Slime Mold

Today I present you with a macro photo of a slime mold, which I found growing in my garden mulch this past summer, after an afternoon rain shower.  This spectacular specimen is of the “dog vomit” variety, which seems aptly named.  Despite that unappealing moniker, this is an excellent example of a slime mold, which […]

The Mossy Log

Landscape photos are deceptively tricky to capture, or at last to capture well.  Even photographers with other specialties sometimes fall into the trap of thinking it’s as easy as: show up, point the camera at pretty scene, capture great photo. It’s a little amazing to me how bad a photo of a stunning scene can […]

Autumn Glory

I arrived at Ricketts Glen early in the morning and hiked the up the Falls Trail while the gorge was still in shadow, worried that the sun would make conditions too challenging for long exposures of the falls.  Overcast days are best for waterfall photography, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The irony […]

Autumn in Motion

A bit of long-exposure work to capture the stream in this autumn scene.  Of course, there’s some motion in the leaves as well, which is unavoidable.  I don’t do this kind of tripod work often, but it had been a while so when the opportunity presented itself, I took advantage of it.

Autumn Stream

Sun, shadow, and clear blue water as the creek flows through autumn woods.  The scene was lovely, but as much as anything it was an opportunity to revert to childhood and rock-hop to get the best vantage point.  To stand on a rock in the middle of a creek is a simple pleasure.

Baltimore Oriole

From the same outing as my prior post, I also had an encounter with a Balitmore oriole.  Orioles are not uncommon in the area, but being able to capture any image – much less a good one – is, at least in my experience.  Most of my oriole sightings have been a flash of orange […]

Black and White Warbler Song

I was birding at Nescopeck State Park over the summer, making my way on the path around the lake for the second time, when I paused in a stand of dense pines to try and capture a bird near the creek.  It was a fruitless effort, but as I stepped back onto the path I […]

Autumn Meadowhawk

Once again, dragonflies have the coolest names.  Autumn meadowhawk.  Tells you everything you need to know about this winged predator, and true to its name it is in fact most active in the autumn, and can be found flying sorties in meadows.

Golden Forests

Autumn at its peak, with golden light streaming through the trees as the sun sinks in early evening.  There is never a bad time immerse yourself in the forest, moving among the trees in silence save for your footsteps on the earth.  In each season it has gifts to offer, but I think that autumn […]

Osprey

This osprey was at the edge of my lens range when I spotted him in a tree over the lake.  Although osprey are residents of our area, I find that I encounter them less commonly than I might expect, and certainly less often than I spot bald eagles. This was as brief interaction, and the […]

Twilight & Sunrise

An autumn morning at Bullhead Bay, where the second shot is looking about 90 degrees counter-clockwise from the first, and captured about 10 minutes later.  It was a bald-sky morning, lacking clouds to add any drama to the scene, but I was content with the fog and the range of near-pastel colors. I prefer twilight, […]

Summer Blooms

A sampling of summer wildflowers: herb Roberts, Philadelipha fleabane, and maiden pink blossoms.

Green Heron

Wrapping up a kayak paddle midsummer, I was a bit disappointed at how little I had seen – not much aside from a turtle and a pair of mallards.  I was making my way back to the boat launch, navigating through a shallow marshy area littered with old tree stumps and logs, when this green […]

Ulysses of Scranton

A headliner in this year’s Scranton Fringe Festival, “Ulysses of Scranton” is an adaptation of James Joyce’s famous novel “Ulysses,” re-imagined as a play-within-a-play that shows the actors as caricatures of themselves as they rehearse a run-through of the show.  The show’s local run has already closed, but in a couple of weeks the cast […]

Tiny Predators

Lions, tigers, and bears are plenty scary at the human scale – and not to forget other apex predators such as sharks and wolves, which feature in everything from fairy tales to Jaws.  But despite their diminutive size, the predators of the insect world may be even more frightening – after all, a tiger bite […]

Autumn Roads

Is there anything better than a country road on an autumn afternoon?

Autumn at Egypt Meadow

Autumn at Egypt Meadow Lake, on a still afternoon as the light was turning gold and the leaves were fully autumn vibrant.  The polarizing filter helps pull the colors and punch up the reflections on the water.  This was in 2024, my first visit to the lake despite it’s proximity to Promised Land State Park. […]

Wood Ducks

Mama wood duck and a gaggle of babies, living their best life in a quiet bay at the lake.  It’s amazing I was able to get as close as I did in the kayak; I almost didn’t see them at first, tucked in against the shoreline.  If they had been still I probably would have […]

Airborne Groundhog

So not exactly an airborne groundhog in the strictest sense, but the title was too good to pass up.  And this particular groundhog is likely the most airborne that I have ever seen.  As their name implies, groundhogs are a ground-dwelling mammal known for digging burrows and terrorizing vegetable gardens. I found this guy along […]

Root-maggot Fly

One of the more unfortunate insect names, although presumably accurate: the root-maggot fly in all its glory.  As an equal-opportunity photographer, I’m not above grabbing some shots of a fly if it’s cooperative.  They may not be traditionally beautiful, but the challenge of capturing a good shot is no less than when photographing a butterfly, […]