11-19-09 Decadence 05

Here's one last photo in this series. Sorry if "Decadence" wasn't your thing. . . .

11-18-09 Decadence 04

11-17-09 Decadence 03

I think this may be a weed or maybe poppy leaves. I was struck by the bright green against a background of brown. But I also like how the green is bleaching to yellow. Even the weed is letting go. . . .

11-16-09 Decadence 02

Against a background of brown aspen and thin day lily leaves lies one leaf from a tree two yards away. Call him (her?) a nonconformist. . .

11-15-09 Decadence 01

Given the nice weather, my wife was eager to work on getting her flower garden ready for the winter. But before she could destroy the strange, natural beauty of withered and bug eaten leaves, I took a few photos. Thus begins a series that I call "Decadence." The morning light was excellent in that it was filtered through thin fog.

You may not like this photo - I don't think it is particularly pretty. But I do like the sheen on the wet leaves and the way the light defines the surfaces of these coneflower leaves. I promise some color in tomorrow's post!

11-14-09 A Tranquil Tropical Pool

11-13-09 Lines In the Sand

Do you see an optical illusion in this photo. When I look at the wind-sculpted ridges of sand in the bottom left part of the photo, it looks like the light is coming from the left side of the picture. But in fact the light was coming from the right and the proof of that is the shadow of the wirey bush on the right side.

Anyway, I thought that I'd balance the cold and snow photos that I've been posting with something from Mexico. This is about 3 miles south of Playa del Carmen.

11-12-09 We Were Much Younger Then. . .

Set the Way-Back machine for 1991. We were visiting Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. Brian and Jon were mere children then, and we were young adults.

If you have the time, check out this link, where you can hear two points of view about the events surrounding this photo: Cannon Beach VoiceThread (click here).

11-11-09 A Snowy Blanket

I drove through the cemetery this past January after a fresh blanket of snow. I have always been fascinated by the arrangement of the monuments in the military section of cemeteries. At the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown, there are monuments that date back to the 19th century, and many wars are represented by the veterans buried here.

11-10-09 A Frosty Morning 02

Thick frost like this is more ephemeral than most subjects in nature. In South Dakota, it is rare and then to have a windless morning to preserve it is rarer still. Notice the amazingly blue sky, as pure as any South Dakota winter sky.

11-09-09 A Frosty Morning 01

I took this photo a few years ago. Humid air had caused a particularly thick coating of frost crystals and the lack of any breeze preserved it - at least for an hour or two after the sun came up.

11-08-09 The Redlin Center - Watertown, SD

Almost anything looks better in morning light, including the Terry Redlin Art Center in Watertown. This photo was taken a few minutes after I took "Flocking Behavior 01." (Click)