12-25-16 Into the Woods

By Scott Shephard

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This is an example of one of the tens of thousands of photos I have that sit in my figurative "photo closet." I took it a few years ago while exploring rural Maryland. The sun was going down and I was drawn by the way the leaves were being backlit by the strong sunlight. In another 20 minutes this would have been an entirely different scene.

When I approached this grove of trees along the road, I thought of the line from Macbeth:

Light thickens, and the crow

Makes wing to th' rooky wood.

Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;

Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.

It's an ominous statement made by Macbeth about a pending murder in a play that brilliantly plays evil against good and uses light and darkness to help do this.

Good photography uses light and shadow, too, of course, and this photo may demonstrate that. Macbeth's night was a thing to be feared but the coming night in Maryland wasn't. It seemed like a safe and civilized place. :-)

Canon 5DIII 1/160s f/7.1 ISO250 75mm 

Where Did All the Flowers Go?

If you are inclined to be philosophical, you might read deep, existential meaning into today's picture and the title I gave it. Yes, I suppose you could say, as Macbeth did, that life is a "walking shadow" and a "brief candle signifying nothing." And you could say that nothing better symbolizes this sentiment than twisted, dead flowers, bent by age and time, standing in a garden covered by snow.But don't give in to this depressing thought! Here's a happy thought: the flowers in this garden have gone to sleep and will soon wake up in all their glory. In fact in a few short days, the days will start getting longer. Spring and summer are surely around the corner. :-)Footnote:I read an interesting article that suggested that because Macbeth lived in a northern climate, with short winter days, he might have been so pessimistic because he was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If he and his Lady could have had a couple weeks on the beach in Mexico, the story might have been very different. . .