A day, lit differently, than the last.
Photographs of surface reflections on moving water from the series Surface, Submerge.
© Karen McRae, 2013
environment
Open Water
The ephemeral beauty of open water and very cold temperatures.
Water vapour rising and coating the nearby flora in thick frost.
Even the ice, struggling to form at the fringes, finds the air so cold it has coaxed downy feathers to grow on its surface for keeping warm.
Of course, there are more interesting and scientific explanations…here and here…
© Karen McRae, 2013
Sugar Coated
A sugar-coated day never lasts long. The ices are responsive to the day.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Tiny Transitions
There are more “mosaic” seed heads (see previous entry) I think I might post but this icy flower image was taken a day later – the day after the freezing rain. The temperature had dropped significantly and that made things look quite different.
The ice is shaped by these fluctuations.
A tiny world of rapid change.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Lily Pad Land
This is an in-camera double exposure (digital) I had made this past summer in the middle of drought. The water was so low the lily pads were wilting on dry land. I just came across this image when I was looking for a reference for something I am painting and I was struck by the environmental extremes that we all seem to be experiencing.
(Click on the image for a larger view)
© Karen McRae, 2012
A Slipping-by Surface
There is a path of crepe paper leaves that brings you here to this creek. The air is filled with the sound of small waterfalls and the earthy smell of an autumn afternoon.
As I am watching the water ripple by, several things cross my mind.
I am reminded of a recurring childhood dream where images slide by at a slowed-down-film-strip pace, a pace that seems to match this water.
Slow undercurrents and a slipping-by surface.
As I make small adjustments in the lens the surface shifts in and out of focus. I think of a very old book on my shelf that is covered in time-worn marbled paper, marbled somewhat like the reflections the trees are drawing on the water.
Where you focus changes everything.
I pass by a small child, he has just crossed the creek by way of a big log and he warns me of the dangers. He is bright-eyed and grinning broadly.
It is always good to meet a kindred spirit.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Molten
~ The liquid between 2 cities. ~
© Karen McRae, 2012
Sigh
There are trees falling in the “forest”, and I can hear them…
© Karen McRae, 2012
The Silence In Between
It looks so quiet here at this wide natural part of the river.
But the silence here has interruptions.
There is often intermittent popping of gunfire from the nearby rifle range and this makes the silent pauses in between more distinct, more remarkably still.
It’s as though the landscape holds its breath.
It seems if you spend enough time here, those sounds somehow become part of the wide space. The haphazard rhythm its own sort of meditation.
How can this be?
Shirley’s Bay, Ottawa River
All images © Karen McRae, 2012
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