Opposite Oaks

[Mike Moats]

Found this pair of oaks lying in some silver swamp oil.

Fuji S3, Sigma 180 macro, Tripod, F32

[Sharna Lee]

Mike,
Your images inspire me. I have been viewing your work and I think that you have so much talent.
This image is awesome. I love the detail of both leaves and the water. The silver oily water is just great.
Excellent capture again.

Sharna

[John Cooper]

love the flow of design and pattern Mike. I've never come across this "swamp oil" - probably because I don't have ready access to swampy environments ;)

[Mike Moats]

Hey Sharma, thanks for the nice comment. I think as with anything we do in life the more time spent practicing the better you get. I use to spend a ton of hours out shooting and looking for interesting subjects, and the more time in the field, the more success I had at finding interesting subjects. Since turning my photography into a business I spent way less time shooting now, and I see a slow growth of new stuff in my portfolio. These cool subjects are out there, I think its just a matter of having the free time to get out, which most have a hard time due to work, family commitments, etc. Thanks.

Hey John, there is a scientific name to this oil which I don't remember, so I just call it swamp oil. I've always found it in swampy areas and sometimes at the edge of small rivers and streams. Its a natural oil from rotting vegetation. I do the Ann Arbor Art Fair each year which is held at the University of Michigan, and a couple years ago one of the botany students saw some of my swamp oil images and told me she did a research paper on this oil, so she gave me some info on it. One thing she told me was, as it come out of the ground it has the brilliant colors as you may have seen in some of my other images, and as it dries out it turns to this silver look.

[Fabs Forns]

I love the composition and as usual, your vision :)

[Gus Cobos]

Excellent as always,
Congratulation...I like it very much. The color contrast between the leaf and the oily water is fantastic...:cool:

[Julie Kenward]

You make me want to be a better photographer...

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Such a balanced composition, nice graphic patterns, rich colours & details. And tack sharp.
Man, how do u manage to pull it off each & every time...
Amazing !