Notes from the Woods

seeing · environment · exploration · photography
Spring Energy

Spring Energy

I made this photo just a few hours ago in our backyard and started working on it this morning. We have a healthy population of Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris), a native woodland fern here in Michigan. They’ve been the subject of many photos over the years....

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Birch Experiments

Birch Experiments

While on a recent hike in the woods, I came upon this Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) tree that is rare enough to find in these parts of Southeast Michigan. It had its characteristic peeling, but perhaps moreso than I've seen previously, possibly assisted by some...

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Twenty-Twenty Five

Twenty-Twenty Five

Yearly favorites were harder to choose this past year simply because there weren't many exposures overall. I imagine that's an inherent problem with these yearly favorites posts. It emphasizes product over process in a culture that demands constant output. It can...

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First photo 2026

First photo 2026

Like typical Michigan weather, after introducing us to Winter fairly early in December of last year, we had a sudden warm-up this week, where all the snow melted, and the ground started thawing just enough to create some very muddy dogs. I suppose the very warm Arctic...

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Disconnected

Disconnected

Ten years ago, a great disturbance in the force was felt when the 10,000-word Oxford Junior Dictionary eliminated the words acorn, fern, and other nature-related words to make room for words like blog and broadband. The publishers' rationale at the time was that it...

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Backyard Ferns and Jewelweed

Backyard Ferns and Jewelweed

Ideas for photos don't always align with my abilities to execute them. I feel like I should have that made into a t-shirt, given how many times I've thought it to myself. I may have an idea that I have a general concept of how I will develop it, but as they say, the...

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Nature’s Newsfeed

Nature’s Newsfeed

Winter is usually a slow photography time, but I get out when the conditions call. We've had a good dose of snow this year, but it primarily came over a short period. Nowhere near the amounts some areas impacted by the lake effect snow had. After last year's mild...

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Twenty-Twenty Four

Twenty-Twenty Four

Continuing with a tradition that began in 2007, I am once again finalizing some of my favorite images from the past year. I guess you could call this Volume 18. Wow, eighteen years of this stuff.1 Nonetheless, It is a process that forces me to consider which...

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