Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Day 3

(Click to see pictures from Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Day 3)

(Link to the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013)

The first session today was on Forest Foods and Pharmacy led by Ila Warren and Brittney Hughes (Naturalist, DeSoto State Park in AL). We met at Metcalf Bottoms and walked to the Greenbrier School. Here are things we saw and info about some of them.

1. Witch Hazel (by bridge and water) - astringent, used for water dowsing; loves its feet in water, seed pods burst, beins are not symmetrical.
2. Solomon’s Seal - cut rhizome in a cross section and Star of David Appears.
3. Fleabane - new can be pink or blue; pregnant women planted this to predict sex of babies.
4. Rattlesnake Weed - green leaves with purple veins, in the dandelion family
5. Cinquefoil - yellow bloom, aka Barren Strawberry; 5 leaflets not leaves.
6. Poison ivy - leaves of 3
7. Galax - aka Beetleweed or Fairy wand, smells stinky, pollinated by ants.
8. Spotted Wintergreen
9. Christmas fern - eat fiddleheads by parboiling and then sauté.
10. White Pine - source of Vitamin C and calcium. Limbs are in a circle. Add to Yellowroot and make a salve using lard and oil. Fry with needles, cinquefoil, and yellowroot. Use on poison ivy and bug bites.
11. English plantain and jewelweed can be used for poison ivy too.
12. Dog hobble
13. Dog wood - bloom is actually yellow. Flowers are modified brachs. Use dogwood berries - parch and ground; used for quinine to treat yellow fever during the Civil War
14. Violets -edible blooms; leaves have to be cooked.
15. English Plantain - aka White Man’s Foot - use in a salve; use instantly on bug bites by crushing and rubbing on bites; young are edible in a salad along with dandelion, chickweed, and violets. Seeds are great fiber source.
16. Wild Ramps - industrial onion; lots of sulphur, false hellebore leaves look the same and cooking them could kill you.
17. Morel mushroom - $35-$40/lb. tastes like steak or fishy; can stuff and back, can bread and fry. Leatherback mushroom is also good in the fall even though it is smelly, it tastes good.
18. Wild Woodruff - whirled leaves
19. Spanish Dagger - aka yucca; take finber to make cordage; blooms are edible right off the plant.
20. Trailing Arbutus -once they bloom, they put off new foliage.
21. Partridge Berry - aka squawvine. Berries are edible; have 2 belly buttons, 2 blooms with a fused ovary.
22. Buffalo nut - aka oil nut; oil used for lamps; put wicks in oil to make them last longer.
23. Poke salad - eat leaves but parboiled several times; eat berries whole; roots are poisonous
24. Wild Cherry - never pick and let leaves wilt because arsenic becomes concentrated; use leaves immediately when they are fresh; leaves used in cough medicine
25. Yarrow - staunching wounds and bleeding
26. Halbred leaf violet - yellow bloom
27. New York Fern - tapered on each end, wide in the middle, big spread of them
28. Wild Geranium - palmate leaf with a lot of vines; seed pods burst when touched; pollinated by ants; ants carry off seeds, eat oily covering and the rest germinates.
29. Wood Anemone
30. Rattlesnake Plantain - orchid family
31. Lemon scented trillium
32. Dwarf Iris
33. Chickweed - use leaves in salad for weight loss
34. Monarda - Wild mint; square stems, Bee balm
35. Vetch - goat’s rue
36. Wild Yam - women’s medicine; estrogen, uses roots
37. Stonecrop sedum
38. Bloodroot - blooms early
39. Ironwood - see “tendons” in the bark that looks like human muscles
40. Vasey’s Trillium
41. Sassafras - spring tonic (SSS tonic - Sassafras, sweet birch, and spicebush); boil and simmer roots to make tea; blood thinner so be careful if you have high blood pressure; weak tea; cleansing and tastes good.
42. Yellowroot - looks like parsley; help kidney ailments, mouth ailments, antibiotic
43. Cutleaf Toothwort - peppery; mountain wasabi; used for toothaches, tastes like horseradish; if it ends in -wort usually has healing properties.
44. Sweet Birch - smells like wintergreen; 2 leaves at one place and 2 buds; aspirin like properties; lightly boil or simmer; aka toothbrush tree; refreshes plain water.
45. Woody stems - simmer; leaves - steep
46. Lycopodium - running cedar

Our next session was on Wildflower Photography using an SLR camera. This was led by Jack Carman ( author of Wildflowers of Tennessee) and Bob Hutson (co-author of Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains). We were also in their class on the first day and this really added to what I learned on the first day.

