shadows

I’ve been unable to make new images for several weeks.  Not for a lack of motivation…  tonight was a beautiful sunset with bright purple, orange and red and we’ve had several amazing ice and snow events.  No, the reason I’ve not been able to photograph is I’ve been waiting on my new eyeglasses; the toric lenses are giving the optician some troubles and I’m getting a lesson in patience.  When I photograph up close, I focus manually.  And since I’ve been in the suburbs of Philadelphia this winter, I’ve been limited to the more intimate landscape.  The image for this post was made last year after an epic snowfall.  I really like the contrast of the tree trunk with the tree’s shadows on the snow.  The way the snow melts around the tree trunk is also an amazing piece of science in the wonders of nature.  As the temperatures start to nudge well above freezing this week I am promised those eyeglasses… just in time to see some signs of late winter flowers?

time for slow

I was reminded again today to slow down… not by a person, but by nature herself.  An “ice event” they call these storms, causing headaches for commuters who have to drive or walk to work.  I’m one of those walkers most every day with a mile long walk to work and then back home again; a slower mode of transportation that allows me valuable creative time.  I often think of photographic opportunities, or new subject matter during these walks. One of those musings reminded me to visit a site along the Crum Creek I photographed last year in February.  So I ventured out last Sunday into the first sun we’ve had in what seems like a month.  Lots of kids and their families were enjoying some sledding on the hill of the Holly Collection slope.  But I kept my distance taking the less traveled route along the shore of the creek, sharing some footsteps with cross-country skiers from earlier in the day.  Snow covered canes of invasive-exotic weeds that line the creek in the sunnier locations gave me less than sure footing as I plunged hip deep into the snow… the joyous cry of happily airborne sledders in the distance.  But this solitude and slow snowy walk allowed me time to watch, to watch the light, to watch the patterns, and to sense the beauty of the day.  Time didn’t matter and for a moment I was drawn back to the sand dunes of Death Valley.  Yes, sand dunes of one of the hottest places in North America on a snowy January day.  The mounds of snow along the creek and the play of light over them from the forest of beech, maple and hemlock reminded me of lessons learned from watching the light in the desert.

bitter winter

Just posting an image from last week.  It has been bitter cold here in Pennsylvania this weekend and I’ve been busy indoors processing images and catching up with the rest of life.  So enjoy this image of Echinacea seed heads from the photo walk last Wednesday afternoon!

abandoned

I’ve been watching this location for quite some time… the graphics and colors of the light blue striped metal building with a line of dying trees.  But the light has not been right until this past weekend after the late morning clearing of heavy cloud cover.  The sky revealed just enough bright light to add the needed contrast and same hue as the building.  But something also told me this needed to be a black and white image.  A feeling of abandonment was emanating from this place and I think the black and white conversion helps with this translation.

after the storm

I just had to post an image from this morning… the day after the great February snow storm in Philadelphia 2010.  Unofficially I measured 23 inches outside my back door.  This is an amazingly architectural crabapple tree, Malus zumi, in a forgotten courtyard at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College.  There was evidence that students had played during the snowstorm… campus looked like a thousand people had trodden through the snow by 7am today.  The sky after one of these storms is always the brightest blue and the trees were still full of snow, outlining their bare forms.

Just another winter day

Just another winter day… never.  There is always something going on in the landscape; it’s just making the time in our busy lives and having the mindset to find those special moments.  A few remaining leaves on Hydrangea quercifolia, or oakleaf hydrangea, holding some half-frozen snow caught my eye.  Usually these leaves have completely fallen by now.  But these gems of texture and color held on so I was compelled to photograph them.

Free spirit

Yes the East Coast got a whopper of a storm over the weekend.  But at times like these I love walking out of the house without thinking about shoveling and only thinking about what the landscape might offer me as a photographer.  Deep snow and photographing plants almost always doesn’t work… you need to see some of the plant material!  So graphics and the slowing of life seem to attract my photographic eye and dominate my vision.  For me the deep snow here on this ‘Free Spirit’ bicycle locked to the bike rack made me laugh and think of all the rides this bike would enjoy on a warmer day.