Monday, December 24, 2012

Have a Stellar Holiday!

This time lapse was taken of the Guernsey County Court House last year 

Monday, December 17, 2012

wonderland of lights IV



This is the fourth installment of some luminary displays taken during the 2011 holiday season. These photos where taken at the Christmas Ranch, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Cambridge Christmas Light Show and a few other places within Ohio. This is a shared tradition started by my wife many years ago that accents the spirit of the season and always leaves us in search of new displays to explore every year. Stay warm and enjoy!


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Shorelines II

This is the second installment of the Shorelines series. These photos were taken along the Northwest coast of Florida at Carabelle and Pensacola Beaches at sunrise and sunset. Here is a glimpse of some of those lush shorelines during our South Coast trip my wife and I took last year around this season.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Balluminaria at Eden Park



Every year in November, Balluminaria is held at Eden Park in Cincinnatti, Ohio. Several Ohio Ballooners fire-up their stellar thermal airships to illuminate Eden Park Pond and thousands of spectators for one awesome evening. Here is a glimpse of some those moments from November 2010. 



Thursday, November 8, 2012

accents of autumn III



Almost long forgotten and buried deep amongst the previous botanical harmonies archives, I managed to dig up these lost moments amongst the decaying and colorful trees in late 2010. Here are some glimpses of that charming Fall season at Chadwick Arboretum, Franklin Park Conservatory, Glen Rest Cemetary, Inniswood Gardens, Krohn Conservatory, and Rocky River Gorge Metropark. Enjoy the wonders and warmth of the Fall Season.


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees . autumnal series II



This is the fifth installment of this five part series that I captured between early—mid October of 2011. Although this is a spectacular season to get out and find fascinating and colorful fungi, it is also the season that I started to notice the diversity of species decline and finding them only gets tougher as leaf litter builds up as winter approaches. This series was taken at Audubon Wetland Preserve, Cedar Falls, Crall Woods, John Bryan State ParkNelson-Kennedy Ledges, Oak Openings Preserve, Wilmot Nature Center and Glen Rest Cemetery.

I would like especially thank to Walt Sturgeon for his expertise in helping me with my misidentifications on the series throughout the year. Not only is Walt a walking encyclopedia of mycological knowledge for over 35 years, but his has been a prolific fungi photographer and author of several fungi publications throughout the years. Some of his work can be found at Mushroom Observer and MyCoPortal in addition to the OMS website.

This is the closing series for 2011, but an ongoing personal journey for myself as a nature photographer and fungiphile. Several installments are planned for next year with much emphasis on species I have found in West Virginia this past year in addition to some Ohio delights. Until next spring, enjoy Ohio’s forgotten wonders beneath the trees!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees . autumnal series I

This is the fourth installment of this five part series that I captured between early September to early October of 2011. Ever enchanting colors unfold on the forest floor as the leaves start to slowly decay with wonderful richness. Much like late summer, fungi continues to flourish and fruit in the Allegheny Plateau and Till Regions of Ohio. Old growth Forest preserves and Hocking Hills Valley proved to be best for finding a vast variety of species especially. This series was captured at Clear Creek Metro Park, Wahkeena Preserve, Cedar Falls, Nelson-Kennedy Ledges, and the Rose Lake area located with Hocking Hills State Park. 



Sunday, July 15, 2012

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • summer series II


This is the third installement of this five part series that I captured between mid July to late August of 2011. Species start to flourish on the forest floors around this time of year, making it some of the best times to see true diversity in the world of fungi. As exploration continued in the Hocking Hills Valley and Clear Creek regions, I also branched out on weekends with my wife to several other nature preserves and state parks such as: Pinehill Crall Woods and Davey Woods state nature preserves, Buck Creek, Nimisila, Salt Fork, and Shawnee state parks. All of which proved worthy of unveiling quite a diversity species that I have not seen anywhere else so far in the that year. HereĆ­s a glimpse of some of those magical moments captured!


