One Foggy Morning

A thin grey fog hung over the trees and my world was not the same. I've walked this land hundreds of times before. Nothing had changed, but on a foggy morning I experienced it in a new way. Through the excessive moisture in the the air I saw the world differently.

Different and a little creepy because everywhere I turned I saw spider webs. I was amazed at the thousands hanging from trees, in bushes, and even on the ground.

Among the prickly needles on the cedar tree hung silken threads and water drops.

The sticky threads, looped from branch to branch reminding me of a Christmas tree decorated with silver tinsel.

Did you know there are several types of spider webs and many spiders are classified by the webs they weave? There are spiral orb webs, tangle webs, funnel webs, tubular webs, and sheet webs. I think I saw them all!!

The one below made me smile. It looked like a fishing pole and the fisherman had gotten his line all tangled.

At least with the moisture from the fog I could see the webs. On normal days I can't see them and I'm always walking into one. I cringe when I feel those sticky threads on me and wonder where is the spider? I know he's nearby, sitting, and waiting for his next meal.

If this doesn’t creep you out and give you chill bumps, the next time you see a spider web, stop and look at it carefully. Be amazed at the intricately designed work of art and engineering by such a little creature.

"Sometimes it looks like I'm dancing,

but it's just that I walked into a spider web."

~ Demetri Martin

The Rest Of The Story

When I say I'm going to do something, I try very hard to do it. Only sometimes it takes me a while! Last month I posted about our family trip at Thanksgiving. At the end I said, "There's just so much I want to share about our week. I'll be back with a few more nature details as soon as I'm able."  Well, it seems it took me a long time to be able! I was honestly going to post a couple of days later, but it's been over 40 days! I'll just blame that on Christmas!

Each morning I would head out on the deck. taking in the beauty of the mountains and valleys. The sunrises were gorgeous, but so was the foggy, rainy morning. The weather didn't stop us, we headed out no matter what.

We had planned several hikes for the week. I was excited because a couple of the trails had waterfalls. There are several waterfalls in Arkansas, but many of them are difficult to reach or on private land. In this area of the Ozark Mountains there are a few that the inexperienced hiker can reach. The first waterfall we saw was "The Glory Hole." This waterfall is one of most famous waterfalls in Arkansas. Dismal Creek runs through the area and over time the water has worn a hole right through the top of a huge cave cascading to the cave floor.

You can walk into the cave behind the waterfall, sit on the rocks, and enjoy the beauty and sounds of nature.

The second waterfall we hiked to was on the Lost Valley Trail. The trail leads to Eden Falls, a 53-foot tall waterfall. Pictures don't do it justice. It's a long way down to the pool below.

The Buffalo River which runs through the area is a favorite spot for canoeing. It's a breathtaking area with massive towering bluffs that are so colorful.

The upper river valley is home to the Arkansas elk herd. The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission made an agreement with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources in 1980 to trade Arkansas large mouth bass for Rocky Mountain Elk. Now there is an estimated 650+ elk in this area.

They are massive animals, standing up to five feet high at the shoulder and weighing from 600 to 1000 pounds. We were fortunate to hear the bugle calls from a couple of big bucks. It's such a lonely, haunting sound. The bugle starts low and throaty, rising to a high whistle, then dropping to a grunt. It's not an easy sound to imitate. My grandsons and I tried. We weren't very good and our bugling was interrupted with giggles! If you'd like to hear an elk Yellowstone has a website where you can listen to their calls. It will really surprise you what they sound like! 

I'll move on quickly because this is getting rather long. There were some very old homesteads in the area that we were able to wander around. This homestead had a cabin, a root cellar,  a barn, and even an outhouse.

There's a sign by the outhouse which reads

Uncle Sam's Gift

The Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) came out to the Ozarks to improved daily living. Farmers asked for a new federally designed, pre-cast-concrete-floored privy." The advertisement read "Your home is not complete without a sanitary unit. Recommended by the State Department of Public Health."

I don't know how many of you have ever used an outhouse. I'm telling my age, but I have and I don't care if they have wood floors or concrete floors there's nothing sanitary about them!

We had such a great time wandering through the Ozarks and along the Buffalo River. I was reminded again just how beautiful Arkansas is.

Again forgive the delay in posting the rest of the story. I'll try to either not promise or be more prompt next time!

Sunday Sundries - Edition 45 - Snow and Fog

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."

~ Henry David Thoreau

Sunday Sundries - Edition 36

"Fog is rain that whispers."

~ Olivia Dresher

Change Is Good!

A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.
Marcel Proust
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/weather.html#Ji10fPWGPb3EEIbY.99

A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.
Marcel Proust
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/weather.html#Ji10fPWGPb3EEIbY.99

A change in the weather

is sufficient to recreate

the world and ourselves.

          ~ Marcel Proust

 

 

Those words have never been truer than they were this past week. Our weather was simply unbelievable. It's not always a good thing to talk about the weather. That can actually get rather boring, but trust me, this week's weather was anything but boring and it was fantastic for photography.

 

Wednesday dawned with a cold north wind blowing and temperatures in the low 20's. By afternoon freezing rain had begun to fall. The drops on this leaf even outshined the red berries!

 

 

 

Rain turned quickly to sleet and ice began to accumulate on the trees and bushes. Considering how dangerous ice can be, we were fortunate. This was a light coating of ice, the roads were mostly passable, and we kept our power. It was the perfect conditions for finding a few ice creations, which are always beautiful. This looks like a leaf made of ice, but there's really a leaf buried in there somewhere!

 

 

 

These little berries, on just a plain old hedge, were amazing. I love the way this one seems to be peeking our of it's ice coat to see what's going on!

