Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

The Hawaii Tropical Island is along the coast north of Hilo on the Big Island. The garden includes tropical plants from all over the world and is located on a cliff going down to sea level. The first part of the path is a boardwalk that is just wide enough for the golf carts that help people that cannot walk down (or back up) the garden paths.

The understory of the forest is almost overwhelming with ferns – sometimes growing on soil but also coming from tree trunks too.

Some trees have colorful roots that start before the soil line

Moss and vines grow on trees trunks too.

Gold Dust Day Geckos (native of Madagascar) are colorful; they are easier to spot when they are not on foliage close to their own color.

I was surprised to spot these pitcher plants

And a lot of flowers that I had only seen in Conservatories previous!

The forest was shady for the most part but where the sun did make it through – the plants seemed to glow.

And the streams through the garden were brimming with lush vegetation – sometimes almost like carpets.

When we got down to the ocean – the boulders of lava were being battered by waves –

The surging for water against rock….on and on.

And then we made the climb back up the cliff.

The garden was a good place to be in the morning before the heat of the day. We covered exposed skin with sun screen and sprayed ourselves with bug repellent since we’d hear of Dengue Fever being a problem on the Big Island in the weeks before we arrived. The gift shop at the garden was good too….more on that when I summarize our purchases during the trip (later in this series).

Previous Hawaii Posts:

• Getting to Hawaii
• Thurston Lava Tube and Kilauea Iki Trail
• Chain of Craters Road

Centennial Park Reflections

There were thick clouds the morning I walked around Centennial Lake; the light made for muted reflections rather than crisp clean lines in the water and blue sky above the line of trees…but I enjoyed the challenge and got a few images that I like well enough to share.

There was a pile of rocks that has been extending into the lake long enough for vegetation to take root. The reflections of the plants growing on the rocks are reflected as well as the trees from the opposite bank of the lake. I liked the muted fall colors.

The trees are still mostly green but there is an occasional bright red. I wondered if the fishermen thought the fish were lurching in the water near the bright color!

The bridge over an inlet to the lake can always be counted on for color – and again there was a fishing boat nearby. The trees appear to be on the verge of losing their green; it should be all the colors of fall by the end of the month.

Centennial Lake in the morning has a good orientation for reflections. My challenge is to go back on another morning toward the end of the month when there is no breeze….to get the glory of fall foliage in the trees and reflections.

Centennial Park Close Ups

Cloudy days are opportunities for some close-up photography. That was my first thought when I walked around Centennial Lake (Howard County Maryland) last week. The poke weed seeds stalks are quite distinctive….a nice color contrast with the green of their leaves.

Queen Anne’s Lace grows between the rocks on the dam that creates the water

As do other plants that are racing to bloom and create their seeds before frost.

A beech tree is shedding its seeds into the mulch bed (and lichen) along the walk near the boat rental

And an oak leaf – still retaining some green – has landed there as well.

I was looking carefully in that mulch bed for the birds nest fungus I had found there earlier in the season. Many of the cups were washed clean of their ‘eggs’ (spore cases) by last week's rain (or maybe an earlier rain) and the runoff had broken up some of the mats. There were some small mushrooms growing nearby – looking very delicate compared to the other plants and big leaves.

In the walk back to the car – I noticed several other plants in bloom

And some were dispersing their seed, already prepared for winter.

Longwood Gardens Fiddleheads – September 2015

When we were at Longwood Gardens last week – several of the ferns in the conservatory were in the fiddlehead stage. I always find the tightly packed spirals of the fronds fascinating. Some of them already have the beginnings of spore structures on the underside of the tiny parts of the frond that beginning to unpack itself as it uncurls. Often times the stem looks hairy too.

Sometimes the structure is one simple spiral and sometimes there are multiple spirals packed together. In the case of the one below – the main stem elongates to separate the spirals before they are completely open. The color of the ‘hair’ stands out with the bright green of the spirals.

On tree ferns (below), the fiddleheads start out without any green at all and then expand as they unfurl – revealing the green frond.

Next spring I’ll photography fiddleheads in our nearby woodlands….if I can get my timing right. They might not be as large as these from the conservatory at Longwood…but they are a joy to find and a sign of spring.

Abstract and Impressionistic Images from Camper Nature Photography

Last August I did some nature photograph activities with summer campers (posted about it here). Now I am looking back at some of the images that did not quite work as traditional nature photographs and getting ideas for some experiments of my own.

