An Ode to Lance-Leaved Sage
Lance-leaved sage photographed with a Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.5 macro
Also taken with a Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.5 macro
When I first started experimenting with vintage legacy lenses on my micro four thirds cameras—a Panasonic G1 and an Olympus E-M5—my subject matter seemed to focus on fall and winter foliage. I’m not sure why…maybe it was just timing, maybe I found it easier to isolate shapes after most of the plants had died down. Whatever the reason, I found the “skeletons” of these Summer plants had beautiful architecture that one really didn’t see until all growth stopped and only the brittle stems and spent seed heads remained.
One such plant has become one of my favorite winter specimens to photograph: Lance-leaved Sage.
Lance-leafed sage in early Fall
For a few years, I had no idea what plant this was. It’s sometimes hard to match the live, green version in plant identification books with the dead, brown version that I was taking photos of. Lance-leaved sage has a distinct dried seed head that I am now very familiar with though, and eventually I found the plant that had both—it was still green, flowering, and also had a few dried seed heads as well. Bingo! Then all it took was paging through my “bible” of plants, Plants of the Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains, until I spied it.
I’ve been scrolling through my photo library and see that I’ve photographed this plant numerous times, with many different lenses. So I though it was about time I paid homage to this humble little prairie plant that has provided me with such a wonderful creative outlet and test subject for these vintage lenses I acquire.
