Blazing autumn

Dave and I recently went on a weekend camping trip to Ohiopyle, PA, one of our favorite camping spots. Much to our surprise, the campground, and the town of Ohiopyle, was chock full of people. The weather was chilly (at or below freezing at night), but that didn't matter. Most likely folks were there to enjoy the astonishing fall foliage display. The colors there were more brilliant than they are in Ohio, I think.

Every time we go camping I always take a photo (or two or three) of our campsite...

Now for some color

Looking up... and looking down




Taken from a "scenic vista point". If you look closely in the middle of the photo for the lighter patches, you'll find the Youghiogheny River snaking through the valley.

And here's the "Yough" up close.

Me, the tree hugger. I hugged quite a few trees during our hike that day.

And here I am, demonstrating that fashion follows function (AKA looking dorky, but staying warm and safe). Oy.

Stay tuned for more images of fall.

Wonder, wisdom

"Wisdom begins with wonder" - Socrates

I came across this quote the other day, and it made me pause and reflect on its truth. It also made me decide to share with you the "why" behind my trip to the Wilds. Of course, one of the most obvious reasons for going was to see all of the animals, and because I've been wanting to check the place out for several years now. But the combination of seeing the animals AND learning more about photography (not to mention a steal of a price for the program) sealed the deal. I had met Barb and Jerry Jividen this spring at the Shoot the Hills photo contest in the Hocking Hills. I knew they were good people and excellent photographers, and that they have been leading photography workshops for many years, so I jumped at the chance to go learn from them. And learn I did, both about photography and about the animals there.

I kind of felt like a human sponge that weekend, soaking up all the info they could throw at us. I had one ear directed at Barb, and the other directed at our bus drivers/tour guides, all of them throwing out interesting details and facts about everything I came to see and do that weekend. I do feel like I came home with more confidence with my camera and my ever-developing photographic eye, and with a great appreciation for and knowledge of the beautiful animals I saw. I went there full of wonder, and came away with some wisdom (and still more wonder).

This trip was the third "adult learning" (as I call it) camp that I've been to in the last 3 years, and I am now officially establishing it as a tradition. The previous two years I attended camps oriented toward giving women more confidence and familiarity with the outdoors, so this year's "theme" was obviously different, but the purpose has been the same every year: Get out there and learn stuff, new stuff... expand my horizons... develop my self-confidence... get out of my comfort zone. It was also a good chance for me to recharge myself and get close to nature in new ways.

I really felt like I was going out on a limb with the first camp I went to (the Ohio DNR's Becoming an Outdoors Woman program), but after that I was hooked. Last year I attended the Ohio state weekend event of the Women in the Outdoors (an outreach program of the National Wild Turkey Federation). It was at that event that I paddled solo in a kayak for the first time, and loved it so much that I decided I HAD to buy a kayak for myself! (Dave bought one, too, and we have had great fun this year paddling on different lakes close to home.) And this year... well, you've already seen evidence of my trip to the Wilds.




I cannot stress enough how important I think it is that we continue learning throughout our lifetime. Learning doesn't have to end, and should not end, after graduating from high school, college, grad school. But make sure you have fun while you're doing it. I think the knowledge will be more likely to stick with you if you have fun while you're learning.




And ladies, if you are at all interested in women in the outdoors type programs, check out the Women in the Outdoors link above for events in your state, or just Google "women outdoors" or something similar and see what you can find. I think this type of thing is a wonderful opportunity for women. There's a great video on the ODNR website that was shot during the year I went to BOW, and seeing everyone having so much fun makes me want to go back next year and learn something I know nothing about - how to shoot a gun! Not to mention trying out the Alpine Tower!

** All photos were taken at the WITO event that I attended last fall.

Playing with fire

A little over a week ago we were out at our friend Brian and Connie's house, where we hung out with friends, ate yummy food, listened to music (or played it, in Dave's case), looked at an almost full moon through a telescope, and had a big ol' bonfire (by which Connie made her delicious apple-caramel cake in her Dutch oven)!

This was a good opportunity for me to play with fire.

First, with fast shutter speed...

Then slowing it down a bit...

The day had been quite balmy, but it became cool quickly as the sun went down. This fire kept us nice and toasty on a clear, crisp autumn evening.

By accident (I bumped my camera out of position) I learned that cool effects were to be found/made not necessarily by shooting directly at the flames. Flying embers look interesting, with the 5-second shutter slowing them down to a crazy ribbon dance.

A huge snap, crackle, pop from the fire yielded these streaks.

Stay warm out there. We had our first freeze last night in Athens County.

Sunset at the Wilds

Not feeling much like doing a research-laden post tonight (which was originally my plan for the rhinoceros post), so I will share some sunset photos taken at the Wilds instead.

The one evening we got to take the buses out was quite magical. We saw a brilliant sunset, great animals, a rainbow, and a raging fight between 2 Bactrian deer bucks. On the way back to camp, those enormous clouds that I photographed finally let loose and we had a wet ride back. It eventually stopped, but the rains came back in the middle of the night, and my tent was soaked by morning.

Some of these photos have been touched-up a bit, either switching to b&w or kicking up the saturation a notch, especially in the rainbow photos. Enjoy!

No touch up on the rest of the photos, until you get to the very last one...

Fruits of fall

This is actually a post I wrote almost a year ago (early November 2007), but never got around to posting because I still didn't quite have my flow down for getting pictures on my blog. Also, we were still on dial-up at the time, which made posting photos a very slow and frustrating task. The pics and info are in-season again, so it seems appropriate to post this now.


Several weeks ago I was walking along the lovely HockHocking Adena Bikeway (AKA the bikepath) in search of beautiful fall foliage. Unfortunately the leaves weren't the brilliant colors I was hoping for (not yet, anyway), and I was about to call the walk a wash as far as getting any pictures was concerned. Then I noticed some funny-looking berries on the ground, which caused me to look up to see where they came from, which led me into an incredibly dense, complex area of vegetation right alongside the bikepath. In the summer I would have found some fragrant flowers there (honeysuckle), and some wild raspberries or blackberries (only the barren brambles remained at this time of year), but on this particular day I was wowed by a dazzling array of colorful berries.

Most of the berries I recognized, such as Pokeweed...

And wild grape...

Then there was a berry that I thought looked like honeysuckle, but as there are several different varieties of said plant, I had to consult a field guide for positive ID. This is amur honeysuckle (which I see all over the place now that I know what it is).

Honeysuckle, as you may know, is a plant not native to the United States, and is very invasive. Ask anyone who's tried to get rid of it if they've had any luck. Another non-native (and invasive) plant is this interesting find.

I consulted my field guide, and did some Google searches, but couldn't figure out what made these interesting Easter-egg-looking berries. I finally sent a picture of it to Phil Cantino at Ohio University, and he identified it as Porcelainberry. According to Dr. Cantino, this plant has only recently started making its way in to Athens County, and he was sad to hear of its presence along the bikepath.

** A thing that was on my mind at the time that I originally wrote this post, and continues to be on my mind throughout the growing season is the uproar that invasive plants can cause in the plant and conservation communities. I almost feel like I have some obligation as a nature lover to hate these invasive species as much as other nature lovers do, but I just can't get worked up about it. Every year in the spring, there are always letters in the paper notifying people about Garlic Mustard pulls around the county (Garlic Mustard is one of the most visible invasives, right up there with honeysuckle). I know that the threat with these plants is that they choke out native species of plants, but is there really any point? There's no way we can eradicate them at this point. I stop short of saying it seems like a waste of time.