Tag: pine cone

  • The Winter Narrative

    The Winter Narrative

    100mm macro photo of a Hemlock tree pine cone hanging from snow covered pine boughs.
    The Winter Narrative — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/640

    The calendar flips March and 2019 has supplied scarcity for New Jersey snow lovers. Several nickel and dime events, sure, but not the mother lode that leaves us ditching rulers for yardsticks. Jim Cantore has monster measurements to make out west this year. This is the ebb and flow nature of winter in the Mid-Atlantic. Boom seasons sprinkled in typical years of bust.

    Yet recency bias dominates the narrative. Social media is rife with it doesn’t snow like it used to claims, and while I share the frustration it is not true. Consistent, big snow is not the norm. Take the dry years that carried us from the 80s through the early 2000s where the foot plus storms could not add up enough fingers to make a full hand. You had 1993, 1996, and 2003. I remember a big event in 1987 or 88—the first primetime snow storm I remember—when I was a kid in East Brunswick, but I am not sure that cracked a foot. After that, however, the boom time set in. Dispersed between down years (not unlike this one) you had 2007, multiple foot plus events in winter 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. 2012 and 2013 were a total roast fest but then more big time action came in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018; much of which documented by this photographer. New Jersey snow lovers have had it made. A regression to the mean is probable.

    None of this is to say I am not bummed. I love snow; it can never snow enough. But considering our low latitude—the 40th parallel—that has us due west of Portugal, mind you, many variables must come together to produce big snow. This casual rant is a simple reminder to fellow NJ snow lovers to appreciate our big storms since we never know when we will bust out the yardsticks next.

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  • Adornment

    Adornment

    Black and white hemlock pine cone macro photo in square format.
    Adornment — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/320

    You know the grind. You feel it. It weighs heavy as you mire through life’s ebbs and flows. You cherish the highs and bury the lows. It’s in the space between you grind for purpose. Two steps forward. Two steps back. Captured in inescapable reality, caught in the throes of a fated cosmic dance.

    You adorn your triumph and bury your loss. Unobserved to others the loss is still as real. No less massive, no less an equal equal force in the intwined gravitational balance. Only buried, left to rot and consume. Of course this is life. An impartial duality to remind you of inherent vitality sprinkled with uncertainty. The fearsome dive to the depths releases you to relish the inevitable rise to new heights. Actions need balance. Yet the weight of it all will pull you back to the grind. Working. Churning. Struggling. Steadfast to best understand what it all means. You’re tired. It is in these moments where you are best to open up; to show your full self warts and all. Let the world see you as you are, adorned with hope, fear, and the grinding middle ground we all feel.

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  • Tucked away in there that’s the Fall

    A low key fine art black and white photograph of a small pine cone tucked away between pine tree branches. Sharp contrast and shallow depth of field add to the mood.
    Tucked away in there that’s the fall — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/250

    I’m not sure why but when I see pine cones I automatically make the association to Fall. A quick googling tells me this is the time of year said cones are approaching their max size and thereby most noticeable (even though the subject here is a little guy—no more than an inch in length), so I reckon it’s as simple as that. Not much mystery to this passing observation.

    I’ve had my battles with the Fall but this year I’m going to focus on its upside. Most notably: the pictures I’m going to take. Heading into Fall and Winter I know that fog, foliage, amped up sunsets, and snowfall are in store for my camera and I. And moving out of Summer, which for me is the least interesting time photographically, I am excited at what the future holds. I’ve been jonesing to get out there and shoot more. Here comes my chance.