Posted: 12/17/2025 7:36:14 PM EDT
[Last Edit: FredMan][Edited]
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Once again it's time for the biennial Virginia Forests Magazine photo contest. Open to anyone, but the pictures have to have been taken in Virginia. So as to make you work for it, and to reduce the chance of someone here beating me out for a prize, you'll have to search that on your own. Contest is open until midnight 12/31. But my entires: Virginia Landscapes  Landscapes 2025 by FredMan, on FlickrVirginia Fauna ETA, this one has some subtle pun action if you know your herbaceous vegetation. See, Mr. Turtle is pushing past a leaf that’s part of a vine whose scientific name is Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Otherwise known as Virginia Creeper. Get it? Turtle creeping past Virginia creeper? I expect the judges are going to know their shit, and I’ll get high marks for that subtlety.  Fauna 2025 by FredMan, on FlickrNew Forests. This one is weird. For the 2023 contest I had narrowed it down to this and one other. I THOUGHT I submitted this, but in reality submitted the other, which, frankly, was not nearly as good. But it won 1st place. Go figure.  New Forests 2025 by FredMan, on FlickrVirginia Flora. Fresh, bush ripened wild blueberries, plucked at the peak of ripeness, still damp with morning dew, 50-some odd chains from the truck early in the morning in the Northern Neck. They taste better when salt-seasoned with the literal sweat off your palm. Of all the perks you get working in the woods, breakfast off nature’s bounty is pretty high on the list.  Flora 2025 by FredMan, on FlickrForest Recreation. Cheating here; shot this during the Summit last fall at Explore Park in Roanoke. The local Society of American Foresters chapter built this trail out.  Forest Recreation 2025 by FredMan, on FlickrIndustry and Working Forests. Remember, I'm on the board of the magazine and my face is somewhat known. I asked my editor specifically about this one, saying I don't want people grumbling about how "that board member" got a winner. She said she'd figure something out. Judging is done by a panel she selects, and she can shift this one to panel members that shouldn't know me.  Working Forests 2025 by FredMan, on Flickr |
ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
Just sayin’  Looks like I actually had some competition this year.   Working Forests 2025 by FredMan, on Flickr New Forests 2025 by FredMan, on Flickr Landscapes 2025 by FredMan, on Flickr
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ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
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Originally Posted By EBR666: SHOWOFF  You do good work in the wild. EBR I do spend a lot of time out there, and it is, of course, where the wild things are. |
ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
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So contest winners have been asked to write some Reflections (natch!) on their entries, here are mine. Working Forests Category This image was captured while I was cruising a tract in Caroline County, not far from King’s Dominion, in Spring 2025. The tract itself was quite interesting. The western portion was a classic near-flatwoods site, virtually no topography, drainage ditches everywhere, and had been cleared for agriculture. The east side transitioned to a typical Piedmont site, and continued on, steeper and steeper, as a near perfect example of a highlands mountain site. Heavy to chestnut and scarlet oak, dense mountain laurel understory, and slopes of 50-60%. I can only imagine the topography and species composition is a relic of the last glaciation. As I was moving through the forest taking plots I saw, off in the distance, this giant stem. “Wow!” I said to myself. “I wonder how big that tree is!” As it turns out, this particular tree ended up on-plot. This Yellow-polar is one of the largest examples of the species I’ve ever found; this tree was 41.4” DBH with a total height of 144 feet. It had 5 clear logs to the first limb, and the crown covered about a fifth of an acre. Truly a Virginia giant. New Forests Category I ran across this scene almost 2 decades ago, in 2008, while cruising timber in Charlotte County, about a half mile off the closest woods road. One steamy July morning, as I pushed through the understory, I ran across this old downed log. Looking closer, I noticed this shaft of light beaming down through the canopy, highlighting this one particular spot, and then I saw it. A woodpecker hole and, amazingly, a freshly germinated Loblolly seedling. Pulling out my pocket camera (phone cameras back then were, let’s just say, primitive), I quickly snapped a shot. As the day continued, I started thinking about the image. The confluence of events that led to it. First, that old tree dying and falling in the woods. Then, years later, a seed (through pure chance!) falling into the one spot that might give purchase and allow it to sprout. Then me, months later, thrashing my way through the woods, just happening to walk up on it, with the beam of light almost calling out to me. And having a camera to capture the scene! To me, this picture does indeed tell a story of a thousand words. The story of the forest. We have birth (the pine seedling), life (the green boughs in the background), and death (the downed log), all working together in harmony to sustain the glory of our Virginia forests. Virginia Landscapes Category Ever since I was a young child I’ve been fascinated by a simple common insect, the firefly. I remember going out into the yard at dusk on a summer’s evening and catching fireflies, putting them in a jar (with holes punched in the lid!) with a green twig or two, and carrying it inside to my bedroom closet watch them light up in the dark. I’d observe for a while, then go back outside and set them free. Back in 2019, in Lousia County, I discovered a weedy hayfield that was seemingly covered up with fireflies. Thinking that an image of the scene would make a stunning photo, I returned a few nights later with my camera, a tripod, and some time to kill. This particular image is composed of 704 5-second exposures, all “stacked” together to form a single composite picture. Note the arcs of light in the night sky, these star trails represent about an hour’s worth of the Earth rotating. Just another example of the scenic vistas we are fortunate enough to have here in the Commonwealth, enhanced by one of Nature’s most humble (and interesting!) insects. |
ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.