Melting Icicle

photograph of a drop of water dripping from an icicle

Earlier this month I visited Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  Nearly all the west facing rocks had large icicle formations on them.  On my way out of the park I decided to stop and get some photos of the icicles.  Since it had been above freezing they were all slowly melting.

Seed Pod

photograph of a seed podI can’t identify the plant which produced this seed pod but I can confidently say it wasn’t a dandelion.  It was low, leggy bush with dried up leaves when I took this photo in November.  Regardless of my ignorance, I thought the plant’s seed pod was worthy of a close up photo.

Jones Run Cascade

photograph of a cascade along Jones Run in Shenandoah National ParkThis cascade along Jones Run in Shenandoah National Park provided an interesting photographic experience.  My friend was smart enough to stay at the top.  Despite my better judgement I decided to hike down a little farther from the trail.  Just as I was thinking I needed to be careful on the leaves and wet rocks, I stepped on a patch of wet moss covering a large, flat downward sloping stone.  As the moss gave way I began sliding down the rock face, watching my camera bounce off the stones beneath me and hoping I would be able to stop myself.  Fortunately my slide came to an end before I got to the actual waterfall, about 6 feet beyond the point from which I took this picture.

Forest Still Life

photograph of fallen bark, leaves and stones on the forest floorDuring a hike I noticed this piece of bark resting on stones by the side of the trail.  I was initially intrigued by the texture and patterns in the bark itself.  My first thought was to get a close up of the texture but when I noticed the bark was sitting between two shadows I thought it made for an interesting forest still life.