Bare trees, plus mist lingering over the valley added up to being a few minutes late for work.
Iced
An after market telephoto lens with really terrible optics can still create intriguing images with its distortion. In these images, rain falling through 29-degree air is coating branches and pine needles with ice.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Warmth
This week’s photo challenge is all about warmth.
The sun, peeking out from under a cloud deck, gave the illusion of warmth on a morning with wind chills in the 20s. The shake on this hand-held seven-second exposure (shivering?) gave this an almost flame-like effect.
Other eye warming entries:
- https://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/burning-skull-self-portrait/
- https://deadcatcomesback.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/yellow-flip-flops/
- http://windagainstcurrent.com/2014/12/26/warmth/
- http://winedrinkingmummy.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/wpc-warmth/
- http://rustytraveltrunk.com/2014/12/26/wpc-warmth/
- https://delsotherstuff.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/weekly-photo-challenge-warmth-rediscovery/
Fall gallery
Gadzooks! We’ve been off WordPress for a month? Here’s a gallery for a little catching up on some of October’s sights.
MAGENTA SKY — Oct. 23, 2014, sunrise was just stunning. No filters, just letting nature speak for herself.
RED. REALLY RED — Sumac backlit on a sunny afternoon. Oct. 25, 2014.
ASTERS — These purple asters were the last to bloom this fall.
ECLIPSE – The lunar eclipse as seen from central Arkansas on Oct. 8, 2014.
BUSY AS A … — Carpenter bee visits a goldenrod spike during a sunny fall day.
Autumn morning, Arkansas style
We’d wondered over the last few weeks if autumn’s tremendous show would ever come to town and lamented that the color change seemed to be later than in previous years. Some years you can see the trees begin to change as early as August. However, fall finally came through and here’s what we saw before going to work last Thursday. (Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Nighttime
No exotic locations. No great landmarks. Â Just nighttime as seen from our deck tonight through a 30-second exposure.
And other visions in the night that we liked:
- http://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/street-portrait-3361/
- http://elementaryposters.com/2014/09/26/weekly-photo-challenge-nighttime/
- http://castelsarrasin.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/weekly-photo-challenge-night-time/
- http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/weekly-photo-challenge-nighttime/
Beauty underneath
Sometimes, the side facing away from the sun presents a better view. These fungi, a rather nondescript white on the top, were quite elaborate underneath. Gazing up the trunk of this tree, the beautiful and distinct rills and curves reminded me of the elaborate scrolls of a Corinthian column capital.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrasts
This week’s photo challenge is all about contrasts. We loved how the straight white-clad trunks of these birches contrasts with the wild maze of soft green early June foliage near Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Other of this week’s contrasts we liked:
Winter vs. Spring. Round 3
And the winner is … Spring!
Arkansas did have one more round of snow on St. Patrick’s Day, with enough ice and snow to cause a 10- to 15-car pileup that shut down I-630 during the morning commute. However, Spring has gotten down to business and has taken the state in its firm grip.
Spring puts its foot in the door
Winter-weary as we are and with a chance of snow lingering in Tuesday’s forecast, spring is struggling to keep its foot in the door. In downtown Little Rock, trees are showing lots of bud swell, with blooms and leaves ready to burst forth. Further west, on campus, daffodil leaves have pushed above the soil. Here on the mountain, we’re a few weeks behind. However, spring is showing its colors. Below are photos taken this morning.
The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface 