Moss on rock
Click for greater clarity and size.
While I was walking in Great Hills Park on February 13th, a colony of bright green moss thriving on a large rock caught my attention. When I got close I could see, rising from that bright base, these spore-capsule-bearing stalks, which were only about a third of an inch (8mm) tall.
Although mosses are common in central Texas, somehow this is the first closeup I’ve ever showed of any. (Ball moss and Spanish moss have appeared here, but in spite of their common names they aren’t true mosses.)
If you’re interested in photography as a craft, you’ll find that points 1, 6, 9 and 15 in About My Techniques are relevant to this photograph.
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Lovely abstraction of color on yet another snowy morning in the Mid-Atlantic.
lensandpensbysally
March 3, 2014 at 6:57 AM
We got dragged back into winter too, with the sky gray and the temperature 24°F outside now. This moss may survive, but most of the flowers that had started coming out probably won’t.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 7:11 AM
So unusual. The stalks remind me of calligraphy brushes, heavy with ink, or some of the molds we grew in our grade school science classes. In fact, I just discovered that the scientific name for penicillin Penicillium chrysogenum — comes from its resemblance to a paintbrush– penicillus reportedly being the Latin word for paintbrush.
shoreacres
March 3, 2014 at 7:40 AM
Yes, and the modern word for ‘paintbrush’ is pennello in Italian and pinceau in French. Old French pincel is the source of English pencil, which originally meant ‘artist’s paintbrush.’
Given the strange things some artists have done over the last century or so, I wonder of anyone has ever painted with mosses in lieu of paintbrushes.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 7:51 AM
Not quite a paintbrush but close enough…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_graffiti
Gallivanta
March 5, 2014 at 12:54 AM
Wow, I’d never heard of that. Thanks for pointing it out. First chia pets and now moss graffitit.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2014 at 7:29 AM
Love the colors and close-up
acuriousgal
March 3, 2014 at 8:15 AM
It’s hard to appreciate something so small with the naked eye, but if you look through a magnifying glass or macro lens, little worlds like this one come into view.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 8:20 AM
Really beautiful shot! Great use of shallow depth of field.
-Earl
http://shutteratthethought.com
EarlHarrisPhotography.com
March 3, 2014 at 8:42 AM
The problem with getting in close to something as small as this moss is that there is indeed little depth of field. To compensate, I used flash and set the lens aperture at f/14. Even with that small an opening there wasn’t much depth of field, but enough for me to keep a band of these stalks in focus across the picture. Anything farther away fades into the background to varying degrees.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 10:38 AM
Very beautiful capture! Exquisite!
Inge
March 3, 2014 at 8:48 AM
Thank you, Inge.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 11:05 AM
I love close-ups of moss and lichens. They are amazing.
Heyjude
March 3, 2014 at 10:35 AM
I’m with you, Jude. I’ve showed lichens here a bunch of times, but I haven’t showed any mosses till now, probably because I find them more difficult to photograph well. Lichens are often on branches or boulders where I can get a clear shot of them, but mosses are usually on the ground. The fact that the mosses in this picture were on a small boulder made my work easier.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 11:13 AM
it’s beautiful !!!
gwenniesgarden
March 3, 2014 at 3:54 PM
It’s an unfamiliar look at a familiar part of nature.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 3:57 PM
what a beautiful macro
sedge808
March 3, 2014 at 9:04 PM
Thank you. I’m happy with it as an abstraction.
Steve Schwartzman
March 3, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Just beautiful. I like what you say about it: “It’s an unfamiliar look at a familiar part of nature.”
Susan Scheid
March 5, 2014 at 4:47 PM
Just think how differently we would conceive the world if the unfamiliar views came our way more often. I wonder if people who spend a lot of time looking through microscopes end up with a different feel for the physical world than the one(s) the rest of us have.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2014 at 4:53 PM
That is one interesting speculation, and I’m sure you’re right! How could they not? In fact, it’s for certain that visiting here has changed my way of seeing what’s around me.
Susan Scheid
March 5, 2014 at 4:57 PM
Great, I count that a welcome success. Thanks for mentioning it.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2014 at 5:05 PM