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there is a row of pine between our house and our nearest neighbor, but now well into our third ice storm of this year, they are looking much less lush than at summer's end. The whole time I was out today, I heard them creaking and cracking. One of these pictures is titled fallen, and I was maybe 8 feet from it when it fell. I nearly jumped into another dimension, but luckily I had my camera in hand, which helped steady me. As I write this now, I can hear more sleet coming down, and they have predicted a foot of snow to fall on us here tomorrow.

pictures.

Hi Manna - These pictures are fantastic. I especially love the first one of the crab apple tree - the red incased within the ice.
Looks like you've lost a lot of trees this season, it's been a harsh winter.

nice work - thanks

Good job
Finding pretty cracks
In the hell-realmish winter
That I remember
All too well

Sean

Wow manna, I'm jealous of all that snow you have, and that mist. I especially like the middle pic in your second post. I'd have increased the contrast and sharpness of the foreground a bit to make the branches and the icicles stand out more. (Sorry I can't seem to help trying to interfere with other people's pictures.)

Daka winter isn't hell, it's beautiful! The bone structure of nature is laid bare. And a landscape dusted in snow is as good as it gets, in my book. Your mountain looks paradaisical. Love that colourful meadow. Take another pic when the sun is low in the sky?

Now that is a meadow, daka.
Enjoy it!
I envy you both - snow and wildflower meadows.
And not a mention of tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What tickets?

Even though I was really looking forward to reading your poem with such a gorgeous title, I loved looking at the photos of your present world, Manna. Hopefully, a poem will manifest, as well.

These are the aspects of winter I really miss.

Lovely meadow, Daka . Thanks for sharing it with us.


~ Lizzy

Diane wrote:Wow manna, I'm jealous of all that snow you have, and that mist. I especially like the middle pic in your second post. I'd have increased the contrast and sharpness of the foreground a bit to make the branches and the icicles stand out more. (Sorry I can't seem to help trying to interfere with other people's pictures.)

Ha ha, please interfere to your hearts content! I think you're right. At first the background was almost invisible, and I darkened it a bit to make it stand out more, but I think that may have been a mistake. In fact, if you're interested, I can email the original (fairly large) file to you, and you can play to your heart's content.

This was the first time I ever really played with mist in my pictures. Hard light is easy; I am still learning about soft light. I didn't realize until I saw it that zooming through mist is so much different than just getting yourself closer to your subject. That foot of snow never manifested. Funny, watching the predictions - they'd said a few inches, then a few more, and so on until we were up to a foot, but I didn't see a single flurry today! In fact it was sunny and starry and there were tiny rainbows everywhere, and I wanted so badly to go shoot some more, but the chance never arose.

Today was our jam day, and we hosted this week. Jodi told a story about a place near her where a branch fell on a power line and it was swinging in the breeze and arcing and sparking. Nancy told one about how she'd also wanted to take photos of the starry landscapes, but every time she got her camera, a cloud would conceal the sun. Then she'd get on to something else, and the sun would come out again. Wasn't meant to be captured, I guess.

Lovely pictures!

~~

I looked up "bonsai storage".
And it is apparently a way to protect bonsai from the weather.

Which seems pretty damn silly to me.
Bonsai's supposed to be the art of making little trees
look badly weather-beaten.

~~~

I am adding that to my list of life's biggest disappointments.
About God, and Santa Clause, and the Easter Bunny, and
women presidential candidates being nicer than men,
and real hearts not being shaped like that at all, ... ... ... etc.

I looked up "bonsai storage".
And it is apparently a way to protect bonsai from the weather.

Which seems pretty damn silly to me.
Bonsai's supposed to be the art of making little trees
look badly weather-beaten.

yeah, but if you look at the picture, they are not in any kind of encasement. In fact, technically, two of the trees in the picture aren't technically bonsai b/c they aren't technically in pots - they're in the ground, trying to fatten the trunks (a Japanese maple and a dwarf boxwood). "Bonsai" literally translates to something like potted plant. And I don't know if the two in pots are going to make it. I yanked 'em out of the ground from under a bush that had seeded last year, so we'll see. Bonsai (pronounced "bone-sigh", not banzai) is the art of making little trees look like big trees. Many of them are pristine rather than carrying the weather-beaten look. Much depends on whether you are a bonsai person or a penjing person, penjing being the Chinese approach to little trees. I prefer penjing because it tends to make the scenery look a bit more natural, using moss (grass), rocks, water (or sand in its place) and other stuff as elements in the display. Bonsai is a tree and a pot.

RP,
Tickets to my snow show come in the form of airplane tickets. Stop by anytime. (Though it is predicted to be above freezing for the remainder of the week)

Manna i think your photos are magic......................

the first one is Fallen..............A cherry???

THE REST ARE SUPER.......................

OR MAYBE AN APPLE??

The last one is fallen
the first one is crabapple