Backlit

I walk a lot. Partly that’s the result of having dogs, but in the times in my life when I’ve been dog-less I’ve still walked and walked and walked. Cities, forests, suburbs, seashores, country roads: I’ve walked wherever I’ve been. It’s a great way to get some exercise and fresh air and it’s a bonus to my mental health and it’s a way to stay connected to what’s around me. I’m glad that after sixty years (gulp) I can still do it, and hope I’ll be like my Mum at 84: still walking and loving it.

If you’re a long-time reader of this space, you’ll have been for a few walks with me on our land. Today’s offering is another. I timed it as precisely as I possibly could because I wanted to take my camera to record as much as possible of that magical moment when the promise of foliage finally begins to be fulfilled. I love that time when the bud (whether it’s a leaf or a needle (which is really another leaf)) just begins to break open and reveal the bursting life inside. I went out one morning early this month and was thrilled to see that I was going to get an extra treat. You know how the brand-new leaves in spring have that amazing range of incredibly fresh, tender colours? Mostly a clear, forest-stream green or perhaps a green tinged with copper or red or yellow? Not only was I seeing all of that, but the sun was directly in front of me as I left the house and walked up the hill into the forest, meaning that the foliage right in front of me was more often than not backlit. Well. Those glorious clear greens were exponentially enhanced by the sun illuminating them from behind. Have a look.

In order: fresh tips of fir, two of snowberry (I think), ceanothus (a tough, leathery-leaved bush that smells heavenly, a bit like eucalyptus, when warmed by the sun), something I can’t identify, a pretty little fern (it’s rare to find ferns on our place, which is mostly dry), two small plants I can’t identify, two shots of the first unfurling of false Solomon’s seal, and a leaf emerging from the bud on a soopallalie (the buds are so leathery that it’s hard to believe they’ll produce such a gorgeous translucent green leaf).

Of course, not every shot was backlit. Below are, in order: the first intimations of bloom on the Oregon grape, pussy toes foliage, kinnikinnick (I love the pinky coppery edges on the fresh leaves), prince’s pine, a fabulous little feathery bloom that I don’t recognize, first foliage of a columbine (what a great shape those leaves are), a closeup of kinnikinnick so you can see how the leaves unfurl in a cluster like a rose (how beautiful, those new greens against the dark and bleached remnants of kinnikinnick leaves of years past), pliant and tender young larch needles on a branch at the base of a large tree, the stunning magentas of red osier dogwood bark setting off its new leaves to perfection, a beautiful medley of young moss and old lichen, and two high-drama shots, one of lichen on a twig lying on a richly-coloured bed of fallen needles and the other of a spotlit Oregon grape and its shadow.

Such glories to be found in the woods at this time of year! They just take some hunting for since none is particularly obvious at first glance.

And here are a few extras: 

a gracefully-curved, bleached-out branch glowing against the shadowy earth behind it,

a bit of stone wall that I discovered on this walk (it’s a bit off the path and I was astonished to find it; my dear husband thinks perhaps his step-kids built it decades ago),

a beautiful, lustrous bulb that blooms in front of the house briefly each year, 

the intricate geometry of last year’s yarrow blossoms,

a happy dog,

and another happy, somewhat manic dog (that’s a bit of hoof paring in her mouth, a favourite chew toy).

In the couple of weeks since I took these photos, everything has changed, of course, but that’s the glory of spring, right? So fleeting, so riotously profligate with new life. How lucky we are to be able to watch it happen.

Next time, you’ll get studio news.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Ann Mudrie]

Always love your photos of nature, Anne. This installment had me scrolling up and down to get the right ID for the right photo. Always love pics of puppies!

[Anne at Shintangle Studio]

Thanks, Ann! Glad you enjoy the photos. Perhaps, though, I need to return to my usual practice of identifying photos as they appear: that would make it easier for those who try to match photos to my remarks about them. Thanks for the implicit suggestion. I promise more puppy photos; she's got a lot going on.