Winter textures

[vaneramos]

In case the second image puzzles anyone—it is minnows underwater. The next question is where. It was taken today in the same Eramosa River where I photographed the ice crystals in the first image. The minnows swarm in a short, wide ditch bearing relatively warm effluent from the storm sewers. It's an awesome manifestation of nature's fecundity even under the crust of winter. I've heard that marine habitat under polar ice shelves is one of the most productive and diverse on earth.

After a few dull days of frozen bare ground when snow seemed always imminent, it finally came yesterday afternoon, suddenly as a belch from heaven, about 8 cm (4") in four hours. This afternoon the sky was blinding blue.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Arg, I guess I'll do it, just to please you, as long as you keep posting luscious Aussie summer pics. Actually, staying indoors all winter is not an option for me, otherwise the blues will get worse, so you're bound to see enough pics of ice and snow to make you start shivering. I'm actually enjoying winter more than I used to, especially now that I'm photographing it and keeping a nature journal. But those beach pictures just make me pig jealous.

[art-thirst.livejournal.com]

I wholeheartedly agree! That image could make a great greeting card; one of a personal nature, of course. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I love the justaposition of snow and clouds.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Those are wonderful, especially the first one.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Here's another slightly different image of the ice crystals.

simply beautiful.

[djjo.livejournal.com]

The first picture makes me thing of many winged insects all flying around in the air. and the teasels (sp?) are stunning.

Hugs and hope your warm! I had to break out the full suit longjohns today. brrrrrrrrr.

Off to knit and then go see Kill Bill tonight. My guilty pleasure for the day. Danny

Re: simply beautiful.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's teasel as in tease. Nuzzle.

Longjohns? Sexy!

The warmest part of the day was waking up this morning with sunshine pressing against the back of the curtain, imagining you there and getting pleasantly bothered.

I'm feeling better today, can you tell?

Smooch x 3 x 3

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

love 'em all!~paul

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

you're welcome, Van, but i'm shivering looking
at 'em!~paul

[trckrfckr.livejournal.com]

Van, your talent for capturing moments in time astounds me.

Thanks for sharing them.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That means a lot. You're most welcome.

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

stinging nettles with snow?

great black and white bud, very captivating image.
with your permission it may become an icon later in my journal. really nice image.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

They're teasels actually. I would be flattered. Unfortunately the image doesn't work very well when it's reduced in size. The B&W is practically unrecognizable. I cropped and reduced this icon from a different photograph. It's still hard to figure out what it is:



You're welcome to use this, or if you can crop something else more satisfactory from either of the posted photos, that's fine. If you decide not to use them I'll understand. Some photos work well in miniature, others don't.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks again for your comments on this. The image is incredible in colour. The blue sky today was breathtaking. But somehow it is even more powerful in B&W. The clear sky is so amazingly dark.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

I particularly like those sunstreaks through the fence slots.

Also the snow puffs on the pussywillows are nice - especially seeing the contrast of the B&W and color versions.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

They're actually teasels, the antithesis of pussywillows. The sky was such a marvellous blue yesterday, but I liked how the B&W image presented the beauty of its vividness stripped of colour.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

What struck me was how much the arrangement of ice crystals is like the arrangement of minnows. But then I expect that's what you intended :)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I vaguely noticed it when I was editing images and, in an absent-minded way, decided to post those two together. Then I forgot about it.

Working visually often feels like throwing mud at the wall. I hardly see what I'm doing, I just do it. I frequently overlook obvious details, like the fact that the license plate said ACHY. Sometimes things like this happen and it almost seems like serendipity, but I realize my subconscious mind has been paying attention and throwing itself into the project. Now, looking at these images again, I realize they're much more interesting together than they would be by themselves.