Finger Lakes Region of New York State – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Like a Dandelion

and a shifting of crops to (human) wheat from (cow) corn

June 24, 2022June 20, 2022 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Wednesday, June 15th, we were on a turn to heat and humidity with this day of light breeze, temperature in the 70s making hiking around Tremen Park a joy.

These snapshots, taken on the fly with an IPhone 7, are the high points.

The first is a dandelion look alike with yellow flowers, petals shaped like teeth, though on a long hard stem and multiple flowers on a stalk. Known as meadow hawkweed, yellow hawkweed, field hawkweed, king devil, yellow paintbrush, devil’s paintbrush, yellow devil, yellow fox-and-cubs, and yellow king-devil with two scientific names: Pilosella caespitosa and Hieracium caespitosum.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click for slideshow.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

A Brief Happy Movie on the Solstice

a gorge walk

June 21, 2022June 10, 2022 MichaelStephenWills20 Comments

Walking around Taughannock Falls New York State Park on the solstice of 2019 starting from the Black Diamond trail head on Jackson Road, down the South Rim trail, up the North Rim Trail. We had a great deal of rain this week and the water filled the falls the full channel width.

The header photograph is a waterfall of Fillmore Glen, also in the Finger Lakes.

For a full screen view, click on the UTube icon, lower right of the video panel. The resolution is not very good so I also posted the source videos.

The movie is from the following videos and photos from my IPhone. The quality is better than the compilation video. I uploaded the following videos directly to WordPress. I was not able to get the “full view” icon to work on my browser. Enjoy

View of the upper gorge, above the falls, from the South Rim

View into the gorge from the South Rim

Distant view of Taughannock Falls from the South Rim

Click on any of the photographs for a larger view.

The stairs up to the North Rim of the gorge

View of the forest of the North Rim

A turkey vulture soars by towards the end of the following.

View of gorge from the North Rim

Taughannock Falls and “Ant People” from the overlook

Taughannock Falls from the North Rim

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Peppermint Drops

Left for us by Pam’s Father

June 18, 2022June 9, 2022 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Pam’s father planted this rose on the east side where it is warmed wintertime by several hours of morning light when the sun is out. Extra attention is needed for watering as the roots are under a bay window and an awning.

It is a miniature rose, the blooms about 1.5 inch across, this and the irregular red and white coloring reminds me of peppermint candies, so we call it our peppermint rose (not to be confused with the “Peppermint Rose” branded doll). The descent from wild rose is clear in the simplicity of the form. The number of flower petals identify it as a hybrid “modern rose: there are many more than five (5) petals of the wild rose.

These photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens with a “BeFree” Manfrotto tripod with ball head. f-stop was tamped down to the maximum, f16 for this lens. In spite of the light intermittent breezes I chose ISO 200. The combination of f-stop and low ISO resulted in a longer exposure that I worked around by waiting for the blooms to settle down between the breezes.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

First Bloom

“Princess of the Night” one evening

June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 MichaelStephenWills13 Comments

Our Night Blooming Cereus spent this winter on a stand on an eastern facing window. The day after Memorial Day it is back to the poolside rain barrel where, looking up from swimming laps June 12th, I spied the first bloom of the season.

Click pic for larger view in a new browser tab. If you are in WordPress Reader, open the post to use this feature.

I am sure it opened during the day.

I am grateful for the unexpected pleasure.

Photographs are from the Apple IPhone 7, flash enabled.

Click me for another Cereus Post.

Birds Around the Weigela

an exceptional bloom for our backyard wonder

June 15, 2022June 12, 2022 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

Sad to say, today, Sunday June 12th, the flowering bush is spent, the blooms withered and falling. Pam took time to document some visitors while the Weigela was in its glory. This is a sample of the species we enjoy while washing the dishes.

These photographs were taken by Pam through our windows with her Iphone 8 plus.

Here is a series of informative signs from Cass Park, just down the hill on the Cayuga Lake Inlet. Pictured are resident birds, most of them visited our backyard feeder.

