Posts Tagged With: Photo review

Flowers, Forest and Fauna: Spring time in West Virginia

Posted on June 1, 2015 by jolynnpowers

As many of you already know I love to take photos,I almost always have a camera with me. So I seem to find all kinds of wonderful things to take photos of. This spring has been so busy, I am surprised, that I have even found time for short bursts of creativity where I take photos. So today I just wanted to share with all of you some of the things I have been seeing in my little corner of the world here in West Virginia this spring.

close up of a fresh Rhododendron bloom

This is one of the views I wake up to every morning for the month of May.

Tom blending into the tree line as we turkey hunt

We did some Turkey hunting early in the month of May but we struck out. No fresh turkey for dinner this year. Tom and I heard a few gobbles but nothing close enough to think about. The weather was unusually warm and dry and this may have effected the turkeys.

Pheasant tail mushrooms AKA Dryad saddle mushrooms

This meant that the weather was great for mushrooms. We found a bounty of these Pheasant Tail mushrooms while out turkey hunting. They are an easy to find, spring edible mushroom, we found many in the woods that day.

Pheasant tail mushroom on tree stump

The first bloom of spring at the new house

I tired of all the snow, cold and wet of winter this year and was over joyed to see this. When this sign of spring finally opened, I felt as if I took a long deep breath, knowing winter was really over.

We did get a day to hike and fish before the spring weather got to hot( by May 23 the temps had already hit 94 degrees F) this stream was a great place to rest and fish on our day long adventure.

Boundary marker for public land

Moss covered stones along the river at Ten Mile WV

We have also had a very popular back yard this year, with lots of wild baby animals roaming around. This spring Tom and I have found Toads, baby rabbits, baby squirrels, baby Doves and Robbins and a Box Turtle so far. It makes for a very educational trip out side. Now if we can just get Christopher over his fear of frogs and toads.

meet Chipper and Splinter the Barn Wood Builder Babies

Red Eyed Box turtle walking across the back yard

Then of course we have a photo of Christopher’s favorite wild animal… Jinn the photo bomber.

Jinn the photo bombing cat

So thing here are busy, the house remodel is just about finished. Summer is taking hold and the heat is on. The last four days have been in the upper 80’s and 90’s. School will be over in about a week and Christopher will be starting summer swimming lessons. Most of the spring flowers are already gone for the year (I already miss them). The garden got planted but we are so late that it will be a month before I see any real growth . So Summer will be a time to hunt mushrooms in the cool shade of the dark hard woods and maybe even a weekend trip of camping. I will be ready for it sooner than it will happen but until them I keep my eyes open for more beauty that I see every day.

Categories: Appalachian Mountains, Baby Animals, Easter, flowers, Hardwood forest, Mushrooms, photo review, Photos, Turkey season, West Virginia | Tags: animals, appalachian mountains, flowers, hardwood forest, Mushrooms, Photo review, turkey season | 4 Comments

What I Saw on The Way to The Grocery Store.

Posted on March 3, 2015 by jolynnpowers

I know most people do not get excited to go grocery shopping, but every once in a while I just enjoy driving the back roads to shop at a little tiny grocery store in the country. I stop at this store for a lot reasons, one is they have a ten pound meat sale every month and they still cut their our own meat. I know that sounds like a silly reason but when you get tired of buying Wal-Mart and Kroger prepackaged meats and start thinking about butcher controlled quality and quantity it is a big deal. So I drive out of my way ( 18 miles) to a family owned I.G.A. in the middle the woods in a town called Rock Cave. But my trip was a little more beautiful today then normal. The sun was out and the fresh fallen snow was beautiful so I took the my camera along for the ride.

I headed off with an idea of taking a new self-portrait for the “About Me” portion of the blog and getting a load of groceries. What I did not expect was to take an hour chore and 36 mile drive into a 5 hour 80 mile photo adventure that included shopping and meeting some wonderful strangers along the way. Who knew that I would see so many beautiful things on my way to the grocery.

