I’ve finally gotten through all the survey responses many of you provided over the last couple weeks, including all of the open-ended comments from the last two questions. Again, I really appreciate everyone who took the time to take that survey, and I am especially grateful for all your constructive and thoughtful suggestions.
Earlier this week, I shared a close-up photo of ice melting along the edge of a stream, and promised more. Here they are. One of the joys of close-up photography is the chance to capture intricate beauty from unexpected places. In this case, I never would have stopped to look at this half-frozen muddy stream beneath a concrete highway bridge if I hadn’t been looking for photographic opportunities. Even then, it took me a lot of trial and error before I ended up with any images I really liked. Notwithstanding my wet, cold, and muddy pants and some suspicious glances from passersby, I’m really glad I took the time.
Ok, enough with ice photos. I’ll try to get back to some prairie ecology next week.
The Prairie Ecologist 
Oh, No, I love the ice photos with Your technique and camera.
Beautiful.
thanks mark
On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 6:46 AM, The Prairie Ecologist wrote:
> Chris Helzer posted: “I’ve finally gotten through all the survey responses > many of you provided over the last couple weeks, including all of the > open-ended comments from the last two questions. Again, I really > appreciate everyone who took the time to take that survey, and I a” >
Ice photos are prairie ecology!
Living among prairies where ice is exceedingly uncommon, it’s delightful to see this aspect of yours. It’s a bonus that the photos are so beautiful.
Errr It’s cold…!!
Loved your pics.
“suspicious glances from passersby” – haha, I can sure relate to that as a fellow photographer and investigator of nature, I get those all the time!
Great photos! Any suggestion on what tree or bush the leaf came from? Can you share in a general way the gist of the comments?
I’m not sure what kind of leaf it is. It’s in an area with lots of horticultural varieties, so the possibilities are many. It’s not a prairie plant… : ) The comments were 99% positive, and most were along the lines of “keep doing what you’re doing!”. Others had specific suggestions of post topics they’d like to see.
What camera and settings do you use to get your closeups?
I use a Nikon D300s with a 105mm macro lens. I was using aperture settings as small as possible (large F stop number, small hole) in order to increase depth-of-field.
Very interesting photos Chris , but I’m ready for some early spring wild flowers!
Does anyone else see a HUGE turtle eating a duck in the 5th photo? Or maybe it’s a dinosaur… I love your photos and really look forward to the ecology posts. I’ve been reading The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and it’s made me hungry for more science information on drought / climate change / ecological adaptation processes on the prairie.
Beautiful. Thanks.