Notes from the Woods

seeing · environment · exploration · photography

intrigued by bark

Written by Mark

Born and raised in Detroit, c. 323 ppm CO2, Mark Graf is a Michigan photographer, naturalist, and diver whose muse is summoned by exploring the endless connections in nature; land, sea, and sky.

Monday, February 12, 2007

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Bark..I am sure people walk by it every day and don’t pay any attention to it. After all – it’s bark. And yesterday while I was patiently waiting for a Barred Owl to come into view, I found myself drawn in by the patterns on these red pines. I happen to be a fan of bark, mostly these peely, flaking kinds. And interesting enough, I found myself photographing this bark with a 500 f4 lens with a 1.4X teleconverter on it (the setup primarily for the owl.) And this was probably the ONLY way to photograph these patterns because they were fairly high up on the trees – about 20 feet or so. The lower sections of the trees were the more ‘typical’ pine bark appearance and not nearly as interesting.

A couple passers by had asked what I was photographing. I had to give them the more intriguing answer of ‘I am looking for a Barred Owl.’ Little did they know what really intrigued me..

graf nature photo divider

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3 Comments

  1. Cindy

    what a great shot.. I’m always reaching out to touch the bark of trees unconsiously.. like saying hi to an old friend I guess. This sure is colorful for this time of year. Love the saturated colors/texture.
    And hey, I may be doing the photo shot at Howell Nature Center in March (if my radiation therapy goes well). I wanted to do the fall shoot, but was just too sick. It’s quite a hike for me to get there, but I think we’ll get a motel then I’ll be in the area so I can pick Mr. Moody’s brains 😉
    and I give UP on that lightbox plugin, it just won’t work.. all it did was give me a headache.

  2. paul

    That’s funny because one day I was out in my favorite section of the park. One man, who has obviously seen me before says: “I remember you, you’re the guy who takes pictures of tree bark!”. Cool, I was getting well known!

  3. Howard Grill

    These are the kinds of things that most people don’t take the time to see in their day to day existence. I am fascinated by these types of abstract macro shots!