Monday 8 March 2010

Macro Monday – Moss

Moss isn’t usually seen as being particularly interesting, and it isn’t until you get close that you are able to see just how intricate and delicate they are…

If you'd like to join in with the macro monday fun please check out: Lisa's Chaos





34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous pictures Liz, just fabulous. I've always loved moss- in the right place of course- its structure and all the different kinds. I suppose thats the penalty of being short sighted and reading to many fairy tales as a child!

Christina. Sweden said...

I adore all the different kinds off moss. Crawling arour you see lots of details in them. Nice shots!

Kimberly said...

VERY COOL!!!! Great idea to focus on the little things!

Muhammad khabbab said...

Very pretty moss and you have shot it to perfection.

ShySongbird said...

Beautiful photos Liz, great detail!

Johnny Nutcase said...

moss is definitely interesting!! I really like these shots, reminds me of some I took in Costa Rica last year. Lov that second one- beautiful lighting too!

Kim, USA said...

Oh wow that is so pretty. Great shot!

The petal

Kala said...

Great detail in these macros. Makes me what to go out and shoot moss!

Helen/patientgardener said...

When I see these sorts of pics I want to go and get a better camera but unfortunately my bank account wont let me

Shirley said...

Very nice Liz, very nice. Moss is such a wonderful subject too :-D

Tammie Lee said...

I completely agree, moss is amazing and your photos show this. Lovely.

Liz said...

Hi Julie,

Thanks :) Yes, moss isn’t always welcome and so far I’ve been quite lucky that I don’t have a problem with it in the lawn. These were growing on the north-face of some bricks lining one of our borders (still working on said border)
Plus, of course they also provide nesting material for birds during spring!

You’re not alone in your dreams of fairy tales, there is something very magical about moss that’s for certain…

Liz said...

Hi Christina,

Thank you for visiting my blog, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos!

I look forward to regularly having a wet bum/stomach as I crawl around the garden trying to get close to the plants… lol, I haven’t had that for a while now…

Liz said...

Hi Kimberly,

Thank you very much for visiting my blog, sometimes it can be the little things you otherwise overlook which are the most enchanting!
Something so simple and yet so delicate and for many gardeners the bane of their life…

Nutty Gnome said...

Morning Liz. I've got lots of moss in my garden, but I've never scrauwmned around taking such glorious photos of it!
Note to self - must get better at switching to macro!!!

jay said...

Love the moss! The third picture is marvellous - and I very much like the angle of the last one, and the colours, too!

Liz said...

Hi Muhammad,

Thank you! :)

Now I just need some mushrooms to photograph too and we can have a real fairytale…

Liz said...

Hi Jan,

Thanks, thrilled you liked them :)

I’m tempted to get an extension tube to get ‘closer’ but at the moment it’s a luxury I can do without!

Liz said...

Hi Johnny,

Thank you very much :) I think the second is my favourite too, but I do also love the colours, light and textures of the fourth!

Liz said...

Hi Kim,

Thank you, I’m glad you liked them and also glad you visited my blog!

Liz said...

Hi Karla,

Lol, thanks!

If you do take some Moss photos, I’d love to see them! When I get some ferns I plan on taking shots of them too, I love how their leaves unfurl… Very primitive and yet so elegant :)

Liz said...

Hi Helen,

Does your camera allow for macro shots or for you to play with it in a manual mode? Perhaps you could play around and see what you can produce?

Buying a DSLR is never cheap, well the bodies are cheap to buy as they do devalue quickly, it’s the lenses which hurt the bank balance – although it also means they don’t decrease in value and if you ever need to sell you won’t lose a lot of money on them like you would the camera body.

There are excellent compacts out there too, I always used Olympus for their ‘super macro’, excellent quality images from them for as little as £100/200.

Liz said...

Hi Shirl,

Thank you muchly :)

The things you resort to photographing when there’s little else around to inspire… ha ha

Liz said...

Hi Tammie Lee,

Thank you very much for the lovely compliment and for visiting my blog! It’s much appreciated :)

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

Morning! I trust you’re well?

Luckily I don’t have *too* much moss, although I had noticed some in the grass a few weeks ago, thankfully this is the grass that I’ll be digging up in the next few weeks so it’ll soon be gone!

Lol would it disappoint if I said I wasn’t actually on my belly taking these shots?? They’re on some bricks bordering the new bed we started last summer, so they’re raised to my chest height if I shoot from the decking by the house. All I had to do was stabilise the camera against the wall and shoot. Although I am in no doubt it won’t be long before I regularly have a damp bum/stomach as I do actually lie on the grass – usually when taking insect shots, like Bees on Clover.

wiseacre said...

The things you resort to photographing when there’s little else around to inspire

But then you take a closer look and wow! I've been stuck on moss mode for a couple weeks.

Yoke, said...

hi Liz,

Lovely shots. I've been photographing Moss a lot before I got my macro lens, and I have been waiting for the right moment and place to do some macro shots. Do it again on a frosty morning, assuming you like many of us, still are clouded in winter, in the early morning.

I know of an open-topped wall, at the edge of the village, which, as a micro habitat has an assortment of crops, mosses and things like Scarlet Pimpernels, (when the weather is better obviously) and at the perfect height for me. Only thing is finding it without cars parked in front!

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

lovely detail Liz. I recently started taking photos of moss too.

Andree said...

The third photo is perfect. These moss and lichen photos are the most difficult to focus, but you got it nailed! It's a beautiful speciman.

Liz said...

Hi Wiseacre,

I personally love Lichen and wish I had more around to photograph, most of the plants in our garden are young though so haven’t yet had the chance to grow much lichen on them. I look forward to a few years down the line when I hopefully will have more lichen and interesting mosses to shoot :)

Liz said...

Hi Yoke,

Last week we had a few frosty mornings, I’m unsure if we’ll get any this weekend though. I really ought to have taken the frosty shots last week when I had the chance but just didn’t fancy it at the time.
I snapped a couple on a sycamore helicopter frosted over…

I hope you manage to get your shots soon, perhaps early morning or late evening would be the best time when the cars won’t be there?

Liz said...

Hi Rosie,

Thanks :) it sounds like a lot of people are enjoying mosses at the moment…

Liz said...

Hi Andree,

Thank you so much for the lovely compliment, much appreciated. I love how delicate and seemingly inconspicuous the mosses are, yet when you look close you really can appreciate their beauty.

VW said...

Oh, I'm completely in love with moss. I think it's because we never had any growing in our desertesque yard when I was growing up. I'd see it in my grandmother's garden and think it was wonderful. So now I don't mind it when I see it in our grass.