For Ellen

One of my blog readers wondered what the sunset photo would look like with just the color from the sunset and all else black and white. I attempted that below:

Frozen in Black and White

I struggle much with black and white photos. I realize that simplicity and intimacy seem to work the best when one is trying to use black and white in a photograph.   At least that is what works for me in my mind. But the great outdoors with its complicated scenery just does not seem to fit in my version of black and white. Ansel Adams was a bit of a genius.  I do think that true photographic talent shows up much better with black and white photos.

Winter is mostly black and white.

This above was taken as the sun bounced above a ridge cloud with the angle of the morning sun. I converted it to black and white. (Note the bird feeders covered in snow.)

This shows the real color of that morning.  It is almost a black and white without me changing saturation or color in any way. (Our compost bin.)

This is "almost" black and white, yet I brought up the saturation of the sunset.  That was the feature in the photo anyway.  (My deck still has snow on it, although much has been melted everywhere else.)

Just a Little Bit of Wonderland for Ya

Stuck in the yard. Both sets of neighbors are gone to Florida as is hubby. I am all alone with the peace of winter. The quiet of white velvet.

Vines

It was a lovely and sunny and warm winter day on Sunday and since the hunters were not allowed to hunt on Sunday we took a walk through the local park.  Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This plant below looks like the Oriental bittersweet which is invasive in our area. But it also has traits of the American bittersweet. I was wondering if it was a hybrid since that does happen with the two plants. It was nice to photograph either way.

It was picked in the winter and brought into the house for red accents in holiday decorations.

This vine certainly spreads when you pull that camera lens back.

And spreads

Until it climbs to the top of the tree starving it of light and eventually killing it. Birds eat the seeds of both and thus the plants are spread easily.

Tourists

They are not migrants and not immigrants, but just a massively large group of tourists. Unfortunately, we treat them the same way we treat immigrants. We shoot them!

They get very quiet as the early morning glow moves across the water and begins to penetrate the fog.  It seems as if they fear discovery.

There is some discussion among the leaders about what to do and which way to go, a bit of confusion.

The noisier ones tuck close to shore and slap the water as if they are ready for flight but that is just a bluff and not bravery.

Like all groups, the truly brave are the first to head out across the wide expanse as the day begins giving the others courage to move on.

The Eternal Turning

"The grand show is eternal. It is always all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." ---John Muir 

Below is a collection of sunrises and sunsets taken at my house during the month of December. (Always camera ready am I.)

And the last a digital painting with the corner of the house left intact.

Breaking Dawn

Breaking dawn. The storm retreats and leaves behind the whisper of the golden light of a new day as if making room for the big fat sun. Only Mother Nature can create such a lovely painting.  Today is my birthday, and since I need nothing and have asked for nothing, this is the best gift I received.