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spider

This post by John is timely as I am thinking hard and long about making some changes in my life. I'm wearing myself out chasing too many passions and, for far too long, have lacked the discipline of focus. I want to focus on fewer passions while using deliberate practice to enforce discipline around my efforts.

My true commitments are small, just like the set of my true disciplines. In contrast, my passions are as wide and as varied as life itself, and many of them are just temporary, fleeting and fanciful parts of history that will be gone before I know it.

So, naturally, it's better to invest in all of the areas of your life around your disciplines, the set of core commitments you've made, and the things that you are fundamentally for and not against. Again, that set is smaller than you and I probably realize and/or admit.John Saddington

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Round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica americana)

Bhavana and I went for another hike this afternoon in the Somerset County Sourland Mountain Preserve. The hike, a Wildflower Walk, was organised by the Sourland Conservancy Stewards. The hike was led by Jared Rosenbaum of Wild Ridge Plants, LLC. Jared is a naturalist advisor to the Sourland Conservancy’s Sourland Stewards program. We had met Jared's wife Rachel Makow. Rachel led a wild edibles walk through the Rock Mil Preserve two years ago, and we were a part of that.

Kiran and Shaan were supposed to come with us, but Shaan forgot he had a birthday party and bailed. Kiran had the sniffles, which she thinks is from allergies, so she stayed home.

The air was crisp and refreshing, but we soon warmed up as we stumbled along the rock-laden pathways. We traversed the rocky landscape while Jared shared his knowledge of the season’s first wildflower blooms. I don't remember the names of all the flowers Jared showed us, but this one was my favourite. I kept calling the trout lily, a yellow wildflower, the striped salmon. The group laughed every time I got it wrong.

I spotted the round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica Nobilis var. obtusa) while walking, looking down as I moved along. It was one of two poking out from beneath the dry leaf bed. The ornate and mottled leaves are visible year-round. The furry-stemmed flowers arise in the earliest spring; fur on the stems and new leaves protects against April cold fronts. Solitary bees pollinate the hepatica, and forest ants disperse the seeds.

Round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica americana)
Round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica americana) · Saturday 25 April 2015 · Nikon D5100 · 90 mm f/2.8

The variegated and mottled leaves are visible year-round. The furry-stemmed flowers arise in the earliest spring; fur on the stems and new leaves protects against April cold fronts. Solitary bees pollinate them, and forest ants disperse seeds.

I rented the same Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Di VC USD Macro that I used for the vernal pool walk. I lit the flower with my Nikon SB-600 and a Rogue Flashbender.

Do ants disperse them? I never knew that ants were involved in the life cycle of flowers! You can find the entire photo set on my Flickr.

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Up until recently, I have captured the images for the 100 Day Project using my AF-S Nikkor 35 f/1.8 lens. I rented a macro lens hoping to capture some juvenile amphibians in the vernal pools during my hike in the Sourlands. I wanted to learn how to use the lens. This morning and this afternoon, I bent over a patch of crocus growing in the yard and capture some images. I found out that I might have to show at small apertures and ISO 400 and maybe use a flash. The DOF of a macro lens is very narrow, so a small aperture helps. However, smaller apertures mean less light enters the sensor. Shooting at higher ISO and using a flash helps.

This was one of my favourites from the set. You can find the rest on Flickr.