Click me to find background information on our Weigela bush.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Betty Boop

A cartoon come to life

June 12, 2022June 1, 2022 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

These Floribunda, semi-double petaled blooms were captured along with the yellow double cluster roses of the previous post, in the evening shade of a late spring day, June 23rd.

Above is a mix of just opened (the dark red, center bottom), fully opened new (just to right of center) and aging (all the rest).

Throughout this set I used the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr with the EF 50 mm f/1.2L USM stabilized with a Manfrotto 468MG tripod with Hydrostatic Ball Head.

Floribundas, sometimes called cluster flowered roses, originated with Poulsen’s nursery in Denmark from crossed with Hybrid Teas with Polyantha Roses, themselves crosses between dwarf Chinas and a dwarf, repeat-flowering form of R. multiflora. Texas-based rose hybridizer Tom Carruth released Betty Boop in 1999, naming it after a cartoon character from the 1930’s. Pam found this plant around 2008 offered by the K-mart store in Cortland. She is amazed by the beauty of the Betty Boops.

Another beloved characteristic is the longevity of the blooms. Pam collected and arranged this vase last week, for Father’s Day. I provided the setting. In this controlled environment the low ISO provides better colors and contrast with minimal digital noise.

References

“The Botanical Garden” Vol 1, Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, Firefly Books, Buffalo, N.Y. 2002 pp 228 – 233.

Wikipedia search for “Betty Boop rose” and ” Tom Carruth rose.”

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Lemon Yellow

With us since ancient times

June 11, 2022June 1, 2022 MichaelStephenWills21 Comments

Enjoyed since ancient times throughout the Middle East and China, our European roses were cultivated from Chinese introduced in the late 18th Century. One evening this June, unusually quiet with no breeze, Pam asked me to photograph this tall shrub in full bloom. These are protected from grazing deer by a stout fence, six feet tall.

At first it appears the blooms are a mix of colors from lemon yellow to cream.

The variation is an indication of each bloom’s age since opening. At first each opens to a lemon yellow. Here is a combination of opening and tightly closed bud. Throughout this set I used the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr with the EF 50 mm f/1.2L USM stabilized with a Manfrotto 468MG tripod with Hydrostatic Ball Head. The stabilization allowed me to present the following comparison, at right the very fast 50 mm lens allows the opening bud to be highlighted. Left side, the lens diaphragm is somewhat closed and the opening bud, tightly closed and leaves are all seen. The pinnate, serrated leaves have one terminal lobe and two lateral for a set of three. There are fewer thorns than some, but sharp enough to be careful.

Flowers bloom throughout the late spring, summer and fall. Pam stops fertilizing in late summer to allow the plant to harden for our Zone 4b winters. Here you can see the plentiful flower buds, compare the opening to mature flower colors.

References

“The Botanical Garden” Vol 1, Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, Firefly Books, Buffalo, N.Y. 2002 pp 228 – 233

Spring Waterfall Walk

June 3, 2022May 25, 2022 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Travelling light, using the IPhone 7during a 4 mile walk on the Gorge and South Rim Trails of Robert H. Treman New York State Park, Finger Lakes Region near Ithaca, New York. A few waterfalls and sights along the way. Distance is from the “Health” app on my phone.

A pool is formed beneath this waterfall by a dam, removed each fall and yet to be placed. Summertime, the water is deliciously cool. It is great fun swimming to the waterfall base and inching along under the spray. This view is the reward for the first climb up from the gorge floor, the South Rim Trail.

The first Foam Flower…..

This flower grew just off this section of the trail.

A few hundred feet further along, the Foam Flowers were crowded in clumps. The scientific name, Tiarella cordifolia, is from the heart shaped leaves (cordifolia). Each flower forms a crown like seed, thus “tiarella” from the French.

Click me for more information on this plant.

Here I approached the high point of this section of the South Rim Trail. I look forward to summer and Purple Flowering Raspberry, the featured photograph (header) of this post.