On a northeastern edge of Hiawatha National Forest in the amazing Upper Peninsula of Michigan there is a small experimental forest which I have observed for many years as I have gone to and fro in my wanderings through The Hiawatha. The soils of this part of the peninsula are mostly the mixed sands of ancient dunes which have blended over the millenia with the organic leavings of the great forests. They grow conifer and maple forests very well, but they also support a variety of low-growing groundcovers, reindeer lichens (Cladonia) low-bush cranberries and blueberries (Vaccinia). By the 1930’s essentially all of the great forests of the Upper Peninsula had been cut, and the succession that occured in the wake of this left open meadows that are studied today for their growth patterns.
A focal length of 35mm, the high end of wideangle-land, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted from about 12″ above the ground. An aperture of f/18 provided depth-of-field and, combined with ISO 400, allowed me to achieve a shutter speed of 1/10th second: a slightly lighter-than-medium exposure and a way to stop the slow motion in the slender blades of grass from the wafting morning air.
Kitchi Gami is a land of beautiful places and The Hiawatha is a fertile ground from which this beauty springs. As long as we preserve the forest, the beauty remains ours.
Love this.
You’re a role model for all of us!
Thank you for your generosity.
Don, you had me at “National Forest!” Thanks for this wonderful image and your comments this week about Forests as a source of beauty. Couldn’t agree more. This particular view is so interesting because we think of forests as vertical things, but here you’ve laid out a horizontal tableau full of beauty. I like the inclusion of small sandy patches to reveal the soil there, and of course those bright flecks of color. The National Forest Foundation planted 144,527 seedlings on that very forest this year as part of our campaign to plant 50 million on NFs nationwide by 2023. Have a great week. Ray
It is good to be back after a few weeks away. I learn something every time I look at your images and explanations. This is an area I have been working on, but still struggle, wide angle. I love how you shoot down and find an area that draws you into the picture and the trees in the distance give me something to be drawn to. Definitely something I want to focus on (pun intended) when we are in Acadia. Thanks for sharing!
Blueberry Fields Forever! It probably looks like a lollipop from the sky. Thanks for sharing.
Good evening Everyone. Thank you all very much for joining me for this conversation. It is delightful having you all with me for a return visit to the beauty of the Upper Peninsula. This was taken as Kevin and I were scouting for our adventure about a week in the future.
Hi Joanna. I am much honored and very appreciative of your kind words, not to mention being quite glad that you like the image. It is very gratifying for me that I am able to do what I love to do and share that with folks like you. That I have been able to do so and make a living at it for these many years is more than I could have ever asked. For you to take what I share and share it back with the world must – it is sincerely hoped – bring greater harmony to us all.
Hey Ray. I was certainly thinking of you as I wrote the description for this Image. I could not agree more about the role our wonderful forests perform in offering a light of beauty to our world. Perhaps this image might stand in some way for what happens when to much of our forest is removed from our capacity to appreciate it vertically. I know we need the products of the forest to survive in the world, but I know, as you certainly do, of the absolute necessity of preserving as much of our forestlands as possible for all of the things that folks like Muir and Leopold and Marshall taught us are essential to other aspects of our well-being. I would be remiss if I did not point out that those “sandy” patches you reference are actually areas of low grasses. There are, indeed, places on The Hiawatha where the bare sand is seen, but this little corner has succeeded to grass. Thank you for all of the work that you and the NFF do to keep this land a wonderful place for us to experience that beauty. May we Walk in that Light.
Hey Kev. It’s great to have you back with us. I know how full your plate has been, so it’s delightful to have your words to consider. As I hope your are realizing more and more, the world is filled with foregrounds and all you have to do is recognize them. Beyond that it’s mostly a matter of understanding the mechanics of how wide-angle optics distort the way in which you “see” the world before you, and how you arrange those distortions in visually pleasing ways. And all of that is nothing more than practice. I’m looking forward to sharing the wide-angle distortions of Acadia with you. Be well.
Howdy Nancy T. It was really good being able to talk with you this week. I’m glad your visit to the Sunshine State is going to well. What a wonderful thought-image you have shared with us: a lollipop from five-hundred feet; I can see it from here. I’ve already begun thinking about that 2021 adventure we were discussing; so let’s begin to get ourselves ready.
Thank you all, again, for a wonderful set of comments to lead us into the Holiday Season. May we know peace, joy, and love in all we do, and may we share it with ourselves and everyone around us. Be safe.