Up until Christmas we’ve had a snowless winter here, more or less, but we woke to a dusting on Christmas morning and Wednesday night into Thursday we had a real snowstorm that dropped 4 or 5 inches. These pictures were taken before all of that happened though, so you won’t see much snow here just yet.
The moon rose early on Christmas Eve.
I was surprised to find this under the tree on Christmas day. Not too long ago I bought a Canon SX 40HS camera and I’m real happy with it, except when it comes to macro mode. It’s probably me doing something wrong, but I just can’t get as close as I want to with the SX40. Melanie at the Lemony Egghead blog uses a Panasonic Lumix camera and does some amazing things with it, so I decided that I’d get one sometime. “Sometime” came a little earlier than I expected, because my kids got it for me for Christmas. You can check out Melanie’s blog by clicking here. You won’t be sorry that you did.
The Panasonic is a great camera. I took a picture of this very confused witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) with it on the day after Christmas and the Leica lens is just as clear and sharp as you would expect anything with the Leica name on it to be. Our native witch hazel blooms in late fall, but I’ve never seen it bloom on Christmas.
I’ve never been able to get this close to a lichen with any camera I’ve owned. This bit of orange rock posy lichen (Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca) was about as big as an aspirin tablet.
Lichens take on an other-worldly appearance when you get in real close. One of the reasons I think macro photography is so much fun is because it always reveals things that I couldn’t see when I was taking the picture. These lichens appear to be some kind of rock tripe but I can’t find them in books or on line.
This orange witch’s butter (Dacrymyces palmatus ) was frozen solid and even had a little snow on it. The color becomes more intense as it dries and I was able to spot it from quite a distance.
This rose has seen better days, but I still find it fascinating to look at.
The twin flowers of the partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) have a fused ovary and form one berry, but you can always see where the two flowers were by looking for the dimples on the berry. This berry had a face on it.
A common Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) seed head, looking uncommonly geometric.
I switched back to the Canon to get this shot of the colorful inner bark of a staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina.) At least I think it’s a staghorn sumac-I visit a spot quite often that had several old trees blow down last summer so I’m assuming this is one of them. The inner bark of staghorn sumac was used to make dye by Native Americans. It looks bright red to me but my color finding software tells me that it’s brown.
Something I wouldn’t ask the Panasonic camera to do is take a shot of the not quite full moon and Jupiter like the Canon did on Christmas night.
But when I need to get in real close I’ll call on the Panasonic every time. I’m sure it will see a lot of use as I walk off the Christmas goodies!
When there’s snow on the ground, I like to pretend I’m walking on clouds ~Takayuki Ikkaku
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that the weather treated you kindly. Thanks for visiting.
Really nice photos, Allen! I am hoping to eventually post some images as nice as these. I am still having a hard time adjusting to getting right up to the subject for the macro shots. With my Powershot, I was always taking my “macro” photos at about two and a half feet away with the zoom set to 8 to 14x. My first attempt to get shotsof slime mold with my Lumix did not end well. Yuck!
Thanks! My Lumix tells me if I’m too close with several quick beeps when I press the shutter button half way. If I back off a bit I get only 3 beeps, telling me the distance is good. BUT, I have found that I can still get quite close (almost touching) in spite of the warning beeps if I’m careful. I usually get as close as I can for the first shot and then back off little by little, taking pictures at each point. I also display each macro shot on the LCD screen and “zoom in” all the way to see if there is any blur at full magnification. If not it’s a keeper, but if I see any blur I start over. There might be a better way or an easier way, but this works for me. I wouldn’t worry about my pictures if I were you because I think they’re really good.
Wow, Allen, thank you so much for mentioning my blog here! I’m sorry I missed this at the time! I am really honored. The Leica lens on the Lumix makes such a difference, doesn’t it?! I have a Lumix LX5 and work in Manual mode (and for Christmas this year just upgraded to a Lumix G5, but haven’t used it yet for any of my posts, since I’m still learning how to use it). I’ll always carry the LX 5 though for macro purposes. I love your images here, especially the rose, the witch’s butter, and the partridge berry. I’m always fascinated by the details. The clarity and color of these images are outstanding.
I try to mention other blogs as often as I can because I think people will enjoy them, so that’s no problem.
