Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Pinus benthamiana Hartweg

3 more pictures in notes above! :) A few days ago I shared pictures of Ponderosa Pine tree bark. That day I was attracted to the area because I saw pine cones on the ground, and took lots of pictures of them. However, when I saw the pictures on the computer, I realized I made many mistakes, so I studied them with interest to understand what I did wrong. A few days ago, I took more pictures and because I was rushing, I wasn't thinking about the mistakes I made. So, though I did manage to get some nice pictures, I made some of the same mistakes again! :D They say that three time's a charm, so today I took many more pictures. This time I was really paying attention and thinking about what I needed to do differently. I got home and after deleting the garbage pictures, I ended up with lots of presentable keepers! HUZZAH!!! HIP HIP HOORAY! Oh brother! :D This picture corrects my errors of dof that was too shallow or too deep and also ISO too low with blurry results. I have added some texture to the background to bring out the pine cone as well. (You can see my other images as insets above or by viewing the next three pictures!) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and politician. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, and more than 10,000 letters written by him are extant, as are nearly 3,000 drawings. Wikipedia: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Explored on October 18, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

Just take a look at these PRICKLES! Handle these cones carefully or you will come away bleeding! One close look at any pine cone and you will be amazed at their individual beauty. I wanted to share images of these awesome Ponderosa pine cone scales so you can see how awesome and armored they are. Almost like turtle shells with a spike on top! :) (If you would like more information about different pine cones, and to see other pictures, Wiki has a great page here! Wikipedia: Pine Cone If you've done any macro photography, you've learned that the depth of field is a very touchy thing with these specialized lenses. If you get very close to a subject, your dof must be high enough to get the entire area of interest in focus but no higher, because you want the area beyond to fall into blur. I kept using an aperture that was too low for this close-up to include the caps of the scales to be completely in focus. Maddening! I kept getting "near misses" or a touch of blur to ruin the image. But finally, here I've gotten the focus of the scale cap with nice bokeh beyond. Hooray!! :)

This pine cone had a cluster of scales that I wanted to isolate, and I really loved this cone so I worked hard at getting the angle just right for proper focus. I was very happy to find that this image turned out nicely!

Backing off a bit from the previous picture, I was able to isolate these scales so that only they were in focus while everything else fell away into blur. This was tricky to get just right!! Nothing like a good challenge though, and here you go! :)

12 more pictures in notes above! :) I was planning on taking the dogs on a walk around the lower forest today, but I ended up only about 100 feet from the house when I saw a mossy stump and wanted to investigate more closely. No mushrooms. Then I noticed some pine cones and thought they would make a very nice subject. After I spent some time taking pictures, I saw that the bark on the pine tree was very interesting and took a closer look. What a surprise! Did you know that pine trees can have all kinds of different bark? I completely forgot that I'd seen trees with bark like this before, but even then, I didn't look very closely. Ponderosa Pine trees have bark like layered jigsaw puzzle pieces!! To prove the point, see the inset images or the next two pictures (with their insets). Totally fascinated, I studied the bark carefully, gently removing a piece or two, and discovering that many pieces can be removed and then replaced on the tree! I spent time trying to show how much the layers resemble shale (a type of fine-grained sedimentary rock). Very interesting, isn't it?! The bark is fun to look at too, with beautiful textures and colors. I chose the picture above for my Picture of the Day because it's such an picturesque abstract and looks like a pterodactyl to me! :) From Wiki: Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, or western yellow pine, is a very large pine tree of variable habit native to western North America, but widespread throughout the temperate world. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane. It is the official state tree of the State of Montana. The Ponderosa Pine is a large coniferous evergreen tree. The bark helps to distinguish it from other species. Mature individuals have cinnamon-red bark with black crevices. Younger trees have black to reddish-brown bark. The tree can often be identified by its characteristic long needles that grow in tufts of two to four (or five) depending on subspecies. Deepak Chopra (born October 22, 1947) is an Indian-American physician, a holistic health/New Age guru, and alternative medicine practitioner. Chopra has taught at the medical schools of Tufts University, Boston University and Harvard University. He became Chief of Staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH) in Massachusetts, before establishing a private practice. In 1985, Chopra met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who invited him to study Ayurveda. Chopra left his position at the NEMH and became the founding president of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, and was later named medical director of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center. Wikipedia: Deepak Chopra

1 picture above in a note! Studying this interesting pine tree bark, I was fascinated by its similarity to jigsaw puzzle pieces, and in fact, that is one of the Ponderosa Pine's defining characteristics. From what I have read, the only other tree with bark like this is the Jeffrey Pine tree. Both species can be found here in southern Oregon, but there are distinctive differences that set them apart: • The Jeffrey Pine grows at very high elevations of 5-10,000 feet, whereas the Ponderosa Pine can be found from sea level to 10,000 feet. (we are at 1500 feet, which rules out the Jeffrey) • Jeffrey Pine cones are 5-10" in size, while Ponderosa Pine cones are 4-5" in size. (again, our cones are much too small to be a Jeffrey) • Conflicting information (from Wiki) say that Jeffrey pine is also very distinct from Ponderosa pine in its resin scent, variously described as reminiscent of vanilla, lemon, pineapple, violets, apple, and, quite commonly, butterscotch; compared to the turpentine or odorless scent of ponderosa pine. However, sources agree that the Jeffrey pine is more strongly scented than the Ponderosa pine. (Our trees are very lightly scented.)

1 picture above in a note! :) I had a lot of fun finding bark that was ready to come off and could also be replaced after I gently removed it! You can see me holding the piece in the inset on this picture and the last one. In both cases, I put the pieces back in place, where they were quite securely seated! Amazing! After looking at my pictures this afternoon, I took Zoe and Moosie up to our ridge line and I searched for Jeffrey Pine trees. I didn't find any (and didn't expect to at our low elevation), but I did find some other evergreen species, including Sugar Pines with their foot-long cones, White (False) Cedar, and a true Cedar species! So much fun to learn about trees! :D By the way, if you live in the Pacific Northwest or if you just want some interesting edutainment, this tree "key" will help you figure out native trees, it's really cool and well done! Oregon State Univesity: Dichotomous Tree Key

1 more picture in a note above! When looking at this tree straight on, you can really appreciate the lovely textures and patterns of the bark, but if you look at the edges of the bark sections, you can see the many layers that make up this tree's bark. I was surprised how much it looks like shale, (click to see a picture) which is a type of fine-grained sedimentary rock. The inset picture is another angle to show the layers.