Winter white

To the joy of just about everyone, winter finally arrived in New Mexico this week, with either snow or rain falling statewide.  A great thing, indeed, for a parched landscape.  This Friday, 21 December, is the Solstice and official opening of the season.

I offer a toast, then, to winter, Solstice, and the gradual lengthening of days on Earth, assuming the Maya simply ran out of room on their calendar.

Nature graced us with an incredible hoar frost this morning, the crystals of which were quite profound and stunning.  To make the images larger, click twice on each one.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Brush strokes

One of the elements I love in oil paintings other than the subject matter and the use of color is the brush stroke.  Last week, nature painted our windows with a frost featuring some of the most interesting strokes I have seen.  At first glance, as in the image below, it seems that the frost was composed of connected dots.

But closer examination shows that the dots were actually feathers.

And this is where it really gets good.  These are the original brush strokes - details from middle of the first photograph.  What a painting!

By double clicking on the photographs, you can see even more  detail.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

I

Nature's brush

To me, a change of season is nature at its most wondrous.  Our human brains frequently assume it happens suddenly and certainly it frequently feels that way.  But watchers know and see the signs, and are keenly aware it is a gradual and insidious evolution of one season into the next.   From bird and animal migration, to the changing sky and earth, photographers document the process.

Cloud study 1 - approaching storm

Throughout, nature paints everything with the most astonishing surprises.

The first heavy frosts on the windows are applied with strokes both fine and broad.

Frost 1

These two shots were made the same morning on windows of identical size and composition, both facing south, with approximately thirty two feet separating them.  Although they contain common elements, the two patterns are dramatically different.

Frost 2

keep your eyes peeled and cameras ready.

until next Monday,

db

a passion for the image