1. Focal length divided by camera’s multiplication factor (Nikon = 1.5)
2. Manification talked about in terms of life size: 35mm =1x1.5=life size; ¼ life size = 4x6”
3. SLR shopping - look for Depth of Field Preview, Live View, manual or aperture priority, cable release, mirror lockup, Nikon or Canon

Lenses
1. macro lenses are the Cadillac of photography; life size without accessories; 100mm or 180 mm-200mm which is better; goes to life size but not as flexible as a soom lens for other uses and cost.
2. Zoom Lenses - work well for flower photography, use a diopter or extension tubes for magnification beyond ¼ life size; 70-200mm or 70-300mm works well
3. Diopters - fits in front of lens, 2 elements are high quality; magnification is the focal length of lens divided by focal length of diopter; positives (no light lost, low cost); negatives (minimum optical degradation)
4. Extension Tubes - hollow tubs between lens and camera; magnification is length of tube divided by focal length of lens; Positives (no optical degradation and relatively inexpensive); negative (loses light)
5. Multipliers - 1.4x (1 stop) or 2x (2 stop) are best; fits between lens and camera; increases focal length but maintains the original close focusing distances; positive (longer focal length); negatives (some optical degradation and major light loss; should not be used with zoom lens)

Accessories
1. Tripod - goes flat to the ground; Eye height without use of a center column; minimum 4 lbs if made of carbon fiber ($$-$$$) or 5 lbs. if made of aluminum ($); legs move independently; 3 secions stronger; Brands - Bogen Gitzo, Induro, RRS
2. Tripod Heads - ball head most commonly used; camera placed and locked by a single knob, quick release; ara - Swiss
3. Cable Release
4. Angle View Finder
5. Level
6. Polarizer
7. Dark Cloth
8. LCD Views - old slide fild , 4x Loupe, Hoodman 1x loupe; newer model collapses
9. Plant holder (pipe cleaners, ties)
10. Commercial stakes to hold accessories
11. Camera cases

Electronic Flash
1. Use standard TTL flash unit
2. Flash used mostly as fill with a flash compensation setting of 2 stops
3. Used with a diffuser

Batter Powered LED Lights
1. See results before you take the picture
2. More control than reflector
3. Video broad light like a reflector
4. Flashlight, spotlight, or special effects
5. Video Lights have more color cast
6. Correct with gel or filter provide
7. Flashlight has greater color cast
8. Inexpensive video lights ($40); available such as CN-160 from Amazon
(Note: Get Light Source in close light up subject not the background.)

Diffusers
1. Rain umbrella - 36 inches
2. Collapsible Translucent - 32 inches
3. Photographic umbrella - 60 inches

Shading Tools - Black piece of cloth over umbrella

Depth of Field (DOF)
1. Use manual focus
2. Depth of Field - difference between the closest point in acceptable focus and farthest point in acceptable focus.
3. DOF is a function of
4. The magnification of subject - mag. Increases, DOF decreases
5. F stop - f stop increases, DOF increases
6. DOF is not a function of lens focal length
7. Maximize DOF
8. Camera back should be parallel to the plane of your subject
9. Selective focus

Depth of Field Preview
1. Lens is normally at its max opening, min. DOF when you look through view finder
2. Use DOF preview button to stop the lens down to the picture taking aperture
3. DOF preview with live view
4. Focus with live view

I had a great time at the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013. If you have never been to it, I highly recommend it! Maybe I’ll see you next year!

Original Photo by Pat Hensley

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013 Day 2

(Click here for Pictures from Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013 Day 2)

(Link to the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013)

The first session of the day was Wildflower Photography with Jack Carman ( author of Wildflowers of Tennessee) and Bob Hutson (co-author of Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains). I didn’t realize who our instructors were and I wish I brought my books for them to autograph! This was an awesome session and I learned so much.

Contrast and Control Techniques
1. Full sun casts harsh/very hard shadows, requires contrast. Control to lower contrast.
2. Mixed sun/shade - need to lower contrast
3. Cloudy bright - no contrast needed
4. Deep shade - raise contrast

Contrast Control
1. add light to shadows and subtract light from highlights; use reflectors (crumble tin foil, paste on foamboard with dull side out) and get as close to the flower as possible so as to light the flower and not the background; sides or angles but not head on.
2. Diffuser - white rain umbrella, frosted vinyl shower curtain, sheer white cloth
3. Shading tools - black cloth over umbrella
4. Use friend’s body, hat, coat, newspaper
5. Blocking only direct sun will diffuse
6. Block all creates shade
7. Diffuser in sunlight all the time.
8. Sometimes wait for cloud to block the sun.

