I set out on a humid morning, after the fog had lifted and shortly before the heat descended. After so many dry afternoons I was drawn ineluctably to drops of water, minute suspended temporary worlds. My favorite photograph is of this single water droplet, hanging from the tip of a sweetgum leaf.
This afternoon I felt compelled to photograph mushrooms, of which there are several of at least three different species along Piney Woods Church Road right now. This is a view from underneath, looking up at the gills that are letting in the sunlight.
It was another splendidly foggy early morning as I made my way toward Piney Woods Church Road, but by glancing at he brighter patch of cloud hiding the Sun, I could tell that the fog would soon burn off. I took quite a few fogscape shots before becoming entranced, yet again, by dew-covered spiderwebs. This is my favorite of them all, one that I photographed with my zoom lens last time around. This time, I found a cattle feed bin, stood on that in the roadway, and was able to take quite a few macro images. There are two webs here: an elegant orb web, and a patternless assemblage of threads. The two are separate, yet connected. Was there only one spider involved in this dual creation? Looking at it, I cannot help but be reminded of diagrams out of cosmology or even science fiction; this particular photograph makes me think of parallel universes: one highly ordered, one highly chaotic.
Walking down Piney Woods Church Road during a light rain, I encountered a pair of spiderwebs with water droplets clinging to them, parallel to each other and just a few inches apart. In this photograph, I have focused on the closer of the two, while droplets from the one behind it form bright circles of light in the background. Connecting the centers of those circles reveals the other web, much as stars connected by lines depict constellations.
On my morning fog-filled walk, I glimpsed at least half a dozen spiderwebs accentuated by the mist. This one was particularly striking: a chaotic tangle of webs above, and a carefully-constructed geometric web below — order and disorder coexisting in one image.
I ventured out to Piney Woods Church Road today between rainstorms. It was wonderful to see water everywhere — in shallow puddles on the roadbed, in droplets on leaves, and suspended from twigs like this one. The humidity was amazing — I dripped as much as the vegetation did — and quite a few insects were about, including an odd little treehopper or leafhopper that I am still trying to identify. Heading toward Hutcheson Ferry Road, I advanced into a mix of blue sky and clouds. Returning toward Rico Road, I headed into a gray cloud. The rain began while I was on Rico Road, just about to turn up my driveway. But for the most part it was a gentle, nourishing rain, a rarity in these Southern summer months.
I set out along Piney Woods Church Road this afternoon after a downpour. The sky was still partly cloudy, roadside plants still decorated with water droplets. Inevitably, I was drawn to possible water images everywhere. This particular photo captures the brilliant red of a muscadine grapevine, a single droplet suspended from its tendril, a watery mirror in which it is reflected.
I felt compelled to photograph this unusual frond of ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron), which had developed a bend during its growth.
My favorite image from this afternoon’s Piney Woods Church Road walk is this dried and curled bit of water oak leaf.
Today on my morning walk I kept finding myself drawn to tendrils of muscadine grapevines, which are growing in profusion right now along Piney Woods Church Road.
