Self portraits with light and shadow, held together with fragments of landscape.
© Karen McRae, 2015
environment
Winter Field ~ Sunflowers
I meant to come here in the summer (and the autumn) to study this field of sunflowers in full bloom but here I am only managing to photograph them in January while their dark heads are bowed with the weight of winter.
Karen McRae, 2015
It’s Better (and colder) In Real Life
I can’t resist the call of the river, even at (especially at?) -25c. The way the cold transforms the landscape is always captivating and I especially love visiting the places where the water runs fast and manages to defy the freezing temperatures. It can be difficult to truly capture the majesty of the winter wonderland but perhaps that is part of what keeps me coming back.
Karen McRae, 2015
Iced Landscape
The river’s edge, late afternoon
A starling in winter dress
The woods fully iced
After a quick succession of snow, freezing rain, and plummeting temperatures the sun came out and today everything was sparkling.
Karen McRae, 2015
River & Road (old and new)
The river in full snow and low light, last January (long exposure with camera movement).
Bare streets and coloured lights, today at dusk (long exposure with camera movement).
Karen McRae, 2015
Autumn Fades Out
[A drive-by/flyby image, layered in post processing ~ sort of in the same vein as this]
© Karen McRae, 2014
The Undergrowth (mostly)
Snowshoes and late afternoon.
[Just before the sun slipped its hands over the horizon it reached out for the undergrowth and the tiny transparent seed pods (wild mustard, maybe?) caught my eye as they were momentarily lit up like mini lightsabers. At first I dismissed these images but when I came back to them they seemed to have a real sense of the intimacy and magic of the woods in late day.]
© Karen McRae, 2014
Tangled
A place to return to when more snow is falling, or has fallen (soon). I love the unkempt wildness here.
© Karen McRae, 2014
The Jagged Edges of Winter
It seems the river has been pitching itself against the shoreline in the cold and wind, frosting whatever it could manage to touch before its own edges are too frozen to move. Unfortunately, by the time I managed to get out the light was very dull, but at the moment there is new snow falling, and by morning the landscape will be transformed again. These fringes of the seasons can be so fleeting.
© Karen McRae, 2014
draw and shoot 