November beauties

I'm still trying to make sure that November will not be that bleh month. I'm working hard at it by spending time outdoors and searching for things that are beautiful.

Usually by now we have a first snowfall and the ice is forming on the grasses in the creek bottom. Not so this year.  The mornings are frosty and the days are tolerable.

On our last very gloomy and overcast day, I decided to go out and look for something. Anything.

These trees I think are Hop Hornbeam trees which are also known as Ironwood.

Every tree speaks to me
fluttering from an Autumn Tree
~~Emily Bronte

I saw it as a plain old tree with startling leaves in the understory of the woods. Some of these trees are low enough that the winds don't take away all of their leaves in the winter. 

From there I started to hunt for little things. You know, that stuff you step over when you go for a walk.

The mossy log that shines with a brilliant green now that summer has passed into recent memory. 

The lichen with moss on dead wood.

The browned leaves of ferns that glow orange in the late afternoon sun.

I came home after that hike and felt I'd given November a pretty good effort but found it a bit wanting.

I came home and thought about this season again. I checked my email and had an update from OM Systems [formerly Olympus Cameras]. Since I am an OM user, I get emails for different events and 'how to' videos that explain how to get more use out of your camera.

The email was titled 'it's in our Nature'.
Specifically it addressed Kacho Fugetsu which is an old Japanese philosophy that translates loosely into Flower, Moon, Wind, and Bird. 

OM's philosophy is to go out and do continuous self discovery through nature.

Of course I know it is advertising and promotion of their products. Discover yourself through photography.

They had four little videos to watch. I was rather inspired by the words of the video. They stirred something in me that made me want to go out and find something intensely wonderful with my camera.

From the video... a few sentences 

I am everywhere...

above you in the canopy
and nestled right at 
your 
feet...

For you 
I drape the world 
in splendor
embellishing every valley
and forest
with marvels hoping that you
upon your arrival

capture my essence...

Link: Flower

I ended up with some motivation to go find something unique.

This is not my normal work, but it is a place I am  at the moment to trying something different out to see how it feels.

It combines a longer lens used in the sense of a macro lens and creating a depth of field that gives the viewer one thing to look at. That item can be mundane in a way, but unusual in how it was photographed. The best days for this kind of photography are heavily overcast days.

Tiny Fungi:

Spent Golden Rod through brush:

A dead fleabane flower in the pasture:

Rain droplets on Powderhorn Lichen:

There is so much to see out there before the snowfall will cover it up and then I'll have to change up my focus again.

That's okay, it is the best way to stay fresh and explore.