A few photos and some Internet research brings back old school lessons long dim in the recesses of my mind.
These Pine cones are male and are normally only present for a short period, usually in the spring, falling as soon as they have shed their pollen. Most Pines have both male and female cones on the same tree. The female cone, which we are much more familiar with as Pine Cones, can take up to 3 years to mature.
I believe this particular tree is of the Longleaf Pine variety which is among the top 100 most common trees in North America. What attracted me to make this photo was the shear number of male cones on this tree alone — you can make out at least 13 in this image if you look closely.
I remember learning this information about Pine trees, or trees in general, somewhere in my early education but I can’t remember just when. Who knows what other obscure facts are laying dormant in my heard awaiting rediscovery! ;-)
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
I did have an epiphany late last night and stayed up to fix the last few issues I knew about on this new Meandering Passage look. There’s still a couple of small changes I want to make but…almost there.
Woe to those with allergies!
Steve, with swollen eyes and running nose I second your motion! Have a good weekend my friend.
I like this a great deal! My father was a forester here in NC and the long leaf was his favorite for many reasons. Very nice photo!
Sandra, thanks and welcome to Meandering Passage. It’s always nice to hear from others in NC. I hope you’ll become a regular visitor. :-)
very nicely composed
yz, thanks. Nature and the tree did most of the arranging in this case I just had to raise th camera to my eye and press the shutter. :-)
Fine close up of these cones. Nice explanation too….learned something new!
Don, thanks on the photo and I also learned learned a little something researching this.
This is just a great composition and color treatment. And, unless my eyes deceive me, some nice Vivenza work as well.
Chris, thanks for the kind words on the photo. Actually, I didn’t use Vivenza on this one. I used Photoshop and Topaz Simplify.
What is Topaz Simplify? I’ve never used it. Regardless, wonderful processing.
Thanks!
Topaz Simplify is a PS plugin used to reduce or simplify the details in an image. It can do so in a minor way, such as in this image, or to the point of making a photo look like a painting. At the very far end of the scale it can render a photo as an abstract.
In this particular case I used Simplify lightly on the pine needles to help emphasize the overall “flair shape” of the pine needles rather then their abundant, almost confusing, details. Using a mask in PS, I retained the full details of the male pine cones.