Potatoes and Romanesco

Abstract, Alaska, Black & White, Macro, Photography

Above: The odd green color makes romanesco feel even more bizarre.

Continuing the harvest theme from my last post about blueberries, it is fall after all, today includes some vegetables grown in my garden. Few things are more satisfying then a delicious home-cooked meal made with food you grew. Much like the blueberries, it can be difficult to find time to photograph vegetables rather then planting, picking or eating them. So here’s a few photos of some photogenic plants.

Potatoes are my family’s main crop, and come in many varieties. My favorite is probably Irish Reds. They work for many recipes, and look fantastic.

Fresh washed Irish Reds.

One vegetable perhaps more known for its appearance then its use as a food is romanesco, from the cauliflower family. Occasionally called “martian vegetable” for the lime green color and spiraling fractals that form the structure, it can be a very perplexing plant.

I chose black and white to emphasize the plants form.

Spiraling romanesco – repeating patterns play with the eye.

Vibrant and Healthy Blueberries

Alaska, Landscapes, Macro, Photography

Above: Handfull and bucket full of berries.

Fall in Alaska brings much more then decreasing temperatures and less daylight. Gorgeous colors fill the hills while harvests fill the pantries. The near total daylight of summer allows great success over the short growing season. The harsher, cooler climate vegetation endure make for sweet and succulent food.

Blueberries are both incredibly tasty and incredibly healthy. Packed with antioxidants, blueberries are often called a brain food for their anti-aging and protection-properties for brain neurons. A 2012 article from Alaska Dispatch describes how antioxidants “pick up loose oxygen-seeking substances that, left to roam, will ultimately find a healthy cell to deplete.” WIld Alaskan berries have repeatedly tested to be much higher then farmed berries in health benefits.

The vibrant colors also fit in nicely with the Weekly Photo Challenge: Saturated.

Berries topped with dew rest on a branch.

A sea of color.

Critter Corner: Three bears and Georgeson Botanical Garden.

Alaska, Photography, Wildlife

Bears, what needs to be said? Large, viscous, cute, curious, smart, omnivorous, powerful and today, wooden. Bears in Denali National Park got a lot of attention this year, when a hiker photographing a grizzly was mauled to death last August. Remarkably, this was the first fatality in the Park’s 95-year history. Bears are incredibly fast, and the estimated “50 yards” between the bear and his victim leaves little room for evasive measures. Keep your distance.

Keeping distance wasn’t a problem during the Denali Park Lottery last September. This Alaskan lottery allows 400 vehicles a day to drive all the way into the park, a trip usually reserved for tour buses. Park Rangers are fast to converge on eager photographers, keeping them safe distances from wildlife.

Please click images to view full size.

Bear gazing over riverbed.

A bear pauses while climbing a steep, rocky slope.

For some slightly different bear action, check out this statue of a bear at UAF’s Georgeson Botanical Garden, the northern-most botanical garden in North America. I hadn’t walked through in awhile, and found lots of lovely sculptures had been added. What originally caught my attention, though hard to see in the picture, was an ear of corn someone had placed in the bears paws, reminding me of the fall harvest.