Under the Lilacs

I'm trying out my decision, so I'll post it here and see how I feel about it tomorrow... then I'll enter it to GardeningGoneWild.com's Photo Contest, Picture This: Winter Light if I haven't changed my mind again!

After all was said and done, I decided to go with this one and name it "Under the Lilacs". (Sounds catchy, like a great book title! ;)) Here it is:



Take a look at the big picture on my website. I love it!

I was going to go with this one at first:



But I realized that I didn't like the "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" matter of factness about it. There was no mystery, nothing further to contemplate. It is beautiful with its glittering snow and ice, but I got bored with it pretty quickly.


Then my heart got set on this one:



And really, I still love it. The backlighting is wonderfully subtle. Very nice. If I change my mind it will to be to go back to the this one.


But this pic...


It's lighting is just wonderful: The final rays of a winter's sunset playing one last game of tag through the lilac stems are incredible; the light glinting off of the fairy's foot, and the glow that the fading sun lends to her hair and face add such depth and are wonderful finishing touches.

Sigh. I love it when things go so right with a picture. Most of the time it is such a crap shoot for me. I'll take a pic thinking it will be amazing, and instead it turns out static and looking very 2 dimensional. Other times I'll take a pic of something entirely different, but the underlying beauty will catch my eye, and sure enough when I crop it and polish it a little, there is a diamond beneath the soot.

The close up shots of the plants I absolutely loved, but decided not to use since they didn't have as much of a glow of light about them. I'll use them here and there on the blog, maybe to put on a calendar, or perhaps to print out and frame.

This one with the delicate branches left me in awe when I saw individual snowflakes clinging to the branch. Did you notice them? (click the pic to enlarge so you can see the detail)



Someday I would love to take a photography class and learn the tricks of the trade at the hands of a Master. For now I will be happy to glean gems of information as I come across them.

Thanks so much for helping me see these photos through your eyes. I sure appreciate you helping me! <3