Friday, June 29, 2012

scintillating skies II




Last year, I went to two spectacular fireworks events–Red, White and Boom and Thunder in the Valley, which proven to be some the best Ohio pyrotechnic displays to date! I had not been to Red, White and Boom since 1998 and Nelsonville’s Thunder in the Valley was a new charm! Here is a glimpse of those evenings under the scintillating skies in 2011.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • summer series I

This is the second installment of a five part series that I captured between mid-June through early July of 2011. The diversity and  richness of species starts to unfold here in Ohio within the Summer season. Boletes and a variety of Agarics start to come up, bringing a whole new realm of colorful enchantment to the Forests themselves. Much of my time was focused in the Hocking Hills Valley region and Clear Creek Metro Park system last year which always seemed promising everytime I had gone. I even seemed to find a few critters along the way that made the trips more magical. Today is the first day of Summer and one of the best Seasons to get out enjoy Ohio's lush array and diversity of Fungi species!

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees . summer series I

Thursday, June 7, 2012

delicate balance VII

This is a personal series of Ohio wildlife I shot from spring 2010 to the current spring season. All captured moments where taken at various Ohio Nature Preserves, State and Metro Parks. This is part of an ongoing series that I have done over the years in the honor of Ohio's great wealth of beautiful wildlife species, flora, plants and fungi. Enjoy!

delicate balance VII series


Monday, May 21, 2012

Spring Traditions and the Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees



As far back as I can remember, my brother taught me to appreciate the forest and every little wonder within it. Much like he taught me to appreciate reptiles and amphibians, he also sparked my interest into the mysterious world of Fungi during my teenage years. He would take me along every year in late April to go morel picking with my cousins who lived in Ashland. We would go to our cousin’s best scouted areas for hours to find these elusive treasures. If we were lucky enough to find many, we usually followed this up in the evening with a tasty meal of delicious mushrooms! This spring tradition carried on for years to come.

During my college years in the early 90’s, my brother started to scout areas closer to home in Akron, so our bounties became even more plentiful and diverse. My brother being a chef for most of his life, had prepared several delightful meals over the years of a variety of morels for us to enjoy during the springtime season. During this time, unfortunately I experienced a severe poisoning leading back to these delicious little gems. Even though, I did not believe it myself and had ate these most of my life, I ended up in the intensive care unit of the hospital for a few days I will never forget. Although I had went through this poisoning that almost destroyed my liver, a few years later I unsuccessfully attempted to eat two very well cooked deliciosa morels only to find myself in anaphylactic shock within twenty minutes after I had eaten them and another few days in the hospital. From then, I accepted the truth that my body chemistry had changed and I had developed a very rare allergy to this particular species of mushroom. I blame no one but myself to this day, but it’s tough to part with something as tasty as morels! But thankfully, I can eat most other species of mushrooms to this day with caution. Despite I was poisoned those two times, I continued to pick every season with my brother and even got a better eye at finding them as well. I would envy the rest of my family eating our precious spring charms for years to come. This tradition carried on until my brother passed away of a seven year fight with a rare bone marrow cancer known as Multiple myeloma in 2007.

This leads me to now, and how much more I appreciate and respect the mesmerizing world of Fungi and not just species of morels. In the summer of 2010, I finally decided to join Ohio Mushroom Society and actually learn more about the actual diversity of mushrooms species we have in Ohio. Being a member has lead me into not only starting to recognize the diversity of Fungi species we have throughout the world, but the role of importance they hold that we are now only discovering in the past decades! It is said that there are well over 2000 different species of Fungi alone in Ohio. Which to me sounds quite outlandish as most of us have only seen a small number of those species, if any at all in the wild or urban areas. This is not very uncommon amongst are Western upbringings as opposed to Eastern societies and how their knowledge of Fungi has far surpassed ours for centuries. We are only now starting to understand what they have carried on from generation to generation. Leading Mycologist–Paul Stamets’ groundbreaking research and publications alone are fascinating and he is revolutionizing the importance of these elusive charms of the forest! Mycoremediation may just save this planet some day. And understanding the importance of fungi in medicine may just save our lives!

Knowing this makes me eager not only to learn more about the importance of Fungi, but to experience these individual species in their natural environment. To be there when these wonderful and mysterious things are growing in their natural state is a personal charm. To capture these moments with my camera lens is the reward and the education undeniably. In the next few months, I am revealing a Ohio Fungi series that I started in early 2011 and will be an ongoing collection much like my Delicate Balance nature series I have executed over the years. Because the diversity of species is immense, I will be presenting this series in seasonal installments throughout this year for those to enjoy.

This work is dedicated to Paul McClelland(February 20,1962–February 5, 2007)


Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • Vernal Series(April - June 21)