Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Honoring "Snowflake" Bentley...


Last night at the Massasoit Art Guild meeting (Photography branch), our chair Dayle brought a cool DVD for us to watch.  (Thanks, Dayle!)  I say “cool” for a couple of reason.  The DVD was about Wilson Bentley or “Snowflake”Bentley as he became to be known.  He is the reason we know that no two snowflakes are alike.  Around the turn of the 20th Century, he began photographing individual snowflakes, a difficult and painstaking task that he stuck to like a tongue on a frozen pole.  His photography alone is amazing but his tenacity is even more amazing.  He loved snow and he wanted to share his love of snow.
 
I have mixed feelings toward snow myself.  I mostly love it.  I love the way it muffles the sound and brightens up a dull winter landscape.  I think it is beautiful on bright winter days.  But as I get older, I do fear the treachery of ice, which, of course, can be a byproduct of snow.  I don’t want to slip and fall.  I don’t want to skid my car into a tree.  Still, I think ice has its place in nature’s warehouse of beauty.  And I like looking at it.  It's like the art glass of nature.  I’m no Snowflake Bentley when it comes to photography.  The kind of work he did is beyond my wildest abilities.  But I am going to share a few photos I’ve taken of ice in the last few years. 

While today our weather is in the deep freeze, it really is the first winter snap we’ve had (not counting our freak Halloween snowstorm) so I don’t have too many current ice pictures.  I’m sure they’ll come though.  We do live in New England after all.  






15 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i love the first and last ones best! marvelous!

Debbie said...

oooohhhh they are just gorgeous!! i can't wait for ice and snow to get outside with the nikon!!

it will be my first winter with "n"!!

Judy said...

Hi,

Gorgeous photos! Very creative, especially the first two and the fourth one.

Blessings,
Judy

Kerri Farley said...

Gorgeous!

zero_energy said...

I personally love snow. Too bad we don't get it here in Southern California!

I really love these photos. I especially like the 1st photo!

Great work!

RobertN said...

Beautiful!

Karen said...

I share your love/hate relationship with snow. I adore it...if I don't have to go out or drive!!!

Nancy said...

Love the vine with the ice on top! Brrrr! :)

Gaia said...

O_O gorgeous pictures!!!!:D

MadSnapper said...

these are truly stunning photos. on the first two, did you edit and add? or did you do this with the camera. they are really wonderful. i apolize i have missed your post. if you look at the follow gadget on your side bar, my follow pic stays at the top and it keeps you from showing in my reader. you are the 3rd one like this. now i have added you in by URL in my reader so it should work. i don't get why some it pops up and some do not when i click follow. i see i have missed several. should be fixed now.HOPE HOPE

barbara l. hale said...

Thanks, Sandra. I don't understand why things happen the way they do on blogger. I wonder if I am doing something wrong on my part. But I appreciate you trying to rectify it. Hope it works.
The first two are slightly edited. I usually crop and enhance the color slightly. Those were taken with my old Panasonic Lumix camera that did a great job. But if I recall correctly, they were both taken on very bright days. That helps a lot.

eileeninmd said...

Gorgeous captures! Your meeting sounds very interesting. Have a great weekend!

Tammy said...

Wow! you've got some wonderful shots here...but, that first one takes the cake :)

Rose said...

these are beautiful!

Helma said...

Hi Barbara,

what a beautiful pictures and what a beautiful detail lets you see here. Really very nice.

Greetings, Helma (from Holland