What the day looked like, close-up – with the exception of the black mushrooms, but they seemed to fit – Many of the lichens are in fruit and gorgeously coloured and textured, and the snow has melted away, for now.
© Karen McRae, 2012
nature
Stepping Back
In a technical sense this first image is a poor photograph – it’s blurry and improperly exposed – but there is something about the way it expresses the season that I like. Partly it’s the colour of the leaves and the movement of the water but it’s more likely that I am recalling the moment when I was actually there and responding to the environment. We each bring our own rich history with us when look at things.
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted images of the landscape from a broader view. These are views of the winding creek, which I have photographed the slow-moving surface of, so many times. 
Winter’s Dust 2
A flutter in the chest. A small bird, caught inside. Almost weightless in its restlessness. Almost. At times nestled in, curled up, resting. At times. A flutter in the chest. Wing-beats and sharp feet. Pulchritude and ache in equal measure. Almost.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Winter’s Dust
While I was sleeping…
A close-up of Winter’s first dust.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Incidental Exposures
The days seem intermediary. Frosted only at the edges. The autumn colours have faded – to sepia – to grey – to misty blues.
But for some reason these are colours I can sink into. Literally.
There have been a few times when I thought my boots might be lodged permanently in the clay bottom of the creek. But so far I’ve managed each time to wrestle myself out on to solid ground. When your mind is absorbed in one thing, you may not notice that your feet are being absorbed by another…
Each of these images is an in-camera double exposure. Layers of light and shadow on a rippling surface.
© Karen McRae, 2012
Perceptions
I’m just working through some images for printing and I realize that each time I look at the above image it makes me think of a little bird’s nest on a spindly stick – small seeds in winter coats nested inside.
It’s interesting to me how once an idea like that is planted in my mind, it seems I always reference that image the same way. I no longer see it for what it actually is.
In the image below, I always imagine it to be the face of a rabbit. That’s what immediately came to mind the first time I looked at it and that idea has stuck.
Alright, back to work. I’ve run out of words…
© Karen McRae, 2012
Framework
© Karen McRae, 2012
The Pull of Light
It’s difficult to resist going out on a bright Autumn day when so many of these are coloured grey.
There are other things that need doing.
I try to push away the urge pick up my camera but the light becomes important. Important, because it moves so rapidly through the sky. The light is in a race with the dark hours and these days the dark is winning.
But outside there is the sound of crisp leaves shuffling in the breezes. The gentle coo of the mourning doves. Cool air and frosted grasses. And did I mention sunlight?
Who could resist?
© Karen McRae, 2012
Turning
Some things just restlessly vie for attention over and over again and you find yourself humouring them.
All images © Karen McRae
draw and shoot 