Sometimes the camper moved while taking a picture. It takes on an abstract look – sometimes you get a gist of the scene (maybe makes it impressionistic instead of abstract).

Other times there is a soft focus that clearly leans toward impressionistic.

Some cameras have special settings that can be used in unintended ways. It is worth some experimenting.

And then there are reflections – where the water is not still or there is too much under the water.

The summer campers were very creative – sometimes on purpose and sometimes completely by accident. They’ve given me some ideas for experiments with my own camera!

3 Free eBooks – September 2015

A feast for the eyes – the natural world and the world of houses that are homes – that is the abstract of the 3 Free eBooks I’ve picked this month.

Porter, Eliot. Intimate Landscapes. New York: E.P. Dutton. 1979. Available from the Internet Archive here. This book gave me a lot of ideas about some different types of photography…still nature photography but with the idea of smaller settings that wide open landscapes, but more than macro images of flowers. Porter was interested in the nexus of nature photography and art in all his books but this one seemed more focused on that in-between perspective on the natural world. I had seen several of his books in physical form; this is the only one I have found available electronically.

Yagi, Koji with photography by Rho Hata. Japanese Touch for Your Home. Kodansha International. 1982. Available on the Internet Archive here. I like the lack of clutter in Japanese homes. I was also intrigued by the window coverings (some examples show in the clipped image from the book.

Baker, William T. New Classicists. The Images Publishing Group. 2004. Available from the Internet Archive here. Some beautiful, classical looking houses from Atlanta, GA. This is a book full of inspiration if you are remodeling…or looking for a new house…even if most of us can only afford smaller versions of these high end homes.

Fallen Leaves - Old and New

Back in August there were already hints of fall in the New York State Parks we visited….a few freshly fallen colorful leaves. I noticed instances where a newer leaf as meshed with older ones and thought about how quickly most leaves begin to decompose once they are on the ground - particularly in wet environments.

Notice the tip of the maple leaf (below) that has already cracked off the main body of the leave and how faded the color seems to be.

Leaves that are actually in water probably don’t last long at all.

Fresh leaves on old leaf mulch and wet rock stand out because of their contrasting color.

 A fresher looking leave under the brown leaves…how did that happen?

Sometimes green leaves fall. Was there a storm or did this leave simply fall from the tree in the same way leaves do this time of year?

I’m primed for the big show where the majority of leaves on the deciduous trees turn from their summer green - hang on to the tree for a little while - then swirl away. Fall is never long enough to be boring! 

Learning Log - September 2015

I’ve pasted monthly about the classes I was enjoying on Coursera for the past year or so.Last month I expanded to ‘online classes’ since I enjoyed a Creative Live photography class. This month I’m expanding beyond that to the idea of a ‘learning log’ post each month as a way to document my learning paths; it’s an acknowledgement that my learning paths are evolving all the time both in content and learning strategies.

Learning by doing. I am endeavoring to take/make opportunities to apply what I am learning. The best example over the past month was the nature photography activity I did with summer campers. Teaching someone else is a great milestone for learning. I’m in the process of writing out the activity notes…and lessons learned….so that I can do it again next summer - even more effectively. The interaction also prompted several photographic projects for my continued development.

Coursera courses are still something that will appear in my learning log almost every month….I’m not planning to have more than a couple in progress at any particular time. I finished the Geodesign course in August. It was a nice follow on to the Geospatial Revolution course I took earlier in the year and I’ve noticed more articles about communities apply Geodesign ideas since taking the course.

I’ve started a Mediation course from the University of Virginia. It is the first in a series which will extend at least through the end of the year. Right now it is almost overwhelming but interesting enough that I am making the effort.

Later this month, a Forest and Humans course will start. I’m looking forward to the lectures and references during the fall in Maryland (lots of colorful leaves from the forest behind my house).

My husband purchased The Art of Flower Photography from Creative Live so we are beginning to watch in at hour at a time. As usual….I am interested in composition more than anything else although strategies for dealing with full sunlight (which often it too bright for good flower photography) may also be part of the course.

