1212_0980 Juniper Roots
A simple abstraction on a winter hoarfrost morning a decade ago. I was shooting with my first full frame sensor camera, the Nikon D800; I'd had it for a month and was enthralled with the detail it could deliver.
Although I do my share of complaining about winter - mainly that it goes on too long - its graphic qualities are amazing. In any other season, this shot would not be possible. Hidden under the snow are dry, brittle, broken grasses, leaf debris, pebbles including broken shale from the prehistoric, inland Bearpaw Sea, bits of windblown fluff including feathers and dandelion-like seeds, and more of the juniper roots themselves: in short, a riot of shapes in a chaotic jumble. Oh, and double the confusion by adding the shadow cast by each of these objects on a sunny day.
Instead, all of that is covered up and smoothed over by the snowy cloak of early winter. Note that early winter - December - is when I tend to get my best winter photos. There is a tapering off of enthusiasm as it grinds into January and February.
I don't recall whether I saw the potential for black and white while setting up this shot. I used my tripod to guarantee sharpness and give myself full freedom of f-stop and shutter speed (as with the two previous images in this set).
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2012 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
1212_0980 Juniper Roots
A simple abstraction on a winter hoarfrost morning a decade ago. I was shooting with my first full frame sensor camera, the Nikon D800; I'd had it for a month and was enthralled with the detail it could deliver.
Although I do my share of complaining about winter - mainly that it goes on too long - its graphic qualities are amazing. In any other season, this shot would not be possible. Hidden under the snow are dry, brittle, broken grasses, leaf debris, pebbles including broken shale from the prehistoric, inland Bearpaw Sea, bits of windblown fluff including feathers and dandelion-like seeds, and more of the juniper roots themselves: in short, a riot of shapes in a chaotic jumble. Oh, and double the confusion by adding the shadow cast by each of these objects on a sunny day.
Instead, all of that is covered up and smoothed over by the snowy cloak of early winter. Note that early winter - December - is when I tend to get my best winter photos. There is a tapering off of enthusiasm as it grinds into January and February.
I don't recall whether I saw the potential for black and white while setting up this shot. I used my tripod to guarantee sharpness and give myself full freedom of f-stop and shutter speed (as with the two previous images in this set).
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2012 James R. Page - all rights reserved.