The sunset has returned. Not that it ever really went away, but for those of us that work inside, Winter’s shortened days steal this daily beauty. Days are growing longer, and just when our internal clocks are gathering steam, Daylight Savings Time begins this Saturday evening to throw them off again. Don’t forget to forfeit an hour this weekend. You’ll get it back, just when it’s time to think about Christmas shopping.
Nikon D4 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm f/9 ISO 1250 5 image HDR
Winter brings a stillness when the Earth is covered in folded snow. Winds speed over silent meadows, passing unimpeded by leaves and foliage. Silent yet forceful breaths of nature, fill the muted dawn. Barren trees reach into the sky like lifeless memories, and bleak thoughts of quiet stillness float in the thin air. A time to reflect, a time to remember, a time of repose.
Nikon D4 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm f/4.5 ISO 400 1/2500 sec
It’s Winter, but I venture out. By February the ache of the frigid air has affixed itself to the inner linings of my knees and hips. It breaks away with forced movements, like a layer of ice after hours of sleep. There’s a dark numbing solitude that has laid claim to the back of my skull, like a pack of frozen peas on the back of my head, but I trudge onward. Like a zombie through a dead frozen world I walk. Nature is perplexed by my life force trespassing in Her world of slumber and death, but I walk on. The wind bites my lungs and dries my eyes. Its bone chilling movements slip inside my flesh and hold my organs in a frozen embrace. It’s cold, very cold. Dangerous ice beneath my feet becomes translucent, and the muck of the road stares up at me in twisted impressions suspended in time. I walk on, but more cautiously. I breathe, but not too deeply. I fixate on the steps before me. I curl my toes and I can feel them scrape the inner linings of my soles. “I’m ok, it’s not that cold.” I chant in my head. But it is that cold. A minor misstep, a small oversight, a slight miscalculation could have dire effects, in this season of bleakness. Fear grips its fingers around my psyche while I entertain various complications of my walk, but I beat it down with false confidence and years of experience. I keep moving, but slowed by gusts which push me back and steal my strength. I battle onwards. I walk.
Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm f/13 ISO 100 1/500 sec
I don’t usually post on a weekend, but I saw this scene earlier this morning and couldn’t resist a picture. I’m working on an end of the year reflection and of course the next desktop calendar. So here’s a bit of eye candy until next week.
Nikon D4 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm f/5.6 ISO 125 1/1600 sec
The first snowfall brings a promise of beauty and wonder as the landscape is blanketed in white. The soft flakes seem full of glad tidings. Holidays are quickly approaching; evergreen trees begin their reign; icicles hang desperately from rooftops. In my youth the first snowflakes brought anticipation of sledding, time off from school and exhaustive snowball fights. Even now the magic of how much the world can change in the span of an hour is mystifying. Flurries that dance through the air and alight on all we see make the world sparkle with purity and freshness. It’s a special moment, that first snowfall.
Nikon D800 Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro @ 100mm f/22 ISO 800 1/60 sec flash
