On a bright, warm winter day I found myself in the company of white giants reaching for the deep blue sky. It was about 60 degrees fahrenheit but the naked sycamores and the hard light reminded me not to get used to the weather.
James River Beach Still Life
Natural objects on the shore the James River, near Richmond, VA.
Ripples And Pebbles
I wanted to capture contrasts in this image. The bright sunlight filling the upper right corner of the frame versus the dark shadows of the stones. There’s also the serene, softly moving ripples on the water contrasting with the smooth but fixed and solid stones.
Sometimes we can find our duality in the simplest places. Without hard there is no soft. Without bright there is no dark.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadowed
Several Anhingas rest on an old wooden structure in the middle of the James River, near Richmond, VA. The hard winter light created a silhouette effect.
Mallard on the James
Goldfinch in Sycamore
This gold finch, in winter plumage, was feasting on the seeds of a sycamore tree near the James River. It was rather far away and very high up in the tree but I was able to zoom in and crop the photo to produce this image.
Landing Zone
Animal tracks always catch my attention but they aren’t always very photogenic. These bird prints were on a beach along the James River. It would be impossible to identify the type of bird that left them but the deeper, wider prints in the foreground indicate the bird landed here and then hopped along the beach before taking flight. The early morning sun provided enough shade within the prints to make them stand out in the photo.
Weekly Photo Challege: Up
I watched these tundra swans paddle around in the water for a while and hoped they would take flight. When they finally did I was able to capture a few photos.
American Coots
The American Coot is a rather funny looking bird. They break the old rule that says “if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it must be a duck”. They are actually more closely related to rails and cranes. When you get a good look at their feet, which are not webbed, you realize they must not be ducks.
King of the Mud Puddle
Walking in a park near the James River on spring afternoon, I stopped to see if there might be anything interesting in a large puddle adjacent to a small pond. Sitting, quietly a few feet from the trail was this red toad. It remained so motionless as I photographed it, I began to think it might be a toy frog somebody put there as a joke.