Background Selection
1. Zoom: use optical zoom not digital
2. Longest focal length
3. Telephoto lets you control background better
4. Choose background that is far away
5. Make subject stand out
6. Increase contrast between subject and background

Composition
1. Zooming is cropping
2. Move to change composition
3. Odd number of flowers looks best
4. Simplify - focus in on what is the most interesting thing
5. Bulls eye pictures are less pleasing.
6. Get your subject off center
7. Thirds rule
8. Don’t let subject touch edges of frame
9. Bulls eye work with symmetrically shaped subject.
10. Get in as close as you can.
11. Make horizontal and vertical photos. Most subjects will lend themselves to one or the other.
12. Look for geometric shapes such as diagonal lines, curves, s curves. Diagonal lines look better than straight up and down.
13. Most things look better from their level.
14. Stop and study from all angles.
15. Sweep the edges of the frame with your eyes and look for distractions.

Taking the Picture
1. Highest quality image setting
2. Set lens for telephoto
3. Work under optimal lighting conditions (cloudy bright)
4. Get helper, tripod
5. Use light modification techniques.
6. Use auto ISO setting - shutter speed at least 1/100 of a sec.
7. Compose using LCD on back of camera, not viewfinder
8. Autofocus on what is most important
9. Manual focus if autofocus doesn’t lock on what you want.
10. Manually focus at the distance that gives you the composition you want.
11. Use 2 hands.
12. Brace elbows against body and squeeze slowly.
13. Use autoexposure -either program mode or aperture
14. Use exposure compensation - check your image for blinkies to see if you have blown the highlights.

Wind
1. If flower is blowing in slight breeze, be patient.
2. Photograph early in the day when wind is generally still
3. Shield plant with umbrella or other device.
4. Check image on LCD screen for exposure, focus, composition, and wind before you walk away.

Other Tips
1. Do it Right in the field. Photoshop never as good.
2. Search for picture or good specimen. Spend more time looking than photographing.
3. Small groups or single flowers are easier to work with then large mass. A large mass works better for a carpet or scenic.

Ethics
1. Do not damage your subject or environment.
2. Gardening is the removal of things from the picture consistent with a natural look. Do in a nondestructive manner.
3. Use dead leaves to cover rocks and sticks and water to tone down/darken things.
4. Never remove or damage live plant material
5. Gently brush other vegetation out of the way or stake back if necessary.
6. Don’t remove all the leaves around the plant. Return everything back the way it was.
7. Think about what you are doing. Don’t trample other stuff to photograph something.

Our next session was on Bugs and Butterflies with Chuck Parker. Here are things we saw:

1. Millipede
2. Cranefly
3. Stonefly (characteristics are 4 wings, 2 prongs at end of abdomen, long antenna, mouth parts not well developed, wings specific)
4. Scorpion fly
5. Moth fly
6. Worm
7. Snail
8. Dark winged fungus gnat
9. Grasshopper
10. Caterpillar
11. Ground beetles
12. Rolled wing or needle stoneflies
13. Wasp
14. Caddisfly
15. Sowbug
16. Butterfly
17. Salamander
18. Carpenter bee
19. Tiger beetle - iridescent blue green
20. Adult mayfly
21. Saw flies - female ovipositor looks like saw blade.
22. Doll’s eye
23. Swallowtail
24. Beetle larva
25. Seersucker sedge
26. Sweat bee
27. True bug
28. True fly
29. Bee moth aka hummingbird moth
30. Crayfish
31. Leaf hopper
32. Lady bug
33. Water penny
34. Flatheaded caddisfly
35. Forester moth - day active; white belly, white stripes, black body
36. Caddisfly cases on rocks (if stuck - pupated)
37. Midge
38. Angelwinged butterfly
39. Black fly larva - look like bowling pins; can eat bacteria out of water.
40. Rhyme -
Sedges have edges.
Rushes are round.
And on grasses,
Nodes can be found.

Come back tomorrow to see my notes from Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Day 3!

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013 Day 1

(Click to see pictures from Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013 Day 1)

(Link to the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013)

We began the day with the session Edible Mushrooms which involved a hike on the Engine Creek Trail which was led by Christine Braaten, a PhD student at University at Tennessee. I have to say she was pretty awesome! Not only was she very knowledgeable but you can tell she was enthusiastic about her subject. I got a lot of information and it made me want to learn more which makes me feel like it was a great session to attend. I like to end up wanting more and being inspired to learn. Here are some of the notes I took:

1. The trail is behind the Greenbrier Ranger Station and is about 5 miles long (which we didn’t do the entire trail). At the end, there is a train engine wreckage.
2. Peak time for mushrooms is late summer and early fall.
3. Mushroom hunting in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is legal. You can gather one pound per person per day as long as it is 200 feet off the trail. (someone might want to photograph the ones near the trail).
4. There are 3000 species of fungi in the park.
5. Trees to fungi ration is 1:5.
6. Lung lichen (Lobaria Pulmanarius) - sensitive to air pollution and probably won’t find any in Knoxville; air quality indicator
7. Mushroom - fungus, most of its biomass lives underground. Reproductive structure that produces spores is what we see.
8. Polypores grow off wood. Harvest young or it turns hard.
9. False morel (Gyromitra esculenta) might not be poisonous if parboiled (at least 3 times) (Correction from Christine: Gyromitra korfii a lighter colored false morel may be considered edible after par boiling and emptying the water each time, despite the name "esculenta" Gyromitra esculenta should never be eaten and its the only false morel that has been responsible for a death.)

