Among The White Giants

On a bright, warm winter day I found myself in the company of white giants reaching for the deep blue sky.  It was about 60 degrees fahrenheit but the naked sycamores and the hard light reminded me not to get used to the weather.

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

I had some other ideas for this week’s photo challenge but I was walking through the woods and the reflection of the trees in this stream caught my attention.  Perhaps too literal a treatment of this week’s theme but I liked the color and the stillness of the water at this spot.

Tri-Colored Pine Cone

I’m not much of a pine cone photographer (is there such a thing?) but the colors on this cone really caught my eye.  It grew from the branch of a fallen tree that was clearly still very much alive.

Foggy Morning in the Neighborhood

The trees, silhouetted by early morning fog, make the houses seem small and almost insignificant.  A neighbor’s porch lights offer the only evidence anybody else might be awake.  Within an hour this scene will be transformed into a more familiar arrangement.  It might be months or even a year before it looks like this again.

Melt Off

As I hiked past this puddle of melting snow I stopped to look at the reflections in it.  Snow was falling off the trees in clumps and caused ripples in the puddle.

Doyles River Upper Falls

When I reached the upper falls on the Doyles River in Shenandoah National Park, the lighting was horrible.  The foreground and most of the photo above and to the left of the falls were bathed in bright, direct sunlight.  The falls and most of the photo to the right of them were in dark shadow.  So I bracketed like crazy and combined two of the resulting photos to produce this HDR image of the scene.

Fall Morning in Deep Run Park

Early Saturday morning I walked through Deep Run Park in Henrico County, Virginia.  I wanted to be there while that magical, early morning light blanketed the trees and whatever I might find beneath them.  I nearly passed this scene but fortunately stopped long enough to notice it.

Macro of Magnolia

Sun light begins to fall on the curled stamens of this magnolia bloom.

Pollination of the Redbud

Pileated Woodpecker