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#1246. The Forest Floor in Fall
By Lad Sessions | Opinion
I have to admit that I stole the idea for this post (as well as the first line) from Kristian Wannebo.
I don’t know Kristian personally, but a short while ago he published an entrancing essay entitled “Tree and Leaf” (Dear Susan #1242). His experience resonates with me. I too venture out into the woods on moist mornings. The following images record some recent “forest bathing” in western Virginia, especially after rains when the colors are saturated and—if I’m lucky—the light diffused by cloudy skies. I have taken pains never to rearrange the objects I’ve seen, so these are entirely “found” compositions that delighted me then and delight me still.
Of course Kristian’s and my woods are different, but they are also very similar. In this post I’ve focused on the smaller things that dwell beneath the trees and lie upon the rocks and logs: fallen leaves and nuts in great profusion, but also living lichen, mosses and ferns—and, not least, colorful fungi. (There is also one animal, a damselfly, if you look closely.)
These days I take to the woods with a small backpack containing water and a little nourishment, plus my Sony A7III with two lenses — 24-105mm and 16-35mm. I don’t move very fast or far, as I’m always watching my footing, but that means I have more opportunity to notice the beauty below my feet The images are in chronological order, nothing more; they were taken between October 5 and November 12.
So many thanks to Kristian! I hope others will join us in woods-walking. It’s therapeutic to be
sure, but also a great sensory delight and a photographic wonderland. And besides, you can
enjoy the experience afterwards in photographic recollection.
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Nothing like a post like this one to a good start to the day.
Thank you, Lad! Crisp pictures, mouthwatering and inspiring post!
And, by the way, as we all know, we can eat ALL mushrooms. Some only once, though ;-).
Take care and thank you again.
Pascal O.
Thanks Pascal. Revisiting nature in images isn’t quite as good as actually visiting, but it does inspire me to go out in the woods again. —But I’m NOT inspired to consume any mushrooms I find!
Love the images Lad, thanks for sharing.
Quite welcome Dallas. Wish I could do this more often.
Great photographs. Well seen
Many thanks. Attributed to Yogi Berra: You can see a lot just by looking.
You and Kristian both live in locations where the woods are far more exotic than they are here. Usually just a carpet of dead leaves, little or no colour, and a few broken twigs. Here and there some dried off weeds.
And occasionally, if you’re lucky, some lichen or fungus.
Just about all I can add is that I’m jealous. Yours, Lad, looks like an excursion in a territory that belongs to fairies or something. It’s like a page out of a Hollywood movie. The colours, the shapes, everything is really exotic.
Thanks Pete. The deciduous forest here is very diverse and indeed wondrous. But every ecosystem has its delights. I think you would even find some in your carpet of Eucalyptus (gum) trees; it would be a refreshing counterpoint to mine, and I would encourage you to give it a go for DS.
LOL – a counterpoint, for sure! I’ve been struggling for ages, to find shots of tree roots, here. They exist – but it’s a hard task, finding them.
Counterpoint appeals to me – after all, I’ve been playing the piano for the past seventy years too! Not just photos! That started 6 months after the piano lessons began!
Love to see some of your counterpoint!
Lovely late fall images, Lad! I’m a sucker for oak leaves and acorns, so thanks for giving me lots to enjoy. And that one red leaf on a bed of brown – yum! Thanks again for another wonderful post!
Thanks Nancee. We enjoy similar things. I really miss seeing one of your posts on DS!
+1 😉
So beautiful, Lad!
You have always that « special touch » with these topics!
Thanks Pascal; I do appreciate it. I guess we all do what we enjoy, and pleasing others is a welcome accompaniment to personal satisfaction.
Welcome images from those epic landscape taken with 10mm lenses focus stacking and overcook in post processing by some sort of Ai.
I have only two lenses—a 16-35 and a 24-105–and wish I had another, a macro, but find that these serve for most of my purposes, since they are quite portable. My processing is in ON1, which suits me, not using many of the bells and whistles. But I do have an inordinate fondness for saturated colors!