Little Bang Theory

Last evening’s foray into the field for photos was well timed, but the thin, high clouds and thick bands of lower ones confused the light and confounded my efforts to capture the beauty of a high meadow being reclaimed by its surrounding forest.

Despite my frustration, and promising myself patience, I noodled around among the young hawthorns, cherries and dogwoods, collecting images of the small bits of poetry which comprised the scene - explosions of tiny flowers popping in and out of patches of diffused sunlight:

…and pussy willows and catkins extending their precious offerings of pollen to their neighbors, to the bees, to the evening breeze:

The air was turbulent, and while my subjects bobbed and danced I struggled to find the combination of camera settings which would get me enough depth of field in a brief enough exposure to not just be making abstracts for my recycle bin.

As I headed back to the car the light warmed suddenly, streaming from beneath its thick gray blanket, illuminating the scene with a brief gift of light. I snapped off this quick shot, still with my 50mm Sigma lens, which I’ve found to be faster than the 17-85 I’ve been using, and managed to freeze the breeze:

Once again, the totality of this natural place far exceeded the sum of its billions of individual parts.

Thank you, Mother Earth. Thank you, Father Sky.