As I’m still feeling quite under the weather (in fact, yours truly is waiting for one of her doctors to call!) I do hope you do not mind more photos of Dawes, since I have not felt up to much else—though of course several good post ideas presented themselves to me in the past few days—isn’t that always the way? Fear not, they’re written down!
The top photograph in this post has proven to be quite popular, with over 3,000 views since I posted it Wednesday night (this morning it had only 1,800!). This is encouraging, because the way the roots of the fallen tree seemed to be reaching out really captured my imagination, resulting in my spending quite a bit of time crouching in the snow to get the photo just right. Based on the response, I must have done! That’s encouraging. What do you think (by the way, a glimpse of my girly wintery woodland-wandering attire is at the end of the post)?
Shadows are something else that almost unfailingly capture my attention; throw in glowing golden beech leaves and I simply cannot resist capturing the scene. The path in this photo leads to a little cabin in the woods once used as a vacation spot. Though pathways do not, it must be said, speak to me in quite the same way as an open road—that’s saying something from a woman who grew up traipsing about the woods, isn’t it?!—they’re still compelling.
While at the pharmacy today, I picked up a cute purse-sized notebook in which to write down places I’d like to shoot nearby. Ohio is, yes, farm
No, not an angel, just a photo via my Mac as I sit in front of a window. Hey, I’m sick. Go easy!
country, but there’s a great deal of history here and having a list of things that would be good photographic subjects should serve me well on days when I’m ready to head out and my mind goes blank. The latter happens often—I blame it on being a natural blonde and being limited to one cup of coffee a day (I’m certain quite a few of you gasped in horror at the mere idea of such a limit).
Moreover, Indiana is not too far away, nor my beloved West Virginia, my home state of Michigan, or Kentucky. For a mere $2, this new tool should serve me well; thanks to its size, it should just about always be with me! Also…I’m one of Those People. You know, the sort with a “school supplies” problem? I do love fresh notebooks, pens, pencils, and folders.
Clearly some little critter or family of critters lives in this tree—though as someone pointed out, we probably don’t want to meet them. Not only did the pawprints get my attention, there’s the trunk of that old tree itself, with a halo of more beech leaves right at eye-level. I do love a well-textured tree trunk!
Embracing trees at Dawes
My husband had to point out the above to me, as I was staggering along the bridge battling a bit of vertigo. I suppose in many cases, the park rangers would cut such trees apart, but I’m glad that was not done with this pair. Actually, I considered making it black and white, but doing so seemed to take some of the beauty of the tree trunks themselves away—but Leanne Cole has been posting some really marvellous B&Ws lately, so perhaps I’ll do so anyway and compare side-by-side. Experimentation never hurts!
Finally, as promised, a peek at what I donned for the woods. It was quite cold, it was very snowy, and tree branches are rarely kind to apparel of any sort. And while a glamour girl to the bone, I’m no idiot, preferring to choose wisely to save not just my wardrobe, but especially my person—broken bones or worse (in my book) broken lenses being no fun at all! A trio of denim skirts remain in my wardrobe for just such occasions (also, gardening). Glamour is good, but it’s reputedly difficult with broken limbs or toes missing due to frostbite.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. 😉
Victory Rolls and V8s 