Mike Moats

Found these two nice fiddleheads but didn’t like the background, so I placed this skunk cabbage leaf behind them.

I got hold a lensbaby, which is a neat little lens that does great work for marco lovers. Check it out at www.lensbaby.com  I’ll post more of the images shot with the lensbaby. You can go to my website, www.tinylandscapes.com and click on the link that says Lensbaby Images.

My first day out shooting this spring.  The skunk cabbage leaves are starting to sprout.  I found this old snail’s shell, and thought it would be a nice contrasting subject for this skunk cabbage leaf.

This was shot in early spring as the snow melted and left pools of water in the flood plain of stoney creek.

The Skunk Cabbage plant is the first sign of life in the north as we head torwards spring. These interesting plants have a built in heating systems that allows it to melt through the ice in the swampy areas that it grows in.  You will start to see them here in southeast Michigan around the end of Feburary, providing we don’t have a blanket of snow covering them. You can see the ice surrounding this one.

As spring approaches and the snow melts into the river and produces some fast moving currents.  Here’s one from last year that I found with a face in the flow.

 Shot some flowers that I used for one of my intermediate macro workshops.  I pulled off one of the petals to expose the insides.

Here’s my green shot for SPD. This is a backlit Skunk Cabbage leaf.  The backlighting is from a early morning sun.  In the next few week these leaves will be poping up in the swampy areas, can’t wait!!

I got out to shoot yesterday for the first time in a couple of months.  Still to much snow on the ground and was very limited on subjects to shoot.  This is one the few shots I took.  I’ll hold off for a couple more weeks and hope for some warm temps to melt off the snow.                           

Here’s another of the leaves from the swamp series. Last shot was Maples this time its Oaks.
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Another snow storm heading our way tonight, seems like every week we get one.  Yesterday I was thinking spring but today its back to reality. This is from the swamps I shoot in, the maples laying in the water turn this nice white color. More images at www.tinylandscapes.com

I just posted this image over at www.birdphotographers.net in the macro/flora section.  I was thinking about the upcoming spring and can’t wait till it gets here.  As I was in the spring mood I decided to post this flower shot.  One morning I looked out on our sunlight porch and saw this this flower in one of my wife pots and was drawn to the great backlighting in the petals of this flower. Don’t remember the name of the subject.

This was shot last year at a indoor botanical garden run by the University Of Michigan.  I haven’t been there yet this year, but hope to go visit it next week.

Here’s another bubble shot this time locked in ice with a couple of leaves.

Shot this last fall in a small puddle at the edge of a hiking trail.

This was shot on the top of a large rectangle mushroom.  I never was able to ID the shroom.

Each winter I try to find time to visit a local botanical garden which offers plants in full color which we lack in the outdoors of Michigan right now.  This is from an Amaryillis flower.

Its fun to buy some cut flowers and play with different shots and lighting.  Shot this next to a window and let the light coming in backlight it.

Stuck inside shooting today, so I got my old light table for slides out and started to play.  This is a turkey feather I collected in the woods and place it on the light table and added a drop of water.