Saturday, February 23, 2008

An Icy Evening Brings a Beautiful Saturday

Yesterday and last evening we had freezing rain, and a glaze of ice covered the landscape.

Almost an amazing shot- If only the squirrel were in focus! I'll get him next time. This is the melanistic squirrel that I've posted on before.

After the ice glaze, a dusting of snow covered the ice, making an interesting surface for impressions of animal tracks.

An icy Aster pilosus

I made my way down to Kenney Park, which is adjacent to our house. These tracks led up from the muddy Olentangy River. Any guesses?

The ice glaze was beautiful when backlit by the sun.

And with the high waters of the Olentangy coupled with freezing temperatures come fascinating natural ice sculptures.




A muddy overflow channel, rendered black and white.

Drip drops.


Feathers. There were ten or so of these, on the ice of a puddle adjacent to the river. I wonder what happened?



The clear waters of the overflow channels contrasted greatly with the muddy river.

A stand of sycamores.

The dappled bark of a young sycamore.

I hope to see images like this in two weeks when Megan and I travel to Sanibel Island, Florida. I just hope there will be no snow!


And here is to a bright, blue sky day. Winter, you are still here, but the birds are calling, spring will be here soon.

Tom

19 comments:

  1. Wow...those were fantastic photos. Just when I thought...wow...that's amazing, I'd scroll down and see something amazing again!

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  2. Tom, such amazing ice photos that you captured! Be safe with weather like that!

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  3. great photos, but wait... where's all the deer?

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  4. Wow, glad I decieded to drop by, great shots, love the squirrel,lol.

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  5. Drowsey- Thank you. I love taking pictures of ice sculptures like these. They are great fun.

    Tom- Yeah, it was dangerous. Not to mention that I was near the very cold, fast moving water of the river.

    Editor- There are deer there. I have pictures of a nice urban buck from September. Nothing visible today though.

    Bob- Thank you. Please stop back whenever you would like!

    Tom

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  6. I love your keen eye as you observe the beautiful wonders of nature around you. The ice sculptures were fantastic to look at. Such simple things, that most don't even notice or pass over quickly, you have made them into works of art. I loved them, but BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! No falling in those icy waters!
    mom

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  7. Maybe those tracks are raccoons... Beautiful eye for ice. :-)

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  8. All the pictures are so lovely, even if they're cold! There's no scale next to the tracks, but I'd guess raccoon or opposum. Have fun in Florida!

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  9. Amazing pictures Tom! LOL at the squirrel jumping in mid-air, that's really funny...I give him a 10.
    I also love the black and white picture, very dramatic. Great job!
    Not sure who the tracks belong to, was that a tail mark in the first pic? Opossum?

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  10. I love seeing the abstract beauty of nature. You captured it well witht he ice photos

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  11. What beautiful ice shots. I love the sycamore bark. It's always been a favorite tree of mine, but alas, we don't have one at Our Little Acre.
    I'm guessing the tracks in the snow belong to a raccoon! We see them a lot here.

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  12. It's fun sitting here in Africa where I have recently been photographing cheetah and lion prints in the scorching sand and comparing with your snowy footprints and icy landscapes...nature's variety never ceases to amaze...
    Tanya

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  13. Mom- I'll be careful. Megan keeps track of me.

    Megan, my gut feeling was raccoon. I though opossum, but after looking at their tracks which often have an opposable thumb print that these lack, I'm thinking raccoon all the way.

    Lana- Thank you. I can't wait to photograph the nature of Florida!

    Chris- I'm thinking that it could have been a tail mark, so I was wondering about an opossum, but after looking at some diagrams online, I believe I saw the tracks of a raccoon. Posting the black and white image was an accident! I made it black and white in Digital Photo Professional, but my original intent was to export it as a color image. Thanks for picking that one out, I think it works in black and white. I was so disappointed that the squirrel shot wasn't in focus!

    Toni- I really enjoy taking this kind of photographs. To me, they are fairly unique and I really haven't seen many others capture images like this either using film or digital. I must say, I'll miss the winter ice.

    Hi Kylee- Yes, sycamores are fantastic trees. Their fruits, aka "monkeyballs" also make for interesting photographs. They are dirt common in lowlands here in Ohio and love stream sides. Also a great tree to identify at 65 mph!

    Tanya- Thank you. I try to immerse myself in your world when I visit your blog. I could not think of a more interesting contrast. We do both live near a river! Just thousands of miles apart. Nature is amazing!

    Tom

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  14. Oh my goodness, your ice photos are so cool!

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  15. Amazing photos. Wonderful!

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  16. 2sweet-

    Thank you very much!

    Tom

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  17. Of orchids and ice and everything nice - stunning pics Tom. Worth waiting for as I've been out of reach of the internet. You have a real eye for beauty. Enjoyed both post immensely.

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  18. TR-

    Thank you very much! Your comments are much appreciated, I'm glad that you are enjoying my photography. Enjoy your journey!

    Tom

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