One of the pluses to photographing in the snow is it allows you to see things in a much different way. My primary photographic influence is color – the hues, the saturations, the play of one color off another. But when the landscape is covered in snow I find my eyes “see” differently. The abstract becomes much more visual for me. I was especially caught by this scene. Here was a light post by the side of a street. The street had tire tracks in the snow creating the horizontal patterns. The light pole was the vertical cross-pattern to the tire tracks. But then there was this wonderful swirl and curve that was created by the blowing snow all around the base of the light post. All the visuals seemed to play off each other in what would normally be a rather nondescript scene.
abstract
Intersections
Where are the intersections in your life? With people, with pets, with nature, with your emotions? I’m grateful for the intersections and interactions of this past Thanksgiving week. I’ve been fortunate to spend it with my family – a group of interesting, adventurous, diverse, and fascinating people ranging in age from 15 to 83. So many interests and activities, and yet we all found a way to be together for the holiday. There were laughs and stories, food and love. Sure there might have been stress in the interactions, and maybe the meal wasn’t the perfect Norman Rockwell interpretation, but it was an intersection of intent, of appreciation, and of thankfulness. And to me that is huge.
Spring’s softness
Last week’s photograph was of vivid red tulips. In the bright sunlight of spring, colors often become bold, striking, and rich in contrast. But there’s also a flip side to the season, and that’s the softness that’s found in the spring palette. When the sky is overcast, or in the early morning or late evening there’s a calming and quiet hush that sometimes settles over the gardens. It’s almost as if nature is resting after all its exuberance in bursting forth after winter. In trying to photograph this softness and hush I’ve chosen to take this image with a slight blur, making this more about the shapes, tones and feelings rather than the direct representation of the tulips.
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