Someone called me to task several days ago for using a photo of fresh cherry tomatoes for a posting in the middle of a winter snow storm.
I apologize.
If it makes you any happier, today’s photo is from a winter storm. I’ll even give you two to make up for the indiscretion.
Not sure if I’ve ever told you of my favorite greeting when I see people walking their dogs or taking a stroll through a park on a very bad weather day. I usually reserve the greeting for the most severe weather and only when I can perceive that it won’t cause more trouble than it’s worth.
Usually burdened with two cameras and a gadget bag of some size I greet the oncoming pedestrian with “Only fools and photographers are out on a day like today. I know which one I am. Which one are you?”
It never fails to get a laugh.
Having spend most of my life as a news photographer I fear no weather, offer no complaint, and avoid no temperatures.
That’s where today’s photos came from. An early spring storm brought very low temperatures after a brief warming period. The result was heavy fog and frozen flowers on fruit trees. Working in my news photographer mode, I traveled to Lynd’s in Licking County to check its damage.
The existentialist in me bore a burden of contrasting the excitement of seeing great photos at every turn and knowing that most of the farm’s fruit production for the year was destroyed in one night.
The top photo came as I was leaving after surveying the interior of the farm and listening as one of the owners, his fingers moving across a topographical map on the wall, told another farmer on the phone that he expected to lose most of his crop.
I stopped at the peak of a u-turn through a field when the end point of rows of trees settled into my view. The trees disappeared into the thickened fog in the distance. Only the tree at the end point in the foreground held enough color and contrast for detail against the fog and trailing trees.
Moving closer with a 12-24mm lens, I found a point where the foreground tree wasn’t obscured by fog and the lines of trees trailing from it stretched almost to the edge of my frame.
I kept the tree in the center of the frame defying most good rules about composition. I though it important to show how the snow and fog blended into a single tone that enveloped the field and farm.
So, enjoy the cold weather photo. I’ll have more.
The second photo is from the same day just one road to the north of the farm.
