Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 30mm — 1/40 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Fern and Moss at the Giouji Temple
Peter requested some fern pictures. I happen to have a few poorly-photographed fern pictures in my library, so here they are....
The next three fuzzy shots were taken in the dark shade under deep forest cover, handheld, while on a short hike in the hills with Anthony last May. I've got a monopod on order now, which hopefully should make this kind of situation easier to photograph, but in any case, here are the shots I did get:
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/40 sec handheld, f/4, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Delicate
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/60 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — 1/45 sec handheld, f/2.8, ISO 500, P.P. boost: +1.11EV — full exif & map — nearby photos
Baby Fern
The next picture is sad. I took it when we stopped in the mountains in the middle of nowhere to eat our picnic lunch, on the drive that later yielded these wonderful purple irises. We'd pulled off the road onto a little clearing overlooking a gully perhaps 15 feet below, into which someone had dumped a TV (visible in the center of the shot, far behind the plants in the foreground).
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 26mm — 1/60 sec, f/3.5, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Fern and Junk
It's something I've never understood, but it seems that a sufficiently large fraction of Japanese feel it's a worthwhile endeavor to haul garbage long distances to beautiful nature spots so that they can dump it there. I've traveled around much of the country by car and motorcycle, and no matter how deep you get into the mountains, hours from any “civilization,” you always have a wide selection of rusted out refrigerators, TVs, and washers lining the bottoms of gullies and ravines. Certainly, every country has its own things to be ashamed of, but this is one of Japan's.
It reminds me a lot of the public service ads I saw as a kid in the US, showing an American Indian shedding a tear at the garbage people left around. The poor guy would cry a river if he came to Japan. I just can't comprehend what would drive someone to do this kind of stuff.
(Sorry to end this Fern post on such a downer, but the pictures weren't that good anyway. I'll try to take some nice ones once I get back from an impending trip to America....)
Thanks Jeffrey! I have appropriated a copy of the Giouji one for my desktop - hope you don’t mind.
If anyone’s interested, I’d guess the large fern there is Dryopteris erythrosora, or a close relative. The large fern in front of the television is another Dryopteris (male fern to English-speaking Westerners), perhaps D. dickinsii. I wouldn’t dare even guess at the others, though ‘baby fern’ looks good enough to eat.
I’m looking forward to the arrival of your monopod, some more hikes in the woods, and … !
Peter
Well, if it’s ferns you are going to photograph, you don’t have to wait until you come back from the States. Mom has them in spades. She’s got a shade garden with tiny ferns, medium ferns, and such huge ones that it seems prehistoric in there. You wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see a brontosaurs walk by.
For those who are surprised by Peter’s comment about the fern looking “good enough to eat”, he has probably eaten a few since ferns are his specialty. (I was delighted to know that) Fern crosier/croziers or fiddleheads, (the fronds that are still coiled) are often steamed and enjoyed as a spring green, like asparagus, and are delicious with butter. (Well, not all, certainly not the maidenhairs, but the Ostrich and Cinnamon and the pasture brakes are.) I haven’t had any in years, but I must remember next spring when I thin out the rampant “Matteucia” that has taken over. Maybe I’ll can or freeze some and use them to thicken stews like they do in Alaska. I was glad to be reminded of this. Thanks, Peter
Thank you to Grandma Friedl for elaborating on my comment!
Yes, I have eaten various fern croziers in Japan - mostly Osmunda, Pteridium (bracken) and Matteuccia I think, also field horsetail. Can’t say I was wowed by any of them, any more than by the bee larvae I was served in Tokyo once!
After Marcina’s comment, I’m now hoping that Jeffrey will take and post some photographs of your shade garden! By the way, my copy of the Schenk moss book is on order, but taking a frustratingly long time to come.
Peter