This collection of images grow out my my growing interest in close-up photography.

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Mushrooms in the Park

I have been walking the trails in the park regularly this year but those times are not good for stopping to take pictures. So a special trip is needed just to casually walk the trail stopping to gather the many lovely sights of the mushrooms growing alongside the trail. The best time for mushroom gazing is early October and as that was now here and the day was decent I set out for a a visit. The scenes were very pretty though it was a few days before peak it was a pleasant little walk along the trail.

With the heavier traffic and dogs running along the side the big scenes of mushrooms are no longer to be found. Fortunately there are still many small clumps that boldly push their way into the air for a short time. The shapes and colours of the mushrooms continue to amaze me. Here is a sample of the images I found on my walk in 2021.

 

 

Spring Close-up

Apple blossoms about to emerge

I felt like spending a few minutes in the yard with my Macro lens to see what I could find. The usual blossums common in spring were out and I was able to capture a few decent poses with my Z6 camera. It does a great job of hand-held macro work. I am really enjoying the newer camera body, it has brough new life to my lenses!

Here are a few of the images I captured in the late afternoon as I roamed my backyard.

SunFlower

Earlier this year my youngest son brought over two small sunflower plants that needed a place to grow. He picked two planters on either side of my pool. Over the next while one grew into a huge plant, the other was short on sun and grew very slowly. Eventually we moved the small one to a better spot but it was too late for it to gain much size. Here are a few photos of the two of them.

Sunnyside Mushroom Farm

A nice three-some nestled in amongst the leaf litter

The Sunnyside Urban Forest grows a wide variety of colourful mushrooms in the early fall. The western side of the lower portion of the park has the densest area for mushrooms and they are easily seen from the trail. I suppose there would be even more if one were to wander off the path. The variety along the walkway is surprisingly varied and numerous and a quick walk along the trail is more the sufficient to capture a number of nice shots. Every year the arrangement and location of the various fungi change and offer a whole new look to enjoy. It really is a shame that most visitors just zip right by the sights or worse just knock them over in their travels.

This year I only had one opportunity to get out before I left for our Ontario adventure. So I packed up some minimal gear and set out for the parking area and the start of the trail along mushroom corridor. It didn’t take long to find my first clump and then they just kept showing up as I continued along. The only downside of shooting mushrooms in a park is the funny looks one gets from those walking by. They don’t seem to get a picture of the actual beauty of these poor little wonders.

After I made my way down the main section of trail with the densest collections I decided to wander back up through a side trail in the middle of the park. Though this is a pleasant walk, I find it to be quite sparse in mushrooms and today was no exception. I probably should just backtrack along the main section next time. It was a quick visit but I did manage to find a nice selection to share here. I hope you enjoy the photos and perhaps even develop a bit of an appreciation for these little guys.

The Garden of Don Giacomazzi

Don owns a farm along 0 Ave in South Langley. Between the demands of farming, he has the opportunity to landscape a collection of beautiful plants and flowers. His collection comprises several hundred varieties, which bloom at different times throughout the year. This brief collection of images captures a few of the plants peaking in mid-June. He has big ambitions to grow the garden and add many more exotic specimens. I am sure that he will soon be able to charge for tours of the place. I found the selection very pleasing to the eye. On a clear day, Mount Baker forms a backdrop to many of the views of the garden. I will need to return to capture the sights with Mount Baker adding to the adventure. 

Bloedel Conservatory

The colour and texture of the petals was quite intriguing.

The incessant rain we have been seeing this year so far has made everyone in Vancouver more than a bit tense and irritable. I know I desperately want to get out into the back country but with this heavy continuous rain there was little point heading out there. So week after week of being stuck in doors was taking a big toll on my mood, I needed to do something. Then the idea of visiting the Conservatory came. It had been many years since my last visit and I was keen to see what new sights it may have.

So on the morning of March 3rd, 2007 Ethan and I headed out for Queen Elizabeth Park and entered the floral gardens. It was hot and humid but it was much more pleasant then outside in the rain. The conservatory was quite busy, It would seem many others were also needing just to get out and see something new. The many tropical flowers and plants were quite interesting. The number of varieties of Orchids was amazing and I know this sample doesn’t even start to provide a sample of those that are out there. I am quite amazed at the colour and beauty of plants; they are truly remarkable in their differences and subtle similarities.

While enjoying one small garden of flowers at the base of the resident Moluccan Cockatoo, "Charlie", I learned first-hand while these birds are regarded as one of the loudest around. He was a real ham and if you were not paying enough attention to him he would let out such a loud scream that my ears actually felt pain from the intensity. It made taking some flower photos near him extremely difficult.

The short diversion from the rain, while re-exploring an old adventure was a welcome break from the weeks of rain and snow. It was fun visiting the garden again even if my ears are still ringing from Charlie.

Wet

This little droplet was clinging to a branch of a cherry tree

The rain had taken a short break and I had the urge to grab my camera and explore some close-up images in the yard. I was actually quite amazed at the interesting effects the water droplets gave to some very common items. I found the yard to be full of tantalizing little beauties everywhere one looked. The only thing that took me away from the adventure was the fact that I was getting quite wet and cold myself, and the rain was starting up again.

The macro world has opened up many new opportunities for me to find nature’s beauty that is right before my eyes. We don’t notice this world as it is always there and we are in so much hurry that it is now invisible to us. I have found that finding this beauty can be very rewarding but it is not easy. I am so conditioned to be oblivious to this world that forcing myself to find it is not as easy a task as I thought it would be. Listed with each image is a short description of what it is and why I like it.

Mushroom farming in the Sunnyside Forest

One of the first clusters we found on our walk.

Every Fall I like to go for at least one stroll through the Sunnyside Urban Forest to check on the current year’s crop of interesting mushrooms. This year I took my latest equipment with me to try a few new image techniques. I was using the new 105mm VR macro lens and two flash units. The day we chose – Oct. 5 – was perhaps a few days early for the best view of the crop but we were able to locate several interesting collections of fungus choices.

On this trip I took my youngest son, Ethan, along to help with the second flash unit. I was hoping to try several different positions of the flash to highlight differing aspects of the mushroom clusters. It was definitely a fun experience trying the different angles and I soon found that I had definite preferences. The stroll started from the main parking area in the urban forest and proceeded along the western section of the main loop trail and back. I have found that the rest of the loop typically had very few clusters compared to this portion and so I skipped it for this subject selection.

Our safari started out quite uncertain as the first section we walked had very few clusters and some of the areas which had lovely patches in prior years were pulled apart and would not likely have anything to see this year. But we eventually got to see a number of interesting specimens. I do love the variety of the mushrooms one can find along a short trail this time of year. Though there are large numbers of a few types there are some for which there seem to be only a single cluster in the whole forest. This year I stayed on the main trail so all of these images could be seen by any of the people walking the path though some were slightly hidden. I wonder how many actually do notice them. I was also quite surprised that people leave them alone and not damage them, though a few had been uprooted, most likely accidentally or by one of the many dogs that frequent the trail.

The sad part of the trip was that I only got out once this year, I have found that waiting just a few days can bring to life a whole different set of clusters with very different images and it is worth a second or even third visit. I do plan to be back again in 2007 to see how the new crop looks and see if I can’t find some new type of mushroom to add to my image collection.

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