Transient Art

 I found some frosty "art" on my afternoon walk with Anna and Meg yesterday. The ground was still frozen, the sun was out, and anywhere it hadn't touched yet was still frosty. I liked the patterns of the air bubbles stuck in the puddles and tried a few different angles on a different puddle without getting the kind of image I was thinking of. Then I found this puddle - with the unique little round bubble and leaves around the lines - and took one shot. this is straight from the camera.

And some frost fingers on a leaf, highlighted now, but soon doomed, by the late fall sun. I only had my wide angle lens so I wasnt sure how it would come out. I had to pretty well kneel on the ground and get the camera up quite close with a wide aperture to get what I was aiming for. I cropped this and enhanced the shadows in picasa to bring the focus more to the leaf and its frosties. I didn't see it at the time, but the shadow of the leaf's stem on the leaf itself also looks cool. It has since warmed up and both of these have melted.

First Snow

 

My daughter, Anna, decided to be awake this morning before noon, so I took the opportunity to go for a morning walk and catch the fabulous fall light and the first snow before it all melted. It was coming down pretty thick last night but I knew it wouldn't last. Both made for some more interesting shots so I've decided to include all my favourites, rather than just one. Besides, I can hardly argue that this thing is daily anymore. Above is some frosty rose hips, shadows adjusted a bit in Picasa.

 

Here I liked how all the grasses were laying down together with their details brought out by the snow on top. I noticed how their pattern kind of lead to the little leafless sapling which was also caught by the morning sun. The shadowed background capped it off. Straight from the camera.

 

And the neighbour's horse again. I was going for the haloed effect from the sun, I like how he wasn't also completely silhouetted. I actually was trying to get the picture where he was further in the field grazing, but when I got closer (I only had my wide angle lens) he came over to say hi. This pose of him was the best, I liked how his nose wraps around the fence post. Also straight from the camera.

 

On my return over the fence rail to my backyard I noticed This little squirrel larder of half eaten rose hips in the lichen. The light was cool and I figured I could make something of all those textures, especially with a really narrow depth of field. I had to adjust the white balance for shadows while capturing it, which made the image warmer like it looked to the eye. Straight from the camera.

 

And lastly, a shot of the back field that was oats this summer. The snow and the hills caught in the light were very impressive - as they always are when its been so long since you've seen them dressed that way. I'm sure it will be less so in January, after 3 months of winter. Anyways, I stitched this in ArcSofts panorama maker, and of course the small size doesnt do it justice. Click on the image to see the full size in the gallery. One retouch to remove some sensor dust in the sky, otherwise straight from the camera as well.

Last of the Colours

I had been planning to capture this tree in all its fall glory for a few weeks, and finally got a chance yesterday on my walk with our new little daughter, Anna, and the dog, Meg. Its short a few more of the leaves than I would have liked and I got it in the afternoon light rather than the morning, but still looked cool, and with the wind over last night it was probably the last time it had any leaves this year. The angle worked well and I liked the light in the high branches. I adjusted the shadows a touch in Picasa, taken with my wide angle lens.