Getting Down (Part 2)

Ahem. You can stop waiting now.  It’s time to resume our quiet little walk in the woods, looking at the smaller things, getting down to more of a bug’s eye view.  It’s not bad down here…

For those who are just now joining the hike, without having burned the visual calories associated with vicariously hiking part one, here’s the backstory in a breath.  Last winter I acquired a new (to me) 105mm macro telephoto lens, and had the chance to hike a newly reopened trail in the Columbia Gorge with my wife and some friends.  The trail had been closed due to fire damage for over a year.

Oh, and if you’re really new to the site, I tend to take pictures and tell stories about them – hopefully in a more interesting way than “we went here, then we went there, etc.”  We’re going easy on the story this time around.  I mean really, who wants constant yammering in their ear whilst out enjoying the quiet and solitude of nature?

Let’s walk, shall we?

(Click any picture for a larger view)

Note: not a thumbprint on the lens.  Tree rings, in black and white.

Er, hey, what’s this?  It ain’t macro.  It’s barely a photograph.

Ok, ok, I cheated. A little. In part one I even insinuated I ignored the epic vistas in the Columbia Gorge, suggesting I was always looking down.  Obviously, that’s not entirely true.  I fired this one off on the cellphone while heading back down the trail and used one of my various software tools to give it a painterly look.

And what’s worse, even though I think it’s kind of cool, I’m using it as clickbait.  Part One didn’t drag in many viewers beyond the regular crew (thanks, guys and gals), and I figure it’s featured picture of a couple of leaves might not have triggered the excitement meter.   This one might at least get an “er, hey, what’s this?”