sanctuary     

december's photo-heart-connection 

this is a scene i see almost every day. it is my sacred place. 
the light falling through the leaves, illuminating the reeds and rushes along the path, magically turns the wet asphalt into a pool of silver. 

Photo Heart Connection
reviewing my february photographs

This photo was taken on february 13, when the ice on the lake was melting and the weather was gray, wet and cold. I took a number of shots of the thawing ice and the riverbank, rather halfheartedly and dispirited, shivering and grumbling about the wet rain and sleet trickling down my neck. 
When i got home and browsed through my shots this wonderful applegreen umbrella suddenly popped out of the screen and told me to cheer up and stop complaining. Even the most dreary days can contain small and unexpected moments of brightness, joy and happiness.
I'm glad i didn't miss this one....!

natural monochrome

Today Paige Baicer posted about how photographs of natural scenery (often in winter) sometimes turn out almost black and white, with hardly any color in them.

I browsed through my recent work and found these examples of almost monochrome scenes

The only color here is provided by the beaks and legs of the seagulls standing on the grey ice waiting for who knows what....

This was taken on another day, with a more purple/pink shine in the air. There is only a faint brownish coloring in the chunk of ice covering the dark branches

Taken the same day, here the color is almost completely gone, faded to a soft pinkish grey veil covering the frozen lake. 

Ice texture

The lake had been frozen for a week or more and now it was slowly melting.
Big thick shelves and gravel-like chunks of ice were colliding and accumulating, resulting in an eerie, almost monochrome, alien landscape. 
I spent ages just gazing at it before getting out my camera.