Mostly Photos

Maple Leaves in Autumn: Two Perspectives /  by Todd Henson

A maple canopy in orange

On a trip to Blandy Experimental Farm, the State Arboretum of Virginia, in the second half of November we found most leaves had already fallen from the trees. Not unexpected. However, we also found a few stragglers, maple trees hanging onto their leaves and showcasing some bright colors. Additionally, we got to see how beautiful the ground can be when most leaves have fallen, creating a carpet of colored leaves that create that distinctive crunch as you walk over them.

A carpet of colored maple leaves

I hope you enjoy this short look at two perspectives of the maple trees at Blandy.

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Autumnal Fungi on the Forest Floor /  by Todd Henson

Potato Chips in the Forest?

Hiking through the forest earlier this month (October 2021) I noticed mushrooms sprouting up all along some sections of trail. And, of course, being a nature photographer with a very general and flexible set of interests I just couldn’t pass them by without creating a few photographs. So in this post I share a small collection of the mushrooms I found, all with nearby leaves to show the season as autumn.

A Fungal Family Outting

A Mushroom Spotlit by the Sun

As tempting as it can be, I did not arrange any leaves (or mushrooms) in these photos. All are just as I found them, with the one exception being the removal of a single small leaf that had a nasty shiny splotch of slime atop it. Back home in the digital darkroom I performed my typical adjustments, such as exposure, color balance, white and black points, and some creative dodging and burning.

A Bendable Mushroom

Looking Down on a Bendable Mushroom

Autumnal Mushrooms

Quite often I’m inspired by other photographers, and in this case I want to acknowledge JWSmith Photography, who published a couple posts with his recent discoveries while mushroom hunting up in Maine. Check out his posts, Mushrooms and Mushrooms - Part II.

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Cabbage White on Thistle /  by Todd Henson

A cabbage white butterfly with a lovely streak of yellow on its wing.

Today we take a look at some views of a cabbage white butterfly on thistle. The subject makes for a fairly soft palette of colors with little bits of bolder color thrown in.

Facing the camera at an angle the cabbage white hangs on to the thistle.

I imagine the cabbage white attempting to hunker down and hide in the thistle, though it’s really just an illusion of perspective.

Look at that long tongue of the cabbage white as it feeds on thistle nectar.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the delicate nature of the cabbage white.

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