I recently learned that a park very close to my house has an actual hiking trail. I had always thought it contained a few roads up to some secluded shelters for picnics and of course the main playground and pool, but no real trails. I was wrong. Since I haven't been too enthusiastic about running in the snow and freezing temps, I decided to give up the running shoes and throw on a pair of boots, get out and go for a brisk walk and check out this trail. I hiked around a bit in the timber before I found the main trail, and truthfully getting off the main path is often more fun. I took my camera to get in some practice shots while I was walking.
I think taking photos in the winter is a special kind of challenge.
Everything looks a little desolate and it seems like there are only a few varieties of brown and white to really look at. Finding a beautiful shot is more work than it is in the summer when I can go into my garden and with every quarter turn of the camera I find some new incredible blossom, leaf or color to photograph. Winter photography also seems to require kneeling or lying down in the cold snow. The biggest lesson I learned today is that I need to buy a pair of snow pants. Layering isn't cutting it.
The second lesson I learned today was about camera angle. . . or that I need to get a better handle on my camera's light metering system. Either way, I produced very different photos by simply shifting the angle of my camera. The berries against the snow look dark, shadowy and uninspiring. But . . .
when I get lower and shift the lens up so that the background is no longer snow, but the abundance of brown brush and twigs, the berries virtually glow. The color is gorgeous.
It seems like many of the berries have vanished from the bushes, but I managed to find the few that are left.
The shriveled look of the remaining berries adds a little extra edge to the numbing cold.
I love looking into the trees that have fallen. This one looks like a mouth waiting to consume an unsuspecting forest animal.
Not so long after the ferocious looking trunk I walked paste this "flower".
I found a nice area of brush with some great curls and shapes just after I decided that I could not tolerate the cold anymore. It would have been great to spend more time playing around with all the brittle tendrils. Next time.
And now on to a warmer state of mind.
It is February, I have received nearly all of the seed catalogues that I am going to get, garden dreaming is in full swing and soon seed starting will be too.
I had another opportunity to hang art in the Barnes and Noble cafe in Cedar Rapids for the month of February. I went for it and hung ten photos taken in my garden last summer.
Looking at them all together made me feel warmer. I like winter, but it feels good to know that spring and summer are not far away.
If you can, go in and check them out. If not, all of the photos are included in 2013 posts on this blog. Framed and unframed prints are for sale. Unframed prints are $18 and framed prints are $30.
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