Frosty morning

I enjoy the patterns and textures of early morning frost coating the grass in the sheep field.

Bamboo leaf images

Bamboo leaves in sunlight

Bamboo leaf pattern

Sorry, wrong number!

There’s something wrong here.  Perhaps I need to change my specs!

Abstracts from The Broads

These abstracts are created from photos of sunlight shining on gently rippling water.  The original pictures were taken during a visit to the Norfolk Broads.

Abstract 150

Just think about it! (15)

 

I was reminded of this passage when photographing the snowdrops the other day.

‘We are usually only dimly aware  –  if we’re aware at all  –  of the converging of information from our senses when we experience an event.  We’re so dependent on seeing that we tend to ignore what the other senses are communicating.
The photographer, the poet, the painter, or the composer who is locked into only the visual phenomena of the sunset may miss the heart of what was actually being experienced.’                               John Daido Loori

The challenge for the photographer/painter is how to express and communicate what he/she feels as well as sees.

Stubble field in February

On the opposite side of the lane from the snowdrops in the copse, there is an unploughed field still bearing the stubble from a late harvest.  My attention was attracted by the sharp, textured pattern, highlighted by the bright sunshine.

(Click the image to enlarge)

‘Can Spring be far behind?’

What a difference two days can make!  Throughout the day the sun has shone brightly and there has been an encouraging crispness about the air.

In the copse at Mill Farm the cheery snowdrops  chased away memories of the cold, dark days.  With remarkable resilience they forced their way through matted ivies, decaying leaves and fallen branches to produce a carpet of pure white.

In the sheep field the ewes took life easy  –  a time to relax before giving birth in just a few more weeks.

Yes, it feels as if Spring could be on the way!!

All change!

The snow was around for perhaps 72 hours.  It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, washed away by an extended period of rain.  The farm track beside the sheep field became virtually impassable, but the sunlight on the puddles produced interesting abstract patterns.

Snow against the window pane

I am sure we have all had the experience of taking a photograph that has exceeded our expectations or intentions.  This picture belongs to just such a category.  During the recent snowy weather I sat watching the flakes gust against the window pane and saw them slowly accumulate along the lower edge.  I recognised the potential for a photograph but little expected to capture this polar landscape.  Afterall, the area photographed was approximately 6 inches x 3 inches.

The Chair

The title has been chosen with care.  It is not a chair, it is the chair.  It is the chair to which my wife believes me to be too deeply attached!  It is here that I sit and think, reflect, read, ponder, cogitate, write, create pictures, and generally wrestle with the ills of mankind.  This sanctuary of enlightenment is surrounded by a world of oblivion and outer darkness.  A less kind interpretation is that this is my bolt hole  –  a place of escapism!

Seen through the window

Overnight snow created a familiar wintry landscape.  With a mild degree of shame I confess that the pictures below were taken without setting a foot outside!

Timanfaya

The Canary Islands were formed as the result of volcanic activity but, more specifically, the Timanfaya  National Park, covering an area of 50 sq klm, was created during a series of eruptions between 1730-1736.  Because of the absence of rain and other erosive factors, the scenery today remains much as it was at the end of that period.  The lava flow was dramatic and swept away several villages yet, strangely, there were no fatalities.  The extent of the lava field is quite apparent and there is a clear demarcation of where the devastation reached.

The Timanfaya National Park is noted for its strange ‘lunar’ landscape.  There are vast areas of ‘clinker’, but in other places the texture reflects the solidified lava streams.

Timanfaya 2

The eruptions between 1730-1736 created more than 100 volcanoes known as the Montanas del Fuego or Fire Mountains.  The last, smaller, eruption was in 1824 and the area remains ‘active’ though ‘dormant’.  Nevertheless there is intense heat a few metres below the surface measuring 400-600 degrees centigrade.  At the  ‘El Diablo’ restaurant at the summit the cooking uses geothermal heat  –  food is grilled on an iron grid placed above a bore hole through which heat rises.

The craters reveal the strata of the volcanic formations and also the range of colours created by the intense heat.

Find the walkers

It  is time for a short break from the wintry and wet weather of recent weeks.

I am using this picture as a curtain raiser to a series taken in the Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote.  It also introduces several features that will be apparent later, such as the topography, scale, colours, patterns and textures.

If you have difficulty locating the walkers click on the image to enlarge.

Patio sunlight and shadows

A burst of dazzling winter sun casts elongated shadows of the bars in the patio gate and backlights the moss between the paving blocks.

Just green squares!

I decided I need a brief interlude from the winter palette!!  So, the colours may be unseasonal but I find this  image refreshing and cheerful.  I hope you do too!!

Water, water everywhere!

The persistent rains of recent weeks, augmented now by flood water, have transformed normally dry roadside ditches into small streams, encouraging vigorous new shoots even in January.

The hedgerow behind the ditch contains the dead (but, in its own way, attractive) growth of the rosebay willowherb and similar plants.

In the field beyond the hedge, land that was previously marshy has become a small lake.

After the snow

As if by magic, the thick carpet of snow and ice completely disappeared overnight.  A significant rise in temperature and continuous rain removed all evidence of the wintry scene.  Bright skies and sunshine replaced the heavy grey clouds of past days.  At the edge of the neighbouring sheep field a series of small puddles formed, each creating its own ‘world’ and reflecting the blue skies above.

As in an earlier post, I have used a touch of watercolour filter.

Click on the photo to enlarge if required.