"Ghost Leaves"

These are down from the State Park in Issy. The back sides of leaves gather moisture more than the front, and these leaves were under a fairly thick layer of ice. There had been enough rain and humidity before the freeze that the moisture on the backsides of the leaves froze, and then the ice formed over them, making them look like "ghost leaves". I thought it was really interesting to see white-upon-white in the ice.

Snow Crystal

This is a close-up of some ice fringe formed over a puddle. I couldn't believe the structure in the crystals, and the bubbles behind it, under the ice, were the perfect backdrop. Isn't nature amazing? God has provided us so many incredibly beautiful things in this world.

Ice Abstracts

WARNING! LOTS of photos in this post. When I was out with ML the other day, we became entranced with the abstract patterns that form in the ice in puddles. Here are several (and I do mean several) shots of the patterns and shapes and swirls and curves and lines and angles that are in lowly puddles underfoot.

Ice wrinkles and bubbles

Unbelievably, it is STILL cold! Some of the snow has melted, but it is still cold and the ice on our pond is still there. Went out the other day to capture some of the wrinkles in the ice and some of the air bubbles caught under the ice. I love the abstract designs that develop (more on those later...) I am loving this weather! So many gorgeous things out there to see!!

Snow at the Mill Pond

ML and I went out shooting early last week after our newest snow, and stopped by the mill pond. It was frozen over, and the sun was just starting to warm up the sky, and everything was covered with our soft, fluffy, DRY snow (since when do we get dry snow??).

This is the far side of the pond. Actually looks like a view from up at the Pass, doesn't it?

What a difference....

...one day and a little sunshine makes. Took these at the Falls after our recent snow; the first one on a cloudy gray morning with lots of mist being kicked up by the Falls, and this one a day later when the sun was breaking through the mist.
This was a few weeks earlier, from a different vantage point. I really wanted to get the contrast of the red berries in there.

Winter Leaves

I got so excited when I saw all the wonderful neutral colors in these fallen leaves. Some of them were actually gray! I went a little nuts, but with all the texture and color going on, I couldn't help myself.

Love these that are caught under ice, and the bubbles and air pockets.

This one brave leaf managed to escape being caught under the ice, like the larger one. The ice was on a sidewalk, so was really bumpy. There's been just enough melting going on during the day to turn the ice into slush, and when the slush freezes overnight, the resulting ice is rough.

Ice Drops

We don't get ice very often, so when we had some a few weeks ago I went out with my camera to see what I could find. What fun!

I am really intrigued with the way the ice fractures show up in the drops. They almost look metallic and abstract, not ice at all.

This was on a branch, and the whorls and textures in the ice are amazing. The large section on the left side, if you turn it upside down, looks like Santa. See his eyes, his bald head, that beard?

Taken with my Sony P&S, so the bokeh isn't as smooth as I would like, but I do like the reflection I have in the drop on the left--a little melting going on there...

Snow at Rattlesnake Lake

There was enough snow last night, and low enough, that the snow level was all the way down to Rattlesnake Lake. ML and I went out this morning before everything started melting and got a little bit of winter. It was great walking through the snow, hearing it squeak, and seeing everything weighted down with white. The weather was really changeable--lots of cloud cover, but sun peeking through occasionally, so I tried to capture some of the moodiness of the Ledge during the changes.