Sam Turner

A walking iris bloom in a window sill. The sepals are almost all white, the petals are brown and white at the base, then turn blue and white when they curl over at the tops. Finally topped with mostly white erect stigmas. In the background is a wintery scene of the snow covered branches of the redbud tree just outside the window of my apartment.

Yesterday it was a sunny 83F. This morning my walking iris in my apartment window bloomed against a wintery background. The iris bloom lasted longer than the snow.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Flowers #Winter #Spring

On the right hand side of the picture is a mocking bird perched on the muzzle of one the large cannons at Fort McHenry. At the bottom of the picture is uncut winter grass of the gun parapet. In the near background is what appears to be a barge anchored in Baltimore Harbor, lightly obscured in fog. In the far background mostly obscured by fog is likely a freighter moored on the other side of the channel.

A mocking bird on one of big guns of Fort McHenry, on a foggy day. February, 2026.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Baltimore #Fog

A Dead End street sign obscured by a large bush with verdant spring green leaves of spring.

Beware of Dead End Signs Lurking in the Bushes. May, 2017.

#Photographs 📷 #EastCoastKin

Tall dark grass and low vegetation silhouetted by a setting salmon hued sun and adjacent sky close to the horizon.

The Sun setting behind tall grass, Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park. June, 2012.

#Photographs 📷 #EastCoastKin #NationalParks #SunSets #Virginia

A closeup of some very colorful turkey tail mushrooms, growing out of a log. They have alternating warm brown and chalky white striations which appear to be growth rings. The older growth rings are darker with gray and white hues, the background shows the brown hues of the forest floor.

Turkey tail mushrooms growing out of a rotten log, River Bend Park, Fairfax, Virginia. March, 2026.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Mushrooms 🍄 #Macro #FungiFriends

A closeup of leftover holiday tinsel showing strands of mylar plastic of various widths, refracting hues of pink, silver, and blue.

Leftover Holiday Tinsel. February, 2026.

#Photography #EastCoastKin #Macro

Much of the foreground is a closeup of a pale green fern leaf covered with beaded water droplets captured from a very oblique angle. The background comprises darker hues of green rang to almost black colors of the undergrowth.

Best shot from a rainy day walk, a sensitive fern frond. May 2016.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Rain #Fern #Macro

A closeup of a trillium flower. Yellow stamens at the center with yellow pollen dusting adjacent parts of the flower. The three petals are white and a delicate shade of pink. The three green sepals peeking behind the flower alternating the petals. There are 3 leaves of a darker shade of green, one directly each petal. The background shows the darker hues of the forest floor, warm browns at the bottom to almost black at the top.

It's 39F here in Northern Virginia with heavy rain washing away the remaining snow. All I can say is Bring on the Trillium!
Photograph Circa April 2015.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Macro

A long exposure shot of a mountain stream flowing down a steep incline over, under and around rocks and tree roots, flanked by undergrowth.

Hog Camp Branch, a mountain stream that flows along part of the Rose River Loop Trail. It tumbles down the mountain from the Dark Hollow Falls in Shenandoah National Park. June 2018.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Virginia #WaterFalls #ShenandoahNationalPark

A closeup of very ripe bright red chilies with green stems, in a warm brown cherry wood bowl.

Well Ripened Serrano and Cayenne Chilies from the Farmers Market, awaiting processing. The Cayennes were dried for pizza sprinkles, and the Serranos were thin sliced diagonally with a very sharp knife for sandwiches. 😋 October 2023.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Chilies #Food

The sky just after the sun has set as viewed through leafless tree branches. The top is a band of lavender, with a band light purple, next a band of salmon, then another band of light purple, followed by dark purple, more intense salmon, and then orange. Before being obscured by the undergrowth.

Sunset Through the Trees in Winter. December 2021.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Sunset

Center foreground is a statue of Hana-Barbera's Yogi Bear cartoon character, just above a sign with the text "Welcome to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Luray, VA", and under an American flag. Behind Yogi is a large evergreen tree obscuring an elaborate waterslide. The sky is overcast with ominous clouds.

Jellystone Park, a spinoff of Hana-Barbera's Yogi Bear cartoon show. Sort of a combo campground, amusement park. June 2018. Stayed here while flyfishing once, it was interesting.

#TouristTrap #Roadside #Glamping #RoadsideAttractions #RoadsideAmerica #EastCoastKin #Virginia #Luray

A small cascade water in shaft of sunlight surrounded by shady gray rocks, partially obscured by an icicle covered branch. Light is being refracted in all directions by the water and ice.

A small cascade on the upper reaches of the Rapidan River in the Shenandoah Mountains. Circa February, 2019.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Waterfalls #WaterfallWednesday #Virginia #Winter

A closeup of part of a large cast iron gear covered in a warm brown rust layer. In the background are dark browns and black tones of other parts of the machine, and greens of nearby grass.

A section of a gear that is part of an almost 200 year old mechanism that controlled water flow in C&O Canal Lock Number 10. Circa August, 2009.

#EastCoastKin #Photography 📷 #Macro #Rust #Metal

The picture shoes almost filigreed edges of melting ice that had been floating, now slightly above the water with a subtle reflection in the water. Above is a line of bubbles across the picture showing the line where the ice is still floating on the water. Below the ice is brownish green water of the Potomac River.

Melting ice in a sunny sheltered spot on the edge Potomac River on an otherwise cold day. I took this with my first digital camera a Canon PowerShot S45, January 2004.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Winter

A snowy scene showing a freestone mountain brook with water cascading between snow covered cobble sized stones. The surrounding trees and undergrowth are weighed down by freshly fallen snow. The ground and all of the stones above water are covered by snow. The only color in the photo are the browns of the submerged stones and the very dark green (almost black) of the evergreens.