As I left Buckhannon I stopped at a local church to enjoy the snow-covered cemetery yard. Some thing about a church with a cemetery just speaks to me.

Reger United Methodist Church Buckhannon. WV

Then through French Creek to a huge southern home with hay roles in the front yard. You know you are liven in the county when you bail the front yard.

French Creek house with hay bales fade-out

Then to Rock Cave to see a house that a friend of mine said they were tearing down. The cabin for years had white vinyl siding and today I finally got to see what was underneath.

Log cabin along Rt#4 Rock Cave, West Virginia

The temperature was running about 15 to 18 degrees as I stopped at every interesting place along my journey. So it was fast shooting and trying desperately to keep my digital camera working in the cold.

full front view of cabin on rt#4 Rock Cave, West Virginia

After filling my hatch back full of staples and meat at the I.G.A. I then drove down the road to a wonderful cattle barn. Not as old as the cabin above but just as wonderful. I thought sepia would make the barn more interesting.

Cattle Barn in Walkersvill, West Virginia tinted to look old

Then off to Napier an unincorporated town where frozen water falls formed along the rock walls everywhere.

Rusty Ice along the road Napier. WV

Water falling on icy rocks at Napier. WV

Then finally to where I thought I might get a nice portrait for the blog. I wondered around Falls Mills Park for a while just looking at the water and the beautiful snow before trying to get this photo. I took several shots to get this one but in the end I think I got some thing I can use.

Self Portrait of JoLynn Powers at Falls Mills, Braxton County. West Virginia

Lovely how the fresh snow makes the water look such a beautiful color.

I drove on further from home and ended my journey at Heaters, and Flatwoods, West Virginia about 46 miles from my home one way. Here I found a lovely house that I would say is the typical farm-house of West Virginia. Built during the 20’s and 30’s there are thousands of these homes hiding in our hills. This one is also has a working cellar in the back. I love old stone construction so I had to get a photo of it too!

Farm house at Heaters WV

root cellar behind house in Heaters West Virginia

Finally I reached the interstate junction and thought I better eat and head home from my grocery trip. It had taken almost all day to explore a long winding road and the things along it . I finally stopped to get a hamburger and fries when I discovered on the way back to my parking place that a Crow had taken up a resting spot next to my car. I think he was wondering why I did not have anything to offer him.

crow in snow

I hit the highway and headed home thinking about my car full of goodies and great day spent really looking at the wonders of where I live.

I am going to keep trying to do photo projects like these in the future. I just need to learn to slow down and see all the wonders around me.

Categories: Appalachian Mountains, Braxton County, Buckhannon West Virginia, photo review, snow, traveling, West Virginia, Winter | Tags: appalachian mountains, Barns, Buckhannon West Virginia, Cabins, churchs, ice, Photo review, Rock Cave, snow, West Virginia, winter wonder land | 12 Comments

The Mystical Mushroom Photos

Posted on October 2, 2014 by jolynnpowers

When my family mushroom hunts I take lots of photos. Some of them are just your average record keeping photos but others seem to bring back to life the feeling of the fairy garden and the deep woods legends. I have a dear friend ( Beverly) who reminded me years ago that it is important to still have contact with that magical place where we are children and free to explore and imagine. So over the last few years I have attempted to take the time that we spend in the woods to a more arcane place. To find the and photograph as many mushrooms as I can. Making the fungus seem larger than life and full of magical stories. So since I am still a novice mushroom hunter and photographer I hope you will bear with me over the next few years as I discover and explore my love for mushrooms on film.

poly spore on tree limb

As a kid I was always drawn to the fairy art work that showed mushrooms in some way. I hope to add that feeling to my photos although some of the first photos I took of this subject matter were just about documentation of the verity that we had found. Like this first photo that actually got my interest peaked and made me want to find more. This photo shows a cluster of different mushroom we found growing on one log in one afternoon… I only wish I could find this type of thing again. I should have slowed down and taken my time with this photo but excitement got the best of me.

