3/6/2010

Liken Lichen!

We had a major blow-down with the storm last week. The short trail at Rachel Carson NWR Headquarters was littered with branches, and quite a few of the tall pines lost their tops. They had chain-sawed the bigger trunks and moved them aside by the time I got there, but there were many examples lying along the trail. These were all living trees with good green heads, but what was interesting to me was the rich growth of lichen on the upper reaches of the trunk, from just below were the green branches began, on up to the crown. This growth is high up and largely invisible from ground level…and certainly there is nothing like it on the lower section of the trunk. It must be something to do with light levels. There is a whole micro world up there. Who knew?

Canon SX20IS at 28mm equivalent and SuperMicro. F2.8 @ 1/60th @ ISO 80. Programmed auto.

A touch of Fill Light and Blackpoint just slightly right in Lightroom. Added Clarity and just a tiny amount of Vibrance. Sharpen landscape preset. Color temperature adjusted slightly to offset the shadow light.

From Around Home 2010.

And here are two more shots, with vary similar particulars. The second shot is cropped slightly from the bottom of the frame.