Fractal Heaven

As part of a photography group, we have monthly assignments that challenge us to photograph different subjects and step out of our comfort zone. This month, Fractals in Nature is the theme, and our photos have to be in by Wednesday at midnight.

Of course, I've been out on numerous occasions, looking for the perfect fractal to photograph and submit. Fractals in Nature, are, essentially, repeating patterns. Ferns are a prime example and my favourite subject for fractals.



Choosing the wetlands to hunt for fractals, on the particular day that I chose to take photos, as I stood at the top of the hill and looked across the lake, I squinted my eyes at the distant gorge down the mountain, wondering if that was water I saw cascading off the cliff.


(In the above photo, this is where I stood to take the photo below. The 'seam' you see running down the mountain is where the mudslide occurred).

Putting my zoom lens on and aiming it at the area, sure enough, it was water and chunks of snow tumbling over the edge.



Thinking it was just spring run-off, I headed down the hill to lake level, crossing the marshes and back into the woods. Walking through the poplar and alder trees, an odd roaring had me looking up into the trees, wondering what it was. As the wind had picked up, I assumed it was just the wind in the trees.



The gravel path loops around the beaver pond, which I have yet to see a beaver in. Ferns grow in abundance in the area, the fiddlehead greens unfurling in the deep shade under the evergreens. The wetlands are made of up of open areas that are largely populated by alder, birch and poplar trees and abruptly end in dense forested areas of Douglas Fir and Cedar trees, where the ferns reside.

Walking through the poplars, a snail on one of the saplings caught my attention. A perfect fractal with the spiral on it's shell! Although I hate bugs and slimy things, behind a lens, everything takes on a different perspective. I spent a long time photographing that snail from numerous angles, and was rewarded with it crawling out if it's shell to move down the slim limb.



Next, the ferns. As dusk's fingers crept in amongst the evergreens, it was time to head home before the park warden closed the gates. Logging on to my computer to download my images, someone had posted on fb that a mudslide had occurred and did anyone see it?



I realized then, that the roaring sound I'd heard had to have been the mudslide, about 10 minutes after I'd taken the photos of the water running off the cliff. Too bad I'd had no idea, or I would have waited a few more minutes and captured the actual slide. The next day, I went out to the bottom of the gorge and took photos of the after effects of the slide.



All in all, a pretty exciting and worthwhile outing. Speaking to another photo club member, noting that the pussywillows had interesting patterns when they went to seed, I told him that in going to the wetlands, I'd been in fractal heaven!