I came across this in an old subalpine glacial outwash area. It shows the advancing thalli of a crustose lichen approaching a small growth of a foliose lichen, all on a granite boulder. The large area of crustose lichen shows a progression of age from the youngest advancing thalli to oldest and decaying areas at the base of the image. Overall it appeared to me to represent a David and Goliath scene, or an incoming tide approaching a small patch of seaweed.
Hi. This one I really like and I might steal the idea for future images. Have an idea to move more into moss, lichen, and mushrooms once the bugs go to sleep but that is another story. The two zones make the image more of a journey of discovery than the previous lichenscape. I also like the color shift from bottom to top. Itās a bit of a natural gradient brown ā grey.
No idea what to suggest for improvements, but the bottom left corner is a bit soft. Maybe focus stack if you donāt already. I also wonder if a diffuser of sorts would help with the lighting. Not sure if there are wet spots or white āsandā between the lichen patches that steal a bit of attention from me, but I am easily distracted by shiny things . A bit of dodge/burn/repair might make this less of a distraction but thatās just me being very picky. I really like this image and I agree it looks a bit like the classic wide beach landscape shot with a bit of seaweed for foreground interestā¦
Quite creative with so much detail to savor! At first it looks like a drone shot and thatās really fabulous. I like the way youāve created the idea of a beach with a wave coming in. The bands of colors are really nice and I love the round apothecia, too, one of my favorite lichen structures.
My book calls the large formation a foliose formation because it is basically leafy while defining crustose as having no substrate at all and adheres directly to a surface. It defines the little bit on top as fruticose - shrubby, stalked, draping or branching. Phew!
In this case I might have stopped down more to include that lower bit in the focus plane, or barring that aligned the sensor differently or stacked. Maybe all three. Really terrific, keep 'em coming!
Hi Ingemar. Thanks for your comments. Yes, a diffuser might have helpedā¦if I had my bag with me. I just went for a short walk with my camera, not intending to do anything much, but then found myself a very long way outā¦as usual.
Haa, I think we have evolved to love shiny things! Unfortunately, the little spots are only grains of sand but they seemed to be too stuck to blow off at the time. They almost prevented me from posting this oneā¦but the image of incoming tide and seaweed had infiltrated my mind.
Thanks Kristen, am pleased you enjoyed that one, I thought most peoples eyes would glaze over when they see lichen photos.
My Lichens of NZ guide (the alpine and subalpine group) puts the main lichen in the crustose category (it certainly seems that way on the rocks). It is classified as Placopsis brevilobata, crustose-rimmed fruit. Am not so sure about the āseaweedā but it does seem to be foliose as it was adhering to the rock and its structure seemed to be most like Xanthoparmelia sp. I could email you an ecopy of the guide if you wantā¦although I donāt know how to do that through the siteā¦I havenāt yet got to grips fully with it yet to see if email addresses are listed somewhere.
Anyway, Iām not really into naming things ā¦ just thought I would try in case someone lichen-minded (know anyone like that?) asks about it. I mostly prefer to follow emotion when taking photos (stories seem to come later).
Yes I would have liked to do some stacking, but becasue it was a long way from our campervan I only took my camera and no tripod. I seem to have a real antagonism toward tripodsā¦must come from a previous life. Anyway I have just bought a Leofoto tripod that seems very sturdy and much lighter than my previous one that I got for my lead-weighted Nikonā¦that should help.
" Keep 'em coming"!!! I thought it might get a bit much for anyone to see more than a couple of this type of image. Thought Iād try the Flora group for the next one or two. Cheers.
Interesting that different guides classify or name things differently. Plus I think new discoveries with regard to mushrooms and lichens are changing practically every day with the new DNA analysis. I just ordered a new mushroom book published last year and I bit thereās stuff already out of date.
Lichen photos can go here or in Flora. If it grows, it goes in Flora basically. So lichens, mushrooms, bryophytes ā¦ whatever.
What a cool shot, Phil! You and Kristen are going to get me looking for lichen. It does look like an overhead shot of the beach, perhaps. Nicely seen and captured.
I think this is a wonderful find and composition! I could wish for a bit more room on the bottom and left but realize there may have been distractions there. I love the brown and gray colors.
Thanks Shirley. Yes lichens provide endless opportunity and to me they are wonderful. We have a vast array of them here particularly in the sub-alpine zone. I mostly photograph them in a large ancient glacial valley.
Thanks Diane. Correct. The left and bottom edges are as far as I could manage to push them without introducing a lot of distractions that I couldnāt deal with.
This image draws me in. A totally strange new world for me. I like how the shapes and textures change as you go through the image. I like the composition.
Thanks Andre. Yes, lichen has drawn me for many years now. Endless wonder and endless compositions. They are fascinatingā¦being comprised of both fungi and algae.
. A bit of dodge/burn/repair might make this less of a distraction but thatās just me being very picky. I really like this image and I agree it looks a bit like the classic wide beach landscape shot with a bit of seaweed for foreground interestā¦