Paintbrush

Franciscan paintbrush, I believe it is called, and this plant only grows in California. Adorned with tropical tones, Castilleja subinclusa stands out rather freakishly from the background coastal scrub and grassland. It seemed alien where I found it, while hiking with Catey on the north side of Dias Ridge in the Marin Headlands, belonging rather in the Costa Rica jungle clinging to a towering tree.

I laid on my belly for this shot, as if I were hiding from some extraterrestrial invader stalking me on the savanna. 

Franciscan paintbrush, GGNRA (Marin County), March 2013.

I don't know much about indian paintbtrush, but there are several in North America. The genus Castilleja host paintbrushes and owl's clovers, all of which are hemi-parasites: meaning they use chlorophyll as well as the sugars of other plants, connected at the roots, for survival. 

Looking for more information about this species, which I did not find, led me to poke around iNaturalist.org for the first time. If you're not convinced of nature's intrinsic beauty and mystery, I encourage you to visit. Check out this incredible slime mold picture, for starters. 

And more from the same photographer: click here. Wow!

Mission afterbar makeout

This is not very nature-oriented (in the sense that this blog is dedicated to), nor necessarily characteristic of things American. It's a long exposure of some people making out after bar time in the Mission last fall. For reasons I don't remember now, I went wandering out late-night with my camera and a tripod at 3am or so, to see what scenes the Mission would provide. I had to go no further than just around the corner from my pad to witness this activity.

I know it's a little voyeuristic of me to have taken this, but I think it's worthy of celebrating. And, the subjects truly didn't seem to care. I set up a tripod, made a few adjustments, and took two 10-second exposures.

I wanted to capture blurred car lights ("light trails"), the sense of motion in the shadows of a bar's facade, silvery wet streets. The making-out couple is hidden just enough to make the scene seem private and seductive. It also adds the mystery of anonymity -- especially not even seeing the person against the wall enough to be able to identify their gender.

Mission Afterbar Makeout, 2012.

But the cars passing make the scene seem sort of ordinary.

Shortly hereafter, the two ladies were joined by a larger group. All walked together down to Mission Street, where one got in a cab with friends, and the other watched the cab go.