The Cold River on a Cold Day in Florida, Massachusetts. December 2007.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Winter #AlmostBlackAndWhite #Massachusetts
#NewEngland #FloridaMA

In the foreground is an almost mirror smooth Potomac River reflecting bare trees with white and gray trunks on the far shore, along with a lightly overcast sky. A duck is slowly cruising from left to right down the center point leaving a long wake in the placid waters.

A Warm Winter Day on the Potomac River. January 2026

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin

A picture of a water snake that had climbed out of the water of a duckweed choked pond, loosely coiled on a moss covered log, it had dragged up pieces of duckweed and dead leaves.

I was walking by a duckweed choked pond in August, I countered this common water snake, a non-poisonous species native to Virginia.

#Photography 📷 #EastCostKin #Snake #Reptiles

A view the choppy waters of New York Harbor showing tall buildings of Jersey City and Manhattan with a blue sky well populated with fluffy white clouds and some jet contrails.

Looking directly up the Hudson River on a breezy day in New York Harbor, Jersey City on the left, Manhattan on the right. July 2009.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #NewYorkCity #UrbanGaze

A tight closeup of a male eastern box turtle his head just protruding his shell with his red/orange eye looking warily at my camera. His head is framed by the edges of his shell, and his scaley right leg.

I was walking in the woods in my local park on a hot humid day last summer, I encountered this fine gentleman. My favorite photo of 2025.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Macro #Reptiles #Turtle #Turtles #Bestof2025

From front to back extending away from the camera is the bare silty earth of Heritage Trail cleared by many hikers feet. On each side of the trail and among the undergrowth are light blue virginia bluebells with very green leaves and stems in full bloom. Throughout the picture there are the greens of peak spring, with the grays and browns of the occasional tree trunk or rotting log. Near the center back of the picture is a tree trunk on which the Heritage Trail blaze is applied, harmoniously matches the color of the bluebells.

One of the best part of winter especially a cold winter with lots of snow and ice is you really appreciate it when spring comes back. The Heritage Trail along the Virginia side of the Potomac River a few miles upstream from Washington DC. April 2010.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin

A group of very small orange mushrooms that look like chantarelles growing among light green moss on on the vertical surface of a fallen log so decayed it's surface looks like soil.

Small orange mushrooms growing on a well decayed log, Shenandoah National Park. April 2017

#fungifriends #fungi #mycology #mushroomsky #shroomscrolling #macro

Painted on what looks like a corrugated metal fence with many previous coats of paint, is what looks like a turquoise mountain range outlined in red and orange. On this a pack of wolves is painted, shown with pink fur and mauve outlines staring hungrily at the viewer with black and red eyes, showing menacing white teeth.

Wolves of Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York. November 2009.

#Photography #UrbanPhotography #UrbanGaze #EastCoastKin #StreetArt #NewYorkCity #NYC

Partially overgrown field in a snow storm. In the foreground and the center of the scene there is low growing brush with reddish stems. On the left and right margins are a mix of dead trees and evergreens. All are covered by fallen snow. The far background are more trees and a ridge obscured by falling snow.

Winter Scene Upstate New York, January 2008.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #Winter #NewYork

A closeup of a very decayed gray tree stump covered in light green hairy lichen, standing in a flooded wetlands area. Directly behind in the water are other dead, still standing and fallen trees of the same color. The rest of the background is a tree covered ridge in very early autumnal colors, with a flash of bright red foliage to the left of the stump. All under a light gray sky

A closeup of a stump in a wetlands in northern Maine. September 2009.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #AutumnColor

Twenty some odd turtles basking mostly in groups on fallen timber floating on the water and leaning against the rocky banks of the C&O Canal on a bright sunny afternoon.

A large number of turtles on the basking in the sun on a warm day in the early spring in the C&O National Historical Park. April 2017.

#Photography 📷 #Turtle

A section of one high-rise office building with fairly intricate dark colored windows with white supports and ornamentation reflected in the panes of glass of a larger high-rise office. Each pane of rectangular glass though mostly flat reflects differently, bending and breaking reflected building into an abstract image.

An adjacent high-rise reflected in the windows of Arlington Tower 1300 N 17th Street, Rosslyn, Virginia 2009.

#Photograph 📷 #EastCoastKin #Reflection

A picture of a great blue Heron standing in water near dark brown decaying pilings with very green aquatic grasses. The water is reflecting a darker upside down version the heron, colors of a lightly overcast sky, and adjacent buildings rippling across the water.

Great Blue Heron standing in water on the shore of the Potomac River in the reflection of adjacent buildings.

#Photography 📷 #Water #Reflection #EastCoastKin #Birds

Close of a large bright yellow-orange pumpkin blossom against a darker background of rosemary foliage and pumpkin vine and leaves.

A picture the pumpkin vine with several brightly colored blossoms climbing over rosemary and other garden plants, potted house plants put out for summer sun, and out onto the paved patio in the foreground.

Squash Blossoms - 2009 - The year I let a volunteer pumpkin vine, a seed from the previous years jack-o-lanterns take over my garden.

#Photography 📷 #Flowers #MyBackyard #Garden #Macro

This picture was taken several minutes after sunset. The foreground shows interlaced mountain ridges in very dark hues of blues with browns, almost black in some places. Level with the highest mountain peaks is a band of salmon stretching almost across the picture. Just above that are breaks in the cloud cover interspersed across showing with hues of pink yellow and very light blue. The rest of the background is cloud cover showing hues of blue gray, with streaks pink to salmon.

Deepening Dusk in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

#Photography 📷 #EastCoastKin #LandScape
#Sunset #Virginia