3 Views of Harvestmen

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A harvestman carrying something across a leaf.

Today we take a brief look at 3 views of 2 different harvestman species, an arachnid often confused for a spider. Though they do look very similar to spiders, they apparently have more in common with scorpions. Don’t let that scare you, though, harvestmen are completely harmless to people. In fact, they don’t even have venom glands, nor do they produce silk as spiders do.

Harvestmen are one of the species sometimes referred to as daddy-long-legs for their very long legs. And speaking of their legs, one of their defense mechanisms is intentionally dropping one of their still moving legs to get the attention of the predator and let them escape. Unfortunately, the leg doesn’t regrow, so they can’t use this defense very often.

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Spying on a harvestman.

I found these harvestmen on leaves along the trail of a wildlife preserve. I was fortunate to have some decent light and non-distracting backgrounds to help the subjects stand out. I believe the black/white/gray harvestman might be a striped harvestman (Leiobunum vittatum). I’m not certain the species of the brown/orange one as there are several that resemble it.

One thing I was fascinated by was how the striped harvestman is carrying something below its body. I’m not entirely sure what it is, perhaps food of some sort. They eat insects and plant material, so it could be a piece of either.

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Hello, Harvestman!

When was the last time you sat and watched a harvestman walking? Next time you see one spend a little time with it. They really are fascinating to watch.

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Bridge Over the Channel

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Bridge Over the Channel: The Francis Case Memorial Bridge over the Washington Channel

This photo came about during a trip into Washington, DC, to view the cherry blossoms early one spring. My brother and I had travelled into DC many times over the years viewing and photographing cherry blossoms, and so for this trip we decided to look for cherry blossoms in an area we’d yet to explore, East Potomac Park. The park is located on a finger of land surrounded by the Potomac River and the Washington Channel, and is just outside the typical circuit route popular with most cherry blossom viewers.

You have to pass under a couple bridges to get to the majority of the park, and one of those is the Francis Case Memorial Bridge, over which 395 spans from Virginia into DC. I often find bridges, and particularly their underside, fascinating, and this one was no different. So I paused briefly and composed some photographs before moving on to the rest of the park and the cherry blossoms.

I like the symmetry you often find with bridges. And with this one I was drawn to the slightly lit undersides of the metal beams, lit from sunlight reflected from the water below. I did lighten them further in post-processing to help bring out some of what I’d been drawn to, the light and shadow, the patterns of the parallel lines occasionally crossed by the horizontal supports. And I liked the variety of tones to the stones of the support columns.

A lesson that was reinforced this day is that even when you go out with a specific goal in mind, such as photographing cherry blossoms, always keep your eyes open to other possibilities. You never know what you may find.

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To The Falls

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To the Falls

This photo of a paddler maneuvering his kayak upriver brings back great memories of a fantastic morning spent photographing the scenery and several paddlers at Great Falls on the Potomac River. I began the day photographing from some of the observation areas up top on the Virginia side. At first I focused on the river, itself, but then I began focusing on the paddlers on the water.

Later I decided to hike down the trail that leads to a lower area of rocks closer to water level. This is the trail some rafting groups take to bring their inflatable rafts to the rivers edge. From there they’ll take guests on a beautiful trip downriver. You have to be very careful in this area as it’s steep and rocky, and if it’s been raining it can make the rocks extremely slippery. And I have no interest going down there if the water level is too high. But you can see from the markings on the cliffs the water level that day was low compared to what it often is.

I found a spot on the rocks at a safe distance from the water, sat down, and started photographing. As when I was higher up at the observation areas, I focused both on the river and waterfalls, and on the paddlers in their kayaks. It’s always fun watching these folks maneuvering through the water, sometimes trying different moves, or positioning themselves for a specific feature on the river.

Then one of the paddlers maneuvered his kayak to the rocks just below me and came ashore, climbing up the rocks to sit near me. We had a nice conversation, talking about being on the river, different places where folks like to kayak, and photographing kayakers. We exchanged email addresses and I promised to send him any good shots of him I managed to create.

It was after he’d returned to the water I realized I had the opportunity to create the photo you see here. For most of the day I’d photographed paddlers using more telephoto focal lengths to zoom in on them and the action. But here I saw the potential for a wider view with the kayaker moving upriver, the larger falls in the distance, hopefully giving the viewer a sense of the anticipation of what’s to come, that slight calm before entering the rapids. I decided to title the photograph, To the Falls.

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