10. Morels are toxic if eaten raw so don’t cut them up and put them in your salad.
11. Reishi - traditional Chinese medicine. Nonsteroidal and anti-inflammatory. Easy to grow. When fresh, boil them 1/2c. to qt. of water for 5 hours. Drink tea (tastes bitter)
12. Oyster mushroom - has gills
13. Milk cap (lactarius volemus) -
14. Russula - red cap
15. Morels can be found on eastern red cedar, hemlocks, ash, tulip poplar
16. Usnea - also called old man’s beard - antiseptic properties
17. Devils urn (urnula craterium)- black, tough, if found it is the right habitat and right time of year for morels.
18. Deer mushroom (plutious servinus) - putrid smelling, gills are white, spores are pink
19. Velvet tooth polypore (tricaptum) - little teeth, fresh after rain.
20. 75,000 fungi have been discovered.
21. Mushroom related deaths in the US- 2 (Correction from Christine: Also the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) after a 30 year study, reported an average of 1-2 deaths "Per Year" in the US.")

22. Death Cap (Amanita philloidas) - Avoid, imported from Europe
23. Elvin Blue Cups (Chloro Cyboria) - bluish tint on logs, no gills
24. Crimini and portabella mushrooms are the same thing.
25. Lichen - gets food from partnership with the algae; no mycelium hidden, what you see is what you get; keeps moss from growing on the rock, secretes acid
26. False Turkey tail - smooth back
27. Turkey Tail - You can feel the spores; make tea; can chew and eat when fresh (Sept.), thick and juicy
28. Trimides Elegans - bigger and smoother than turkey tail (looked like a clam shell to me)
29. Chicken of the woods - bread and eat like chicken fingers
30. Hen of the woods - don’t take if growing on pine, usually get off hardwood.
31. False Hen of the Woods (Mytaki) - stains black, tastes like liver
32. Cinnabar Red Polypor - not poisonous but pretty and red; shelving
33. Orange Parchment Fungus (Sterium complicatum) - orange crust on log
34. Bleeding Canker - black on the tree, looks like someone tried to burn the tree.
35. Orange Witches Butter - orange
36. Lion’s Mane is also edible.

The second session was on Bears and Wild Hogs led by David Whitehead, a TN Wildlife Resource Agency Manager.

Hogs
1. Hogs are non native to the US
2. Late 1800s - hunting clubs bring hogs back to hunt
3. Hogs like plants with rhizomous high carbs such as spring beautys.
4. Hog wallows attract salamanders but are detrimental because of the constant disturbing.
5. 1987 Congress appropriated funding for hog control in the park.
6. Hogs from coast show pseudorabies (kills dogs but not people) and Brucilosis (deadly to people)
7. Landowners can do anything except poison to control wild hogs; just needs to apply for exemption
8. Killing about 4000 per year.
9. Average litter size is 13-15 and 3 litters a year (in the wild, maybe 2). In the wild, bringing 6 to a year old is a successful litter.
10. Gives birth in Jan. and Feb.
11. Predators: man, bears, wolves, mountain lions. Bobcats and coyote eat babies.

Bears
1. Pregnant females will go in den.
2. 80% bears will den in a tree.
3. Males don’t sleep a lot unless it’s cold.
4. TN- 3500 bear including the park
5. Dens can be used over and over but not by the same animal.
6. Den used Oct. to April; bears have a fecal plug and their body recycles waste
7. Eat squawroot, berries, insects, yellow jacket larval bees, carion
8. Do not run from a bear!
9. Bears do not show aggressive behavior. They either attack or don’t’. They show non-defensive or non-aggressive behavior to scare you off (chomp jaws together, blow air, bounce up and down on paws, bluff charge). If it intends to attack there are no signals. If this happens, fight back. Nose is most sensitive part.
10. Babies -weighs 8 oz. when born, by April 5-10 lbs., in Dec. 30-50 lbs.
11. Hibernation now called winter sleep
12. Eggs fertilized, will float until Oct. and then attach. Used to be called delayed implantation and now called delayed development.
13. More bears killed on the coast than in the mountains.

Please come back tomorrow to see what happened on Day 2 of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage 2013!

Original photo by Pat Hensley