Photos from 2-4-22: The Picturesque Ones
Today is clear and cold, beautiful on the snow and ice left from the last several days. I went outside and spent about 45 minutes taking pictures. A few minutes into the session, a cirrus cloud blew over the sun and I lost the best light. I kept trying. Toward the end, the sun came out again. Oh, now you're just messing with me. I went back to retry some of the earlier pictures, so there's a lot of walking in circles instead of my usual coherent route.
I took a total of 123 pictures. These are the top ten that actually look good in a technical, aesthetic sense. That's 8% of what I took today, which is a lot lower than my usual. I also took several times as many pictures as I typically do, because I couldn't see what I was doing half the time and the light kept changing. Still, I'm quite pleased with these.
There are so many photos, so jumbled out of order, that I decided to sort the usable ones by quality and topic. I'm posting the best set first. I don't know if I'll have time or energy to do more, so I wanted to share these for sure. Also I had to count them to tell which ones I wanted to upload, and I decided to include those notes so you can see how the good pictures spread out in the batch.
Row 3 Picture 3 Icicles
These icicles hang on the south side of the house, above the glass room.
Row 4 Picture 1 Snowy Weed
Small clumps of snow clings to a tall weed. Much of the yard is like this, with fluffy snow hanging on the branches like blobs of icing.
Row 11 Picture 5 Milkweed Vine
A milkweed vine clings to the west edge of the forest yard facing the street. I didn't even know these messy vines were milkweeds until fall when I spotted the seedpods. They are in fact true milkweeds and therefore they host monarch caterpillars. This makes me less inclined to rip them out, since we have fewer upright milkweeds in the prairie garden now. It's mostly goldenrod at present, though the cup plants are spreading. I want as many milkweed species as possible, so I bought Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix from American Meadows, which has 4 species of milkweed along with other wildflowers. But it's nice to see that I alaready have at least 2 species here.
Row 15 Picture 4 Icy Bush
Tiny droplets of ice cling like clear beads to the swirling branches of this bush. This picture is nearly abstract in its complexity and repetition. I really like near-abstract nature pictures.
Row 15 Picture 5 Icy Crabapples
Ice hangs from withered crabapples. These belong to the category of persistent fruit, which means it doesn't drop off. Freeze-and-thaw cycles in winter turn many hard fruits and berries soft and edible. This makes them a precious food source during the cold season when little else is available. Seeing these in late winter indicates a thriving ecosystem where wildlife does not feel compelled to strip everything bare. It means they still have food if they need it. Planting species with persistent fruit will attract birds in winter. Other points of winter interest include evergreens and interesting shapes.
Row 17 Picture 2 Weeds and Tracks
Weeds poke through the snow near tiny tracks. I took many pictures of tracks, but only this one turned out very well. It's hard to identify the smallest tracks, especially when you can't get close enough to see them clearly. This area had a mix of sparrow and mouse tracks. Snow tracks reveal a great deal about wildlife activity in the yard. Here's a discussion of bird tracks.
Row 18 Picture 1 Arc of Ice in Trees
Sunlight arcs along the ice in trees near the street. Much of the ice cladding from the freezing rain has broken off, but some trees still have enough to put on a show.
Row 24 Picture 1 Wide View of Ice in Trees
Ice glitters in trees along the north edge of the prairie garden.
Row 24 Picture 2 Closeup of Ice in Trees
Here is a closer view of the ice on treetops.
Row 24 Picture 5 Ice in Trees and Cloud Rainbow
Ice hangs in the trees below a cloud rainbow. Cirrus clouds are high clouds made of minute ice crystals. Sometimes these refract the light into wispy rainbows, a phenomenon called cloud iridescence or cloud rainbows. I wasn't aiming at this; I could barely see anything through the lens. I only noticed it when I uploaded the pictures. \o/
I took a total of 123 pictures. These are the top ten that actually look good in a technical, aesthetic sense. That's 8% of what I took today, which is a lot lower than my usual. I also took several times as many pictures as I typically do, because I couldn't see what I was doing half the time and the light kept changing. Still, I'm quite pleased with these.
There are so many photos, so jumbled out of order, that I decided to sort the usable ones by quality and topic. I'm posting the best set first. I don't know if I'll have time or energy to do more, so I wanted to share these for sure. Also I had to count them to tell which ones I wanted to upload, and I decided to include those notes so you can see how the good pictures spread out in the batch.
Row 3 Picture 3 Icicles
These icicles hang on the south side of the house, above the glass room.
Row 4 Picture 1 Snowy Weed
Small clumps of snow clings to a tall weed. Much of the yard is like this, with fluffy snow hanging on the branches like blobs of icing.
Row 11 Picture 5 Milkweed Vine
A milkweed vine clings to the west edge of the forest yard facing the street. I didn't even know these messy vines were milkweeds until fall when I spotted the seedpods. They are in fact true milkweeds and therefore they host monarch caterpillars. This makes me less inclined to rip them out, since we have fewer upright milkweeds in the prairie garden now. It's mostly goldenrod at present, though the cup plants are spreading. I want as many milkweed species as possible, so I bought Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix from American Meadows, which has 4 species of milkweed along with other wildflowers. But it's nice to see that I alaready have at least 2 species here.
Row 15 Picture 4 Icy Bush
Tiny droplets of ice cling like clear beads to the swirling branches of this bush. This picture is nearly abstract in its complexity and repetition. I really like near-abstract nature pictures.
Row 15 Picture 5 Icy Crabapples
Ice hangs from withered crabapples. These belong to the category of persistent fruit, which means it doesn't drop off. Freeze-and-thaw cycles in winter turn many hard fruits and berries soft and edible. This makes them a precious food source during the cold season when little else is available. Seeing these in late winter indicates a thriving ecosystem where wildlife does not feel compelled to strip everything bare. It means they still have food if they need it. Planting species with persistent fruit will attract birds in winter. Other points of winter interest include evergreens and interesting shapes.
Row 17 Picture 2 Weeds and Tracks
Weeds poke through the snow near tiny tracks. I took many pictures of tracks, but only this one turned out very well. It's hard to identify the smallest tracks, especially when you can't get close enough to see them clearly. This area had a mix of sparrow and mouse tracks. Snow tracks reveal a great deal about wildlife activity in the yard. Here's a discussion of bird tracks.
Row 18 Picture 1 Arc of Ice in Trees
Sunlight arcs along the ice in trees near the street. Much of the ice cladding from the freezing rain has broken off, but some trees still have enough to put on a show.
Row 24 Picture 1 Wide View of Ice in Trees
Ice glitters in trees along the north edge of the prairie garden.
Row 24 Picture 2 Closeup of Ice in Trees
Here is a closer view of the ice on treetops.
Row 24 Picture 5 Ice in Trees and Cloud Rainbow
Ice hangs in the trees below a cloud rainbow. Cirrus clouds are high clouds made of minute ice crystals. Sometimes these refract the light into wispy rainbows, a phenomenon called cloud iridescence or cloud rainbows. I wasn't aiming at this; I could barely see anything through the lens. I only noticed it when I uploaded the pictures. \o/
