Colors of Nature’s Winter Drama When There Is No Snow

The above photo taken last week at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio is called “Cattails and Maples at the Apple Orchard” and carries on another wintertime tradition of mine involving adding color to the season in the absence of snow.

Small scraggly magenta apple trees and looming dark maples reach into a blue ethereal evening while cattails stand softly attentive like spun gold straw in a fairy tale awaiting the arrival of a hero.

Below is the original photo.

This version is rather ghostly, a washed-out web of lines of twilight time.

Winter Sunset at the Dreamkeeper Pond

Cattails like paint brushes reach up through evening glimpses of muted light and cold color towards a charcoal watercolor sky.



Cattails along the ice-covered Dreamkeeper Pond bask in the last falling rays of an evenstar.



A magnificent ending.

These three photos were all taken on the same day at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio.

Being a landscape photographer in Northeast Ohio can mean standing for a whole hour in mud that cakes around your boots up to your ankles, wind that keeps blowing the hood back on your winter jacket, and cold that seeps through your gloves to numb your fingers. Meanwhile, your heart and mind are alive with the surrounding beauty.

What sort of challenging weather do you come across when you go out to take nature or landscape photos? Do you make any special preparations for weather conditions? Do you enjoy the many moods of the great outdoors? What are your favorite weather conditions for enjoying nature?

You are welcome to comment and share your feelings.

Transforming Ice, Water, Mud, Sunlight, and a Twig into Modern Art

The above photo taken yesterday at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio is called “Mineral Water” and carries on a wintertime tradition of mine involving the creation of abstract art by using an ice-covered pond for inspiration.

It can be quite a challenge in Northeast Ohio to get decent sunset photos during the winter. The weather tends to be so overcast that there’s even a local folk song the gist of which describes Cleveland as the land of “a hundred shades of gray.”

Yesterday, when the sun finally came out and the clouds were magnificent dramatic billows in the sky, was a cause for celebration. So what caught the attention of my camera? The humble muddy edge of an ice-covered pond with an embedded twig and weak sunlight playing across the surface. Awesome!

Below is the original photo.

With the help of Photoshop, nature can become surreal to the point of unrecognizability and abstract to the point of one’s own imagination.

Question for Readers: Have you ever used nature photography as a starting point to create fantastic, otherworldly, surreal, or abstract effects? Please feel welcome to describe your venture from nature photography into art, or alternatively, your preference for realistic nature scenes.

In a Peaceful Valley

The above photo titled "Five Deer in February" shows a peaceful Sunday breakfast in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. This was taken in 2008.

One of my favorite places in the world is a Bed & Breakfast called Painted Valley Farm. Every year I try to visit. Every season is a good season. In the spring and fall, it feels like you are actually walking around inside of ... and in fact are part of ... a living breathing oil painting. Winter brings a peaceful hush of snow, or a haunted hush of the past, or a day of staying inside surrounded by quilts and cozy cats for company. Summer is filled with friends, neighbors, and kinfolk around a birthday bonfire / hot dog roast with homemade vanilla goat's milk ice cream, laughs, and tall tales. All seasons are filled with photographers and birdwatchers.

This view of the feeding deer was what I woke up to just outside my window a year ago.

For anyone planning to travel to Southern Ohio, here's a link to Painted Valley Farm:

http://www.hockinghills.com/paintedvalley/

Question for Readers: Where is your favorite place of peace or inspiration or exhilaration out in nature? A restful retreat? A well-beloved Bed and Breakfast? Please feel welcome to post a comment and share a place where treasured memories and dreams are to be had.

Welcome to Country Corner

The above photograph is called "Valley Barn" and was taken in the Hocking Hills of Ohio on a gorgeous May morning.

I'm a photographer who loves the landscapes and nature of Ohio. Amish Country, the Hocking Hills, and Kelleys Island draw me to visit again and again. I also love creating fine art effects in Photoshop with an abstract or surreal flair.

The above paragraph doubles as both my blog introduction and my artist’s statement. At least for now.

This past August, I had a lot of fun participating in the Kelleys Island Art Show. (Even when the card table I had lugged from the mainland fell apart!)

Three of my photographs were on display in December of 2008 at the Market Street Art Center in Lockport, New York as part of an exhibit called "Off the Walls."

In this blog I look forward to featuring Flickr photographers and Etsy artisans who handcraft everything from soap to jewelry. I’ll be sharing my own thoughts, feelings, and sometimes zany adventures … along with a special focus on landscape, nature, and fine art photography. I’ll share links that I’ve found helpful or enjoyable. And I’ll invite you to share your opinions.

See y’all next time.

Living in the suburbs, dreaming of the country,

~~ CountryDreaming