The Long Shadows: Light Through Trees

The morning light was absolutely spectacular on this day. It was bright and bold and powerful, and the sky was blue. It was fantastic for pictures; for anything, really. It was quite a cold start, somewhere in the high teens, but what did we expect? It's February, after all.

I made two quick stops on my drive to work. One was at Sawmill Road, to capture the dramatic clouds clearing out right around sunrise. You can see that one in the extra photos area.

And as I was driving, I watched as that powerful light turned all the trees into long tree shadows and cast them on the ground. And so I knew just where I must go for my second stop: the tree row at the Arboretum that always looks so lovely in the morning light.

You know it must be a favorite photo location because these trees have turned up a number of times on Blip. Here are a few:

My Blue Heaven (taken while lying on my back on the ground)
Morning Light Through Trees (the green version)
Morning Light Through Trees (a gentle monochrome version)
Indian Summer (the tree line is golden in the background)

I believe that most of the trees in this stand are poplars, although I'm not sure all of them are. The tree line is nice and orderly, with the trees placed at regular intervals, and it pleases me deeply.

On this particular morning, though, the surfaces were quite treacherous. We had a winter storm Monday into Tuesday that brought us several inches of new snow (that my husband said was "rumpled," as the surface appeared rather lumpy). It was followed by hours and hours of freezing rain that left a thick soggy layer atop the snow; once the temperatures dropped Tuesday night, it all froze solid once again

It was slicker than you might realize; so easy to fall. I know I did a posting recently where I talked about photography tips for very cold temperatures. If it is not there yet, I should add this tip: when there is ice, exercise caution, walk slowly and carefully, hunker down a bit and bend your knees with each step, and wear warm boots with extra-grippy soles!

But that shiny layer also did very nice things with the morning light. And the rumpled surface, accentuated by bits of blown snow on top, gave me some round, swirling action that mirrored the dramatic clouds in the sky.

And so it was that on a cold February morning, I watched quietly as the light shone through the trees and on the snow, and the dramatic clouds moved against a winter sky. And for those moments, I was immensely, deeply happy.

The soundtrack is Josh Ritter, with Long Shadows.