Photo Week 2015 on Creative Live happens in September too. My husband has already signed up for watching it live (and free). The three segments I am most interested in are:

• Photography Tips for Everybody (9/21 10:45 AM, 1.5 hours)
• Landscapes and Light (9/21 3 PM, 1.5 hours
• Beyond Macro Photography: Into the Microscopic World (9/24 10:45 AM, 1.5 hours)

Taughannock Falls State Park - August 2015

After passing through Montour Falls, we stopped by the overlook of Taughannock Falls. They were renovating the facilities at the overlook so parking was somewhat limited…and thunder was rumbling. We only stayed for about 15 minutes. We had been to the area (both the overlook and the trail at the bottom of the falls) many times when my daughter was living in nearby Ithaca.

The water falls from a great height (on the same order as Niagara Falls…but much less water). The overlook is from several levels.

I walked took the stairs down to the railing in the picture to the above and looked to see the bridge over the river below - part of the hike to the bottom of the falls.

I also zoomed to see the top of the falls. There is a curve in the stream not far from the rim…and I always wander where it goes.

There was one branch of read leaves that stood out in the otherwise green background….fall is on the way.

Letchworth State Park August 2015

We first visited Letchworth State Park (New York) in the spring of 2014 (posted about it here). It was a cook, wet day then. It was time for a return trip. This time we got a hotel in Mt. Morris which is near the northern entrance to the park. We drove all the way through the park to the upper falls and worked our way back.

The upper falls has a high railroad trestle overhead. The force of the water causes mist to rise from the base of the falls and the cliff walls to support tiny green plants.

The middle falls also creates lots of mist - enough to dampen the walkways to the side of the falls. The Inn is located near the middle falls.

The lower falls is narrower and there is a path to a footbridge over the river below it. There are 127 steps (or more the way we made our way down) to get to the bridge.

I’ve picked more pictures of our morning at Letchworth State Park for the slideshow below. I’ve kept them in chronological order.

• The mists over the river valley when we first drove into the park (1)
• The flowers, one red leaf on the dogwood, and hickory nuts at the visitor center (2-4)
• More views around the upper falls (included a spider with its shadow that was scurrying across a step) (5-8)
• Some birds from the walk I made between the upper and middle falls: blue jay and flicker in a picnic area, crows on the rocks at the top of the middle falls (9-10)
• Vegetation along the paths around the middle falls; my favorite is the macro of the underside of the morning glory (11-14)
• Plants and views from the hike down to the lower falls (15-19)

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - August 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for August 2015.

Eggplant balls - I finally found a recipe made with eggplant that I really like. The balls are good as appetizers or with spaghetti sauce (i.e. like meat balls) or cut in quarters and used in a stir fry. The recipe I started with is here; I substituted flaxseed meal and ground oatmeal for the bread crumbs.

Great cantaloupe and watermelon from the CSA this year - I always associate the best cantaloupe and watermelon with August….and this year was true to my memories. The watermelons were big, heavy things and very sweet; not the seedless and less flavorful varieties that seem the most popular in many grocery stores.

A visit from my daughter - My daughter had an opportunity to travel to our area for work….and she stayed on for a visit over the weekend. Wonderful serendipity.

New tablet (provided under warranty) - I got a notice about a month ago that my tablet was being recalled and that vendor would provide a replacement. The process worked! My new tablet arrived in the mail and was configured the way I wanted very quickly. I was braced for a glitch that never occurred.

Windows 10 - I was running Windows 7 and decided to upgrade to Windows 10 to be on a more current operating system. Again I anticipated a glitch of some kind. There was a minor one that cost me a few hours but otherwise it was easier. Most of the configuration I had previous was maintained during the install….that’s the part I celebrated.

Anticipating a road trip - I always enjoy the time just before a road trip....finding information for along our route, packing….celebrating that we are getting away for a little while.

Letchworth State Park - We had been to the park in New York once before during a spring time and wanted to go when it was warmer. Arriving first thing in the morning meant that we didn’t have lots of people in our photographs.

Taughannock State Park - Initially we had not planned to visit the park but I’m glad we had the time. We only went to the overlook of the falls but it brought back lots of memories of visits there with my daughter when she lived in the area several years ago.

Stony Brook State Park - This was a new park for use and was initially a disappointment because we were there on a hot afternoon and there were huge numbers of people. We came back on our way home and had the park to ourselves…and that the day I celebrated this particular park.

Nature Photography with summer campers - Celebrating a volunteer gig that was a joy - for me and the elementary are summer campers....sharing the wonder of nature.