w e e p i n g w i l l o w

w e e p i n g w i l l o w, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

"But what Tyler longed for was to have The Feeling arrive; when every flicker of light that touched the dipping branches of a weeping willow, every breath of breeze that bent the grass towards the row of apple trees, every shower of yellow ginko leaves dropping to the ground with such direct and tender sweetness, would fill the minister with profound and irreducible knowledge that God was right there."
— Elizabeth Strout, Abide with Me



I braved the inches of snow to take a walk in Turner's Creek Park yesterday. I have been trying to photograph this little forest in all the seasons, and I had yet to get any winter, snowy shots. It is amazing how barren the forest is in winter. The views that you have are so different than during the lusher seasons when trees are full of leaves and the brush makes you feel like you are hidden away!

The photo above is of a willow tree that stands on the outskirts of the forest. It is a massive tree, and I have often thought it would make a great spot for photographing someone's portrait. Yesterday, the draping, naked branches were stunning - even in the mid-day light. I combined some of the shots into a tryptich - a set of three photos shown together. Unfortunately, it looks like a diptych here, but if you click on the photo and go to my flickr you will see the true triptych! Here are the originals before processing...







What about the quote? I am currently reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. This quote, from another of her works, just seemed to epitomize the essence of how it is to look at the weeping willow with it's grace and with the light shining through its branches. I love finding quotes to go with my photography. Writing has always been very difficult for me, so I seem to gravitate to letting the "experts" do it for me. The trick is finding just the right meaning. The way I usually go about it is to look at the photo and think of one word that describes how it makes me feel. I then go to (this is my secret source!) GoodReads and search that one word in the quote section. Usually, something will come up by a favorite author of mine - many times I will have read the book! It makes it more meaningful to me if it is a quote of someone I respect or from a book that I feel is a classic or was just a great read!