Here's something I never knew before today. The very same milkweed that nurtures our Monarch butterflies also produces these wind borne seeds whose floss can be used in place of Eiderdown for your warm as toast pillows and quilts! Right now these seeds are floating around the Mitten. I have been trying to follow them with the camera lens as they dodge around erratically in the air as an exercise in tracking and focusing. So far it has been an exercise in futility!
Below is a little video to illustrate how quickly a fresh milkweed seed fluffs out when it is removed from its pod. Enjoy!
P.S. I'm starting a Bird photography meme called "World Bird Wednesday" which will be open for entries to its inaugural edition tomorrow at noon. Click on the World Bird Wednesday logo to your right for more information!
This photo just fills my eyes--it is exquisite. My goodness--this is just beautiful photography. I am in awe.
ReplyDeletePretty well done. I like it.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Beth! Everyone should be a fan of Beth's page http://www.bethlniquetteart.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHer cloud pictures are blowing in the wind!
I posted a reply on my site and was going to transfer it but its too long. I know where you are now and want to ask these questions: How do you protect your equipment from winter, and do you use snow shoes to travel the trails in the reserve?
ReplyDeleteRead my site reply and then answer. I'm thinking of baiting the coyotes and possibly the wolf. With a 500MM lens I can be 150 feet away. With an extender I can be further although the camera will shot slower. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteMagical.
ReplyDeleteWow! It's not very often my approach or opinion is sought. Naturally I must start by saying "Thank You," to everyone who honors this site with a bit of their day.
ReplyDeleteI love the woods in the winter and besides walking, my preferred method of travel is by cross-country skis. On skis your gate is so nonhuman I think it fools the animals. Riding a bike is similar. I've ridden right up on deer on a bike and I can't get close to them on foot.
I'll put my camera in a zip lock bag in the winter before I come back into the house to prevent the lens from fogging up when they hit that warm air.
Gary, I know you shoot with a Nikon and I'm sorry to admit my knowledge of lenses is lacking in that area. I just bought my first Dslr a month ago and it's a Canon T2i. I like Prime fixed lenses as opposed to zooms so a 400mm f5.6L is going to be my next lens and I'll just wait for good light days to shoot long range shots. A 150-500mm Sigma Bigmama(with I.S.) might be an intreaging choice for less than a thousand in the Nikon mount but lord these rigs are heavy and at times I long for the simplicity of the Point and Shoot days.
All this to say what Nessa implies in a word. Magic! It's freaking everywhere, near and far.
Fabulous light and details!
ReplyDeleteWow...the light catching those little strands looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteOooooh! Pretty! Interesting information, too - I had no idea you could stuff pillows with milkweed seeds!
ReplyDeleteI may never photograph a milkweed seed again... Yours is just the ultimate. And I have taken about a thousand shots of them this year, too.
ReplyDelete