Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: 100mm 2.8L

I haven't felt creative for a very long time, but yesterday I finally looked outside at the lovely spring day and felt the urge to take pictures again! I decided to take our new 5D MkIII + 100mm 2.8L macro lens for my little walk and out I went to see what I could find. I went down to our granite valley and moved along very slowly, peering closely at the saturated moss and tiny plants that were clinging to the rocks It's been very wet this year so the water has been running from our hillside, through the meadows, and down the rocks to our western seasonal stream. It's always interesting to look so closely at the world, and I found fun little plants and flower buds, a little beetle, and many other things to capture. At one point I noticed something black on the tip of a tiny blade of grass. Taking aim from a distance of a foot or so, I only got a few pictures and wasn't able to get closer before the little guy flew away, but still, I'm delighted at the detail from something that was smaller than a grain of rice!

Everyone knows that roses come in lots of beautiful colors. In fact, roses can be found in stunning bi-colors...but have you ever seen a MOTTLED one? Steve and I live near the Harry and David company here in Medford--it's a large specialty food shop--and they have a sprawling garden that's open to the public. The highlight of their flora are their seemingly countless varieties of roses. They literally go on for acres! It is a mind-numbing experience when going on a photo shoot because there are unending perfect subjects to photograph. So when I found myself staring in disbelief at a mottled rose, I could hardly believe my eyes! Turns out there are at least a couple-dozen mottled rose plants there to appreciate, and I DID! :)

On the afternoon of October 1, 2016, a fire broke out on our property. It raced across one of our meadows, completely destroyed our shop, and roared up to the top of our ridge before finally being put out. One day, when I could bear to witness the aftermath, I wandered up onto our hillside and captured some of the things that I saw. This is a dying leaf on a Manzanita that was burned too badly to survive. Even still there is beauty as it glows warmly in the late afternoon sun.

Happy New Year, and welcome to my new project! For a while now, I've been thinking about my backlog of pictures. We all have them. You know what I'm talking about...multiple hard drives, entire terabytes of images that need to be looked at and processed. So many cool pictures that we mean to work on, but in the end, life gets in the way. Time passes, and the pile of pictures grows larger. I wanted to do something creative this year with photography but I didn't want to tie myself down with a monster like my past 365 Project. (That entailed taking a new picture and posting it every single day for an entire year.) I kept thinking about all the pictures I haven't posted, and all the zillions of pictures that are just sitting in mothballs. Then it hit me: 365: Daily Archive Photo! This project lets me post pictures that I've processed but never publicized. I can pick through folders and process old images. If I don't have extra time, I won't even write about the image! My first picture just has to be a mushroom image! This is one that I processed some time ago but never posted. I didn't want people to get bored with all of my mushrooms so I tried not to post too many. Unfortunately, that meant that some of them never saw the light of day!) Behold this adorable little mushroom with mossy bokeh galore! I'm so happy that I can share my tiny buddy with the world! Explored on January 1, 2016. Highest placement: #11.

Have you ever wondered what happens to a green leaf that is exposed to extreme heat but isn't burned? You are looking at a leaf that had been green. Fire approached but only the extreme heat hit these leaves, causing the water within to boil and create the blistering of the surface. Although this leaf did not burn, it turned black and was dry as a bone. These leaves look to me as if they are cast from bronze.

The fire fighters cut down many smoldering trees and I found droplets of resin in the cuts of some of them. Catching the light just so created a pretty star!

Walking on our hillside among the ashes and burned trees and bushes, there glimmers the stark white remains of snails, their shells bleached from the damage. This contrast was very interesting to me and beautiful in its own way.

Ravaged by the fire that roared up our hillside, the forest that grew there was totally devastated. So many old trees, all gone. It is a horrible tragedy, but when I look at the ruin around me there, I am reminded that this is all a part of nature and an important part of the ecosystem. (There are also dead madrone trees behind and to the right.)

It was a curious thing to look at the trees and to find that the fire didn't burn everything in its path. Instead, the damage came from the incredible heat from the fire, which singed the leaves and left them totally dry, and yet with a beauty of their own.

Although the hillside appears totally barren on first glance, I knew that I would find surprises of life returning almost immediately. This is some sort of fungus that I found growing under a burned branch. Tiny and beautiful, each eappears to be a little 1/16" fur coat!

This is another ruined shell that I found. So many are scattered on the hillside in every size from the head of a pin to a quarter.

If you can believe it, there were countless blossoms like this everywhere I turned on my visit to the Harry & David garden. This was also my first opportunity to visit a garden with such a vast array of roses to appreciate. Every single plant seemed special and covered with extra beautiful flowers. My question is: do you think anyone could take a bad picture of a blossom that looks like this?! :) It is such a treat to be able to share some of these images! Explored on January 26, 2015. Highest placement, #4.

Such rich and luscious colors in all the roses at the Harry & David garden, it was hard for me to decide what flowers to take pictures of! This one had such a lovely shape to go with its bright orange-pink color...how could I resist? I added a bit of texture to the background, which helped to pop this blossom out of the picture. Explored on ipernity on January 20, 2015. Highest placement, #3.

This stunning and incredibly beautiful lilac rose was at the Harry & David Gardens in Medford, Oregon. These gardens are vast, and even in October, there were flowers everywhere. Truly, it would have taken me at least several long days to appreciate everything there which I wanted to photograph. Overwhelming was definitely the word of the day! I'd heard that the Harry & David gardens were overflowing with countless varieties of roses, but though I felt I was prepared, the sheer number and variety of roses completely blew me away!! Every color you could imagine--even variegated--so many types and sizes, and so many in bloom! It was an incredible show to behold, and I look forward to going back many times! And, by the way, this gorgeous blossom was matched with a wonderful and richly sweet fragrance. PURE HEAVEN! :D Explored on January 13, 2015. Highest placement, #3.