Yes, that Leica lens is really noticeably better, and its macro capabilty is amazing. I look forward to seeing what your new Panasonic will do! Thanks again.
Wonderful, Allen…and more testimony for that camera…hmm…maybe “someday” for me, too…. 😉
I don’t think you’ll be soory if you buy it, Scott. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. And it’s so easy to carry!
I’m sure I would enjoy it, too, Allen…I love taking macro shots…have been following Lemony Shots for months and am amazed at the detail she captures…and you, too, now! 🙂
Great winter closeups here- particularly that last one 🙂
Thanks!
That was a very thoughtful gift and one that you will really enjoy!
I agree! I’ve been having great fun with it.
Seeing what you can’t see with the naked eye is awesome. Look forward to seeing more up close and personal shots of the lichen, etc.
I’m sure you will Grampy!
What a fantastic Christmas present…you must have been very good this year. 😉
The witch hazel shot is killer…yellow is notoriously difficult to capture but you got it dead-on perfect!
I’m not sure how good I’ve been, but I have great kids! Yellow is very difficult but unfortunately I can’t take the credit for that shot because I had the camera on automatic. I’ve discovered since that the various settings are very easy to understand.
Excellent macro shots! Impressive for a point and shoot.
Thanks Sue! I’m more impressed with that camera each time I use it. The controls are so easy to figure out that I haven’t even had to read the instructions yet.
You’re getting some nice macros with that Panasonic. Good job! I would say the staghorn sumac is more orange than brown, but there is a color continuum. It’s really somewhere in between. I’ll have to look into using it as a dye. I’ve dabbled with natural dyes the past, and wouldn’t mind another foray into that art.
Thanks-I’m loving that camera. I welcome your eyes for color identification. I’ve noticed that the color finding software sees highlights, for instance, as a completely different color sometimes. I’ve read that the inner bark of staghorn sumac mixed with bloodroot makes a bright orange dye. I’m assuming they mean the root of bloodroot. They also say that sumac roots yield a yellow dye and the fallen leaves a brown dye, so it’s quite a bountiful plant for dyers.
Congrats on the new camera, it’s already paying dividends as far as the macro photos!
Yes, and I really like having it! It makes life easier.
Beautiful shots!!!
Thank you Rexlin, and thanks for coming by.
Wasn’t that moon amazing last night I would have stayed at the ocean to capture it but I was already too cold brrr We have 10 ” on ground after some rain and sleet fell on it.
Happy New Year from Epping
Eunice
It Was mighty cool here too when I was taking those pictures, but it was worth it. Happy New Year to all of you in Epping too!
Thanks I know you are right I spent the afternoon walking the coast from Newbury MA , Salisbury, Hampton and Rye just to go sea if the homes on Plum Island had a chance sadly they do not
Were they hurt by a storm? I haven’t heard of anything going on in that neck of the woods.
4 homes ready to fall into the sea as one did 2 years ago. They keep dredging and throwing sand back on shore and throw millions into saving that section but the nature of surf is just too mighty 😦 we had 18′ waves at Hampton Beach the other day I took my first photo of Pink Lichen on Christmas it was amazing to see I did a post of it Pinks and Reds 🙂 Good luck with new camera I am hoping Nikon really does come out with a plant to say old film cameras I love my Pentax film camera
I haven’t heard about any of that, but I did here that there were some serious waves at Hampton.
I’ll check out your post of pink lichens-I’ve never seen any. I like film too!
I wish I had taken more photos than I did because sadly I will not see them again for a few months lol
Thanks!
Those are the spore producing parts of the lichen, called Apothecia, and they’ll return again next year.
Nice! I watch Deer browsing these areas do they like them? When I spook one I always go over to see what they were doing 🙂
I’m not sure if deer eat them but reindeer eat a lot of lichens so I wouldn’t be surprised if white tails did too.
🙂 cool glad no one is driving over this area 🙂
Your close-up shots are amazing–so clear and crisp. I know from experience that is one area in which cameras (and lenses) vary widely in capabilities. Congrats on your new acquisition; it’s nice to have multiple cameras in your arsenal. As you might guess from some of my previous postings, I love your moon photos too.
Thanks Mike. the greatest thing about the Panasonic Lumix is its size. It easily fits into a shirt pocket, so it’s never in the way. Glad you like the moon shots-it gets pretty cold out there doing them!