Large mushroom group growing together on the same log… amazing

Then as the year past and I was unable to keep up with my sons and husband in hunting the eatable mushrooms I started looking at them with a more artistic eye and started to slow down ( broken bone in the foot really helped with this). So I started to look at them from that child point of view, with wonder and amazement and with the help of some photo editing I started to get photos that not only documented what we were finding but also started to show signs of the mystery that I find in the woods and with its inhabitants.

Honey Mushroom in fresh spring dirt

double scarlet cup

Then on early morning this spring I found myself alone in the woods sitting on a high bank full of Poplar trees with no one around. Tom and I had headed to the woods to look for the famous Morels and I was just not able to keep up with them on the soft, wet, steep soil. So I sat for a long time looking at the tiny honey mushrooms that formed a Fairy Ring around one tree…. they were every where hundreds maybe thousands all smaller than a penny. I thought about the fairy ring and wondered if I could somehow capture parts of it. This is the result of thinking about our cultures mythology of the fairy ring and the mushroom.

mushroom with faded edges 2014

Fairy Mushrooms under the poplar trees.2014

I have even begun to see my mushroom photos in a way to communicate with others about my feelings as this photo shows. I took this photo along a road side on a broken trunk of a tree. I also love the way it looks with no words at all just a quite image of the slow decomposition process.

Einstein and the mushroom tree

white tree mushroom

Some how these mysterious fungus have captured my heart and my imagination and I hope to continue to explore my woodlands for images of them that show off the beauty and mysterious world that we inhabit. So for now I will be keeping my eyes on the ground looking for my favorite thing in the woods.

Tree shelf mushroom on elm tree

Chanterelles waiting to be washed and fried

chanterelles for dinner

turkey tail mushrooms on log with wild flowers 2014

Categories: Appalachian Mountains, Foraging, Mushrooms, mythology, photo review, Photos | Tags: art work, fairy rings, Foraging, Honey Mushroom, Mushrooms, mythology, Photo review, photos | 7 Comments

Spring into the West Virginia Woods April 2014

Posted on April 30, 2014 by jolynnpowers

I have been feeling under the weather for almost two weeks now. I got sick then felt good, not great, and then got worse. Not sure what is the cause but while I had three good days to hike and mushroom hunt I did take a few photos of some the signs of Spring.

I am also working on my wine… I did start the process a few days ago. Got the Dandelions picked and the “tea” made. I am hoping that as I am feeling better to get the fermentation started tomorrow and will write a post about it this weekend. I just feel that I should have had all this sickness over the winter and not while the sun is shining and the temps are in the upper 60’s and lower 70’s.

Well here is what I did see while out hiking, Hope it will tide you all over until the wine post !

Red trillium at Hacker Valley West Virginia

Wild Blue Bells at Hacker Valley, West Virginia

Rock with american Flag, Hacker Valley, West Virginia

Christopher playing with stick on logging road at Hacker Valley, WV

Buckeye tree leaves begin to sprout

double scarlet cup mushroom

Fairy Mushroom in the woods of West Virginia

group of tiny mushrooms at the base of a Poplar tree

Spike buck horns in the woods of West Virginia

bone with chipmunk teeth marks

Spring buds on Poplar tree

Stone Bridge at jacksons mill

If you can’t tell I have been working with the Macro setting on my Camera lately. I think that I have discovered the subject matter that speaks to me the most and that is my love of Mushrooms and Bones. This is the first good photos I have taken of them and I am sure as time goes on I will have a nice collection of photos. Here in the mountains of Appalachia I have thousands of opportunities to find photograph them. Over the years I have collected many bone from the wild and used them as subjects of hundreds of prints and drawings but now I have found that they make great subjects for photos too! So as summer progress I am sure to show off many more colorful Mushrooms and any odd bones I find. We can have SO MUCH FUN together looking closer at my world.