2502_0157 Lichen
Late winter is a quiet time on the northern prairie. Cold snaps make outdoor activities a challenge. Wildlife activity has reached its lowest ebb. Two days ago I was out, just looking. The landscape light I'd hoped for did not develop, so I switched to macro mode and came up with this.
The weather has been warming over the past week, and so the snow is looking crystalline and granular, the result of some melting and re-freezing. The lichen is growing on pink granite; some quartz or feldspar is showing near the top of the image. This is quite probably a glacial erratic. Contrary to popular belief, an erratic is not an unstable rock with emotional problems, but rather, a rock that has been transported elsewhere from its place of origin. In the West Block of Grasslands, these are the clearest indication of past glaciation.
Here I used my standard approach to creating high quality macro images: tripod, cable release, macro lens, low ISO to minimize noise, small aperture for maximum depth of field.
Photographed on the slopes overlooking Police Coulee in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2502_0157 Lichen
Late winter is a quiet time on the northern prairie. Cold snaps make outdoor activities a challenge. Wildlife activity has reached its lowest ebb. Two days ago I was out, just looking. The landscape light I'd hoped for did not develop, so I switched to macro mode and came up with this.
The weather has been warming over the past week, and so the snow is looking crystalline and granular, the result of some melting and re-freezing. The lichen is growing on pink granite; some quartz or feldspar is showing near the top of the image. This is quite probably a glacial erratic. Contrary to popular belief, an erratic is not an unstable rock with emotional problems, but rather, a rock that has been transported elsewhere from its place of origin. In the West Block of Grasslands, these are the clearest indication of past glaciation.
Here I used my standard approach to creating high quality macro images: tripod, cable release, macro lens, low ISO to minimize noise, small aperture for maximum depth of field.
Photographed on the slopes overlooking Police Coulee in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.