Crowdfunded Photos: More Snow for Xjenavivex
xjenavivex was sufficiently charmed by my sample photos of snow and ice and then the first crowdfunded batch that she requested more, this time with an emphasis on trees and shadows. The first is from the 2-3-11 shoot; the rest are from 2-4-11 when I shot in a different part of the yard. Full-size images appear in my LJ scrapbook gallery.
Shot on 2-3-11, this picture looks northeast over our yard. You can see a mulberry tree (left) and a black walnut tree (right) bracketing the orchard of apple, cherry, and pear in the background. The little tree front and center is a golden raintree. The vivid blue sky also shows up nicely.
On 2-4-11, I wanted to shoot in the ritual meadow, but snow and ice had draped many slim branches across the south entrance. This is the view looking eastward into the meadow.
Then I went down to the prairie garden. This is a mid-range view taken near the eastern end, looking out over the prairie. A blanket of snow covers the dried stems of grasses, thistle, burdock, frost aster, goldenrod, and milkweed. There are a few animal tracks left of center if you look very closely.
A closer view of the prairie garden emphasies the sparkling slopes of snow as they drape around the weeds in long skeins of shadow and light.
I love detail shots like this. Here is a closeup of a single weed stem sticking above a drift. Note that when snow is drifting, it tends to pile up around the least little obstacle.
The small grove of maple saplings bent nearly flat under the weight of ice. This view catches the play of sun and shadows among the trees, shot looking northwest over the prairie garden.
Near the northwest corner, I found another sapling and some weeds arched to the ground by ice. Under them the snow ripples softly. The field in the background shows corn stubble poking through the snow.
This is a wide view of the prairie garden in winter, shot from the road looking eastward over the prairie. The sun in the south is casting long blue shadows over the snow through the trees lining the southern edge of the prairie.
Here is a richly sculptured cluster of snowdrifts at the base of a spruce tree. It's part of the Midwinter Grove along the north edge of our driveway; this one is near the road. Evergreens catch the wind and spill snow in the lee of the branches ... regrettably positioned, as I said, at the north edge of our driveway. Pretty to look at, heavy to shovel.
While I was busy with my camera, a cardinal landed in a nearby tree. You can tell he's apprehensive because his little crest is folded flat to his head. I only had time to snap one picture before he noticed me and scrammed, but I'm very pleased with the result.
