Yesterday’s snow has stuck around and stuck to the trees. The drive to Burlington yesterday was glorious—the SE sides of the mountains flocked in white. Despite the reduced hours of light this time of year—less than two weeks to Solstice—there is so much potential for seeing and photographing. Snow changes color with the light. The low sun results in long shadows and softer light. The moon, now roughly following the position of the summer sun, is higher and longer in the sky. Frost, new ice, snow texture—all things I can’t imagine doing without.
Working in winter can be tricky. It was a delicate dance when I found this leaf outlined in hoar frost or rime several winters ago. As I got close enough to see the detail and the background I wanted, I knew if I exhaled the 1″ long crystals would instantly melt! I made several images, holding my breath each time as I stood on tip toe and stretched like a contortionist. One of my favorite photographer scientists is Kenneth Libbrecht of Caltech—you must see his amazing work at Snowcrystals.com
While the larger natural world often seems so stable, the one I so often blithely trudge through clearly is not! Now we are finding we humans have begun to melt not just small crystals of rime but 10,000-year old glaciers and thousands of square miles of sea ice. My “seeing” seems inadequate to the challenge of understanding the new world looming before us.
Hoar frost on a Northern Red Oak leaf
Still Learning To See 