Frozen Gold

These two little leaves stuck out at me this past week from a beautiful beech while walking in the woods near our home. I like that Beeches unlike most other deciduous trees, keep their dead leaves through the winter only to push them out in the spring with the new growth. In doing so, their now golden colored foliage adds so much to a normally much more drab wintertime woods. I am glad i found this one and these two little leaves to brighten my day.

eyes without color

On this winter day....I am once again reminded that in the shorter days, allot of our vision is reduced to monochromatic landscapes. This image (shot literally out of my car window while on the way in to work) is a good example. A cool scene, but warm in a sense in the quietness and serenity of a woodland stream.

As light as air itself

O.K. Back to winter! After a mini snowfall and a larger on the way, I am continuing with the winter pics. This one , shot a few weeks ago in the very last light of the day, I took at the edge of our pond as some ornamental grasses were letting go of their seedlings. The wind was blowing oh so slightly but enough to throw them in and out of my razor thin depth of field focus. It took several tries in trying to catch the right balance of sharp and blurry and I really liked the color contrasts of the cool winter sky and the last rays lighting these delicate branches and wispy, airy parachutes.

The fast colors of life

As a break for the sporadic mini winter series, here is something warm to think about.
These two images from the Bahamas taken while out on my brother-in-law Steven's boat bring back memories of a great day out on the water with he and my son. We were set up to troll for Dolphin fish (or Mahi Mahi as some might know them), which provides for a very tasty meal. As they are largely surface dwellers and swim in schools, when you get into them it is a fascinating event. Although not a shapely, sleek looking fish like a barracuda, the coloration that they exhibit is nothing short of stunning. The almost neon like glow of their bodies while they swim by the boat is incredible and because of this, we were able to see them underwater at a good distance and depth. Once they are caught, they almost seem to flash in changing color right before your eyes. The most curious part of it though is that within seconds of their death, the vibrant colors leaves their body immediately, revealing behind mostly mute yellows and browns.It is a very dramatic change.Although as you can see here, the skin is still fascinating in that there are hints of it's former boldness, it is nothing in comparison to what it was just moments before.The particular one here was heartily enjoyed over several meals with family during a special time away prepared simply as pan seared with wonderful Irish sweet butter.