River & Road (old and new)

January 1, 2015 | drawandshoot

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

Navy Blue Night (with snowfall)

December 30, 2014January 20, 2015 | drawandshoot

We have lost the snow ~ the light of winter ~ so I went back to look at some photographs from last year and found these; images made at night while a gentle snow was falling. These are in-camera double exposures, the first exposure is a still frame with flash (to catch the snowflakes), and in the second exposure camera movement was used to ‘sketch’ in the landscape. I have shifted the colour somewhat to make them look as inky as the night felt.

Karen McRae, 2014

Winter

December 24, 2014December 24, 2014 | drawandshoot

Drive-by pictures from last year – things are melting away here, it seems we will wait a while for more snow. Best wishes for the holidays wherever you are!

Autumn Fades Out

December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 | drawandshoot

[A drive-by/flyby image, layered in post processing ~ sort of in the same vein as this]

The Undergrowth (mostly)

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014 | drawandshoot

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.]

Incremental Spring

April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 | drawandshoot

These little seed heads in my garden keep calling me back to look at them and I like observing their changes as they advance through the seasons and work their way out of the snow. Somehow they still hold a whisper of the faded colours of summer.

Spring is in no hurry, really, but under the trees there are finally circles of earth, damp and tarnished from the winter. These hopeful patches might hold a gentle robin or a few starlings jabbing hungrily at the ground, and today for the first time I am hearing the lovely lilt of a red-winged blackbird. We are grateful for any bits of spring that we find even if it is simply the incremental folding back of the snow or a few pussy willows breaking through their skins.

Below: The first pussy willows, a couple of weeks old now…

Things Lined Up Haphazardly

March 21, 2014March 21, 2014 | drawandshoot

on a grey day…

The tree images are in-camera double exposures. One exposure is a still shot and the other is made with camera movement (I think it’s worth clicking on the top image to see it larger). Today is sunny, though, and just warm enough for a bit of melting but there’s not too much spring here yet.

In spite of winter’s extensive embrace the birds seem rather cheerful. There is lots of singing and fluttering outside my window. I hope they don’t mind another 10-15 cm of snow that is apparently on its way… These are restless starlings ‘vibrating’ on a power line and even though they are out focus I sort of like the smudgy charcoal look of them. Well, happy (sort of) spring. : )

Ragged February Flowers

February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 | drawandshoot

After a bit of warmer weather a few days ago, I noticed some of the tiny seed heads from last year had managed to make their way up through the snow for some air. I think it will be a while before any more of them show their ragged little heads; we are back to winter and that snow is still thick over the earth. I like seeing how they change over the seasons so I took a few photographs this morning as we shivered together in the wind. Happily, they are still filled with little seeds of hope.