 

I think my favorite berries to photograph were the dogwood berries.

 

 

By Friday the temperatures had begun to rise melting the ice and creating dense fog.

 

 

 

We climbed to the low 50's by afternoon. That was 40 degrees warmer than Monday and Tuesday. I went for a lovely walk in the misting rain. Believe it or not, I was wearing a short sleeve shirt. That was quite a change from the insulated underwear and multiple pairs of socks I wore the day before!

A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.
Marcel Proust
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/weather.html#Ji10fPWGPb3EEIbY.99

 

Saturday brought a beautiful, sunny day with temps in the mid 60's.

 

 

 

Our weather man gave the weekend a "10" on the weather scale. It was perfect!  A little muddy from all the rain, but I didn't mind sloshing around in the mud!

 

 

I think I'll stick around and see what kind of weather we have this week. I believe it's supposed to be warm and sunny Monday and Tuesday. I'm already planning where my camera and I will go.

 

I hope that wherever you are and whatever the weather is, you'll take a few minutes to enjoy it.

Walk and Click Wednesday ~ February 6, 2013

 

Every morning when I get up the first thing I do is open the blinds over the kitchen sink and see what the weather looks like. What I saw yesterday would probably make most people groan and just want to crawl back in bed with a good book. We were surrounded be a thick blanket of fog, drippy wet fog! That’s perfect for me, I do love fog. I seem very unusual in how I like my weather. I like fog, rain, snow, and preferable below 60 degrees. I know, I know!! It’s weird!

 

On with the story! I quickly ate breakfast, dressed, jumped into my rain boots and a sweater and took off outside with my camera. There’s just something moody and mysterious about fog. The stillness closes in around me and the only sounds I hear are drips of water falling off the trees and the morning song birds. The sounds relax me and refresh me.

 

Our property backs up to a very large wooded area that gives me plenty of tramping grounds and never gets boring! At the very edge of our property is an old railroad bed including a trestle. I love to watch the water flow under the trestle. This is where the creek is the deepest. Sometimes I don’t make it very far in my walks. Sometimes I just sit and listen to the babbling water and watch it’s flow. I’ll tell a little story about the railroad trestle. I grew up just two house away from where I now live, so I've lived in this area since I was about ten. In the old days when the trains ran along this track, my friend and I used to dare each other to stay under the trestle when the train passed over. Pretty scary for two little girls. It creaked and moaned and gravel would sometimes fall through holes between the cross ties. Don't tell my Mom, I'm not sure she knows this!!

 

 

On the other side of the railroad bed a creek with moss covered banks meanders and twists through the woods. When I walk, schedules, or to-do lists never enter my mind. I just breath deep, inhale the earth’s damp smell, and relax.

 

 

I’m always gasping at the little things I see like this spider’s web covered with water droplets. As soon as I tried to get some pictures I knew I’d have to come back when the sun broke through the fog and before it dried up the drops of water. I wasn’t disappointed! The water drops shimmered like diamonds!

 

 

More than anything else, when I walk in the woods I’m filled with awe at the beauty of God’s creation.

 

Exploring With a Camera ~ Artistic Blur

This has been the most inspiring and fun photography week that I've had in a while!  I've been getting outside and trying new things as I photograph nature. If you have a minute and haven't already seen my last post, I'd love to have you read about the fun I had shooting Nature and Water Abstracts. I mentioned in that post that Kat at Kat Eye Studio had been one of the inspirations for the project. She has been using her iPhone apps to creative images with artistic blur. In this month's Exploring With A Camera she has challenged us to shoot blurry photos. You read that right, blurry!!  Blurry is not always bad, it can lead to some amazing photos. It's like painting with a camera.

 

There are several ways to achieve blur; looking through something, out of focus shots, camera movement, or  reflections. All of these photos are pretty much straight out of the camera. I did adjust the contrast a little and did some cropping. Next month Kat is going to show us how to use some post-editing to achieve artist blur.

I thought it would be fun to try several of Kat's suggestions. I started with LOOKING THROUGH something. I found there are lots of ways to do this.

 

This image was taken looking through water. The white squiggly lines are the sun's reflection.

Looking through fog creates a mysterious blur.

 

I even taped a piece of plastic over the lens and took this picture of silk flowers. I liked the soft look it gave them! 

This one is one of my favorites. I'll try to explain how I took it. I am looking through the blades of a whirling windmill. I  overexposed this to get the washed out look. I was quite surprised at the image it created.

Next, I tried taking a photo slightly out of focus.

This was the hardest one to create!  It was hard to not cross the line and be too out of focus or look like a blurry mistake! I do like all the pretty bokeh it created!

 

Long shutter speeds and camera movement is also another way to get blur, but it's a little tricky, too. Too little movement and it just looks like a bad photo; too much and it's a mess.

On this one I tried to focus on the gumball and slightly rotate the camera. I never got the image I wanted. I wanted the gumball a little more in focus, but I just couldn't get it!

,

One evening this week we had the most gorgeous sunset. The lower part of the sky looked like it was on fire!  To obtain the blur, I barely moved the camera in an up motion.

I used the same procedure here only I moved the camera slightly to the right. I was surprised when I ran across this dandelion blooming in the middle of winter!

And lastly, reflections in water make beautiful artistic blur.

I focused on the reflection, leaving real life completely out of the picture. I rotated this image, it's actually upside down.

 

It was a fun learning experience and one I'll be repeating more often. I'm a little addicted to this!!

 

 

 

There's still plenty of time for you hop over to Kat's blog, read her artistic blur post, grab your camera, and give it a try. If you do, please be sure to link up to her post so we all can enjoy your images!