they have a mottled white appearance but now, like nearly everything else in their surroundings, they have taken on the typical gold or brownish cast so prevalent throughout the forest in late Autumn. The mushrooms may no longer be living but they continue to do the job for which they were intended. Even a slight disturbance of one of the pods releases a little puff of spores through the hole at the top which is quickly carried away on the breeze...an action that, when witnessed, may indeed seem like something out of a bad alien invasion flick.

Day 319 > A Fluff Piece

My 9am arrival at the milkweed patch that I'd had in mind for this morning's shoot could not have been more perfectly timed. The sun had not quite peeked over a the nearby hill leaving the patch in shade during which time I looked over the many seed pods bursting with tufts of fluff. Just as I found the one I wanted, sunlight began streaming through the branches of the oak trees on the hill and bathed the dead plants in a perfect dappled light, highlighting the color of the pods and adding a shimmer to the tufts which will soon take flight and carry the seeds away.

Day 318 > Oak Hill Cemetery

Oak Hill Ceme tery; Neenah, WI

Day 317 > Friday Night Lights

I had a little fun painting with light tonight on Monroe St where a passing city bus helped to add a sense of motion to this night scene.