This post goes for #AmazingNature Thematic Challenge. This week the given topic was: Berries.
Being a vivid macro photographer, I happily took this challenge and put my dedicated macro lens to my backpack yesterday.
I love autumn, this is my favorite season - and for the most part, precisely because autumn is a ripening time, a time to harvest ... a rich time! these fruits appear on the branches and hang around, pleasing to the eye - even if they are not edible and cannot please our mouth and stomach :)
And besides, as we remember, nature is an outstanding decorator, and in the fall it releases all the brakes ...
Amazing, isn't it? Well, in fact it was not the nature of the solo that created this piece, I also participated, because above is the processed version of the photo. And below is the automatic version, as how the camera saw it.
A bit more pale and less catchy, less magic, isnt it? Feel the difference.
Ok, it was only a lyrical prologue to my post.
I entered our local park - one of two that I have in the foot distance from my house. Oops! a step back, it wasnt really the start of the story.
When I looked out the window in the morning, I was stunned - the weather decided to cloud our heads, which made me absolutely happy! Great surprise. After a quick breakfast of coffee and fried pancakes with a liver, my daughter went to school with her mother, and I went with the camera ... no, not to the office to do my work, but to the park to enjoy the foggy views.
That is it. The for was all around. The fog is really a precious, amazing gift the nature can give to a photographer, and I was very happy I can spend an hour looking at it, thru my camera viewfinder.
I planned to catch two hairs at once: find some berries and take the pics for the challenge, and enjoy the foggy landscapes. Thats why I borrowed two lens with me. (Well, actually three, but the fisheye I dudnt use at all). So, all of the pics below in my post are taken with wide-angle Canon 16-35mm 2.8L and Sigma 150mm.
No, these are not berries ofc -- its acorns. Beautiful, magnificent, attractive acorns. They are maybe useless (in same way as chestnuts that we have growing here), but I've seen so many folks collecting them -- just for the pleasure of touch their glossy skin, to enjoy these gifts that autumn brings us.
And although I hunted for berries, of course I could not pass by and not photograph this autumn beauty. And below there are chestnuts. I couldn't pass by them either, closing my eyes and turning the camera in the opposite direction :)
So, berries. Our park do not have something exclusive, like sea buckthorn or northern Siberian kiwi varieties. All the most common and very common in my area. Here's what I was able to find: rowan, barberry, shiny cotoneaster, snowberry, hawthorn, rosehip (one of the species). I also add juniper to the post (I took the photo from my archive, because it grows in another park, so I was not able to take photos of them yesterday).
Итак, ягоды. Наш парк не имеет экзотики навроде облепихи или северных, сибирских сортов киви. Все самое обычное и распространенное в моей местности. Вот что я был в состоянии найти: рябина, боярышник, барбарис, терновник, шиповник (один из видов). Я также добавляю к посту можжевельник и виноград (фото взял из своего архива, потому что они растут в другом парке, я был не в состоянии сделать их фотографии вчера).
Rowan!!! Tonns of rowan berries this year, the trees are bending under the weight of the rowan harvest. (Folk omens claim that this means in practical terms - a cold winter. Well, will see!).
Рябина !!! Тонны ягод в этом году, деревья гнутся под тяжестью урожая рябины. (Народные приметы утверждают, что в практическом смысле это означает холодную зима. Ну, поживем - увидим).
If theres a rowan trees growing next to you, and you have a telephoto lens, wait in December-February for guests: Fieldfares. Spectacle and beautiful photos are guaranteed!
Если рядом с вами растет рябина, и у вас есть телефото объектив - поджидайте в декабре-феврале гостей: дроздов-рябинников. Зрелище и красивые фото гарантированы!
More hawthorn. These berries hung on a small tree, it was convenient for me to photograph. There were no thorns on these branches.
Еще боярышник. Эти ягоды висели на маленьком дереве, мне было удобно фотографировать. Ягоды очень похожи на терновник, но терновник имеет длинные шипы, а боярышник - нет. У них также различаются листья. На этих ветках не было шипов.
Another type of hawthorn - this tree had sparsely located solid thorns 4 cm long. Different types of hawthorn differ in berry color, leaf shape, crown size, frost resistance ... this makes some species more attractive for use in gardens for decorative purposes.
Другой вид боярышника - это деревце имело редко расположенные солидные колючки длиной 4 см. Разные виды боярышника отличаются цветом ягод, формой листьев, размерами кроны, мороустойчивостью... это делает некоторые виды более привлекательными для использования в садах с декоративными целями.
I thought this is another type of hawthorn: it has black berries, different leaves, and grows in the form of dense bushes, not trees. The hedges in the park are made from this species. It has a very decorative look in autumn - decide yourself :)
Думаю, что это еще один вид боярышника: он имеет черные ягоды, другие листья, и растет в виде плотных кустов а не деревьев. Живые изгороди в парке сделаны из этого вида. Он имеет очень декоративный вид осенью - смотрите сами :)
UPD. thanx to @eto-ka, now we know what it is! actually not a hawthorn, but a different plant, named in Russian 'Кизильник' - the Latin name is Cotoneaster lucidus, aka the shiny cotoneaster, or hedge cotoneaster. Its really nice to rise your learning curve from day to day. TNKS @eto-ka!
Maple's seeds. Can be quite fascinating. But nothing can conquer to maple's leaves!
Barberry. I stopped by a several barberry bushes ... and took many different photographs with varying degrees of zoom. Alas, one post is not enough to display everything worthwhile! By the way, three starlings were foraging near this certain the barberry bushes - I think I'll save these photos for the possible corresponding theme of the SMAP challenge by @nelinoeva and Feathered Friends community. For example: "Bird's Breakfast". Or: "Bird's Diet in the fall."
Барбарис. Я останавливался у нескольких кустов барбариса... и сделал много разных фотографий с разной степенью приближения. Да, одного поста мне никак не хватит, чтобы показать всё стоящее! Около кустов барбариса, кстати, паслись скворцы - я пожалуй приберегу эти фотографии для соответствуюей темы СМАП-челленджа. Например: "Птичий завтрак". Или: "Птичья диета (меня) осенью".
More barberry beauty, and now on to the rose hips - the end of my photo folder ... is not visible yet!
Больше барбарисовой красоты, а теперь перейдем к шиповнику - конец моей папки с фотографиями... еще не виден! :)))
The pond. (A contra-punct to the red berries)
Rose-hips. Their berries age and become wilted in such a great photo-friendly way!
Few plants are as amazingly cold weather resistant as the Snowberry (in Latin: Symphoricarpos albus). Its large berries, densely clinging to bare branches without leaves, continue to firmly adhere to the branches even under a layer of snow! We have no snow yet, but the berries are already ripe and decorate the pictures. There are about 15 species in this family. They are quite familiar and often used to decorate city lawns and park alleys.
And these are juniper berries - took this capture a few weeks ago, for the previous A.M. challenge. Here we go!
| location: | St.Petersburg, Russia | October 2021 | raw-conv. |
| camera/lens: | Canon 5D | Sigma 150mm | Canon 16-35mm 2.8 |
tags: macro summer flower amazingnature