THE PHOTOGRAPHERS CHALLENGE - FINDING BEAUTY
It's November and the colour palate of the landscape in southern Ontario has shifted. The vibrant reds and yellows of autumn leaves have been replaced by muted hues of ochre, tan and grey. These are the colours of tall dried grasses, the bare bark limbs of the deciduous trees and heavy overcast skies. It's a big shift and frankly a bit of a let down.
Add to this cold and damp weather and shorter daylight hours and it is easy to see why finding beauty out of doors in November around here is a bit more challenging.
Instinctively I find myself drawn to doing one of three things; cozying up inside with a cup of tea looking at photos from warmer times, dreaming of making sparkly holiday images or fantasizing about escaping to some place more temperate to make new images.
But I like to believe that there is beauty even in the most unlikely of landscapes, so the truth is I must not be looking hard enough for it.
A few morning ago as I passed a fallow field, I did just that. I looked harder. And indeed, I think I found some in the muted, late november, cold and damp southern Ontario landscape.
Ironically in the time it has taken me to process the image for this post, mother nature has decided to change the colour of her wardrobe yet again. This morning we woke up to discover she is wearing a crisp white blanket. It's her prerogative I suppose.
How do you manage when beauty seems hard to find?