Look Below the Surface to See Above the Trees

Below the Surface, Above the Trees
Originally uploaded by CaptPiper.

The 4 or 5 inches of snow we had on Wednesday has melted completely away in a single day. Now the sun is out and the sky is a deep blue we don't often see in the winter. There still isn't much color around, until one looks down into the puddles of melted snow at one's feet.

Lucy in the Snow with Diamonds

Lucy in the Snow with Diamonds
Originally uploaded by CaptPiper.

It was so frustrating... to get a camera - my dream camera for Christmas, and then have nothing decent to shoot with it.
Days of flat gray.
Featureless clouds.
No shadow, no depth, no color, no nothing...
Then Wednesday morning we woke up to a world in clean white again. The snow clinging to the branches is always a lovely sight, but I had to go to school. Exams. No time to meander or hunt for good composition.
I didn't believe the beauty would stick around until I got home from school. But it did.
It did.

This was taken when it was rather dark. I was shooting on program mode with an ISO 3200. It was dark and very blue, but I color corrected for white and got this; something my old camera was totally incapable of.
I'm sooooo happy.

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk
Originally uploaded by CaptPiper.

I had never seen one of these before I saw him in my sister's backyard today. Jan says he comes there looking for a meal. Considers her birdfeeders bait.
I wish I could have gotten a better shot.
The reason I was at Jan's is because it was the Christmas gathering for Jim's daughter's family. She is a couple of years younger than me and she has six grandchildren! That's scary.