Why do you do that?

Black and white photos in the winter versus color?

Well, let's say that black and white just is something winter is great for. Winter is stark in its beauty. Leafless trees, stark shadows, clear skies, overcast skies, white and black.

or...this version...

The color version is beautiful. Look at that gorgeous sky with a wisp of a cloud drifting through. 

The monotone one [I choose a bluish tint just well...just cuz.]

Another friend of mine can't always understand why I love the winter so much. 

Lines.....

I love the lines and shadows the sun and trees create.

I mean just look at those lines! The tree shadows create geometric shapes on the road in the winter.

Here is this road in the summer...

Not quite as striking is it?

Tainter Creek from the west bridge.

Tainter Creek from the west bridge in color....in the summer:

[I used a painting technique on this....]

The red rocks...well I don't do those red rocks ever in black and white. They just don't deserve it!

I love these rocks. I stop and admire them every time I take this road.

See? This is with the new 'Ru.

This is with the old Chevy my son gave me....years ago.

No way I'd ever photograph these rocks and make them black and white...well...

Well...

Um.

Let's see:

Okay, to me that could work as the light colors are accented. But I do like the color version much better.

Last two shots from yesterday. Color and black and white:

Whoops. 

I lied.

And although I loved the colors of the creek and hillside, I thought it was too distracting so ....

When I go through my photos, it is just a matter of what tickles my fancy.

Storm photos of drifts and blowing snow...that was today's adventure.

I can pretty much assure you that those shots will be almost naturally black and white.

Looking back on my blogs...I had this very same arguement with myself before in 2015. Tell me should it be color or black and white?

And it was all with photos from Tainter Land.

Out and About

Yesterday morning I felt like doing a quick look-see around what we call Tainter Land.
The roads in this particular area are all gravel and in such a deep valley that cell phones are totally worthless.
There is a certain appeal to no cell service right now.

Tainter Hollow Rd, Tainter Hollow East, Tainter Hollow West, and Tainter Road are the twisted lane and a half roads that wind through this particular area.

I knew that no spring plants would be evident, but I went to the Public Land anyway just to walk around.

The beavers have been busy again after the flood. They are rebuilding dams.

Near the edge of the road I found a deer carcass that someone had dumped. This happens often on the more secluded roads.
There is nearly no traffic on the Tainter roads as I think there are only 3 residential places.

The residential places are seasonal and one of them was flooded in 2016. I don't know if they ever came back.

The scenery is pretty typical for our area.
Creeks, streams, gravel roads, steep valleys, and ridge tops.

All within a few minutes drive.

The old timers who have lived here for generations don't build homes near dry runs or in steep valleys. Tainter Road is one example of the 'why'. It will get washed out at least once a year. The valley is so steep and the water rushes down the hillsides and across the roads.
Road destroyed until the township comes with gravel and replaces a road tube.

I stood on Tainter Road East and marveled at the flood debri still stuck in some of the trees above my head. I'm five foot three inches.

The day was dull and I'd taken about an hour of wandering around and simply enjoying the cold damp weather. So it was time to head home.

Things 'seen' on my way home.

I sure do love our back roads and try to take them to town when I am not in much of a hurry.

I think today is another day of errands and then I hope to spend at least one or two days at the farm. Hikes with Dixie and Charlie are surely in order.

The weather for the rest of the week will be a mixed bag. Heavy rains, thunderstorms, and then snow and sleet.

Welcome to April.

Back to Tainter Land in the Moon light

I was prepared this morning. I woke up by accident at 2AM and decided not to get up.
I really did decide to sleep more.
That is until I looked out the window.

I knew that the weather was supposed to starkly change between Sunday evening and Monday evening. Cold, windy, and rain was forecast. Then a plunge back into December weather.
I wouldn't have a change at another full moon night for quite a while.
I also knew that the next moon shooting opportunities would not be until New Years almost.

I sighed. The moon won.
I heated up some coffee and checked the weather on my smart phone. 24 degrees and calm.
Hand warmers. Check.
Extra batteries. Check.
Flash light. Got it.
I used the remote to start the Subaru [dang I love that thing!].
Headlamp. Check.
Note to self, change batteries in the older headlamp.

I drove to Tainter Land. The moon was brilliant.

I finally got a good shot of the tree I wanted and decided to explore the other bridge.

And I was very happy that I did.

What a beautiful night in such an isolated area.

And my hands stayed....oh, so warm in the combination mitten gloves with hand warmers.

It was a wonderful morning.

Return to Tainter...Land

Tainter Hollow is an interesting area. It has more than one very steep narrow valley and a creek named Tainter Creek that runs through it.

The roads are gravel roads and there are many little bridges that cross Tainter Creek as it twists and turns.
There is Tainter Hollow E., Tainter Hollow W., and Tainter Rd. Tainter Rd is closed still.

I had a bit of time yesterday and it was gloomy and raining. I couldn't do garden work, yard work, and my shoulders and forearms needed a rest from all the weed whacking I'd done. I asked Rich if he'd mind if I went down to Tainter Hollow to look for wildflowers to photograph while he took a nap.

He shrugged.
I put some things in the Subaru and went to Tainter Land.
At one of my favorite bridges to stop and take photos, there were surveyors marking out sections on both sides of the road. Orange paint markings were in the gravel.
The floods of last year caused a lot of damage to our many 'Tainter Bridges'  [one of the reasons that Tainter Rd. was still closed].

Dang. I felt too self conscious to share the bridge with them, so I drove on.
Up the road a ways there is a dairy farm pasture.
Here I found Besse and Wilma, they looked a bit perturbed that I'd interrupted their "udderly" fantastic conversation.

Harriet and Fern, meanwhile were looking rather sneaky about something. I wonder if the girls were planning something, or just really curious about the lady in the muddy Subaru.

I circled around back to Tainter Hollow E. and headed back to the Public Land entrance.

I'm not sure the bridges will do very well if we have any more flash floods.

Tainter Rd is closed due to the culverts being washed away and the road being destroyed in one section. The other bridges all suffered damage from log jams last September.

I parked and walked the footpath through the tall grass along Tainter Creek. In the early spring this is a nice walk. Starting in May or June, the grasses and other plants are nearly as tall as I am and can make for a less enjoyable hike.
However I found two nice places to admire Tainter Creek before I turned back.

Give me a whole day and another person to go with and I could really have fun exploring. Tainter Hollow is in such a place that there is no cell phone coverage and a GPS won't get satellite reception. Not an issue for me unless my husband needs to get hold of me.

I headed out and passed a residence on Tainter Hollow W. This person's house/cottage is built on the hillside and has stilts supporting part of it. I often wonder how it stays on the hillside.
Anyway this was parked on the road next to the creek.
I shot it through my review mirror.

Sort of overkill for a trout creek right?

My time was up, I needed to head back home.

I got a peek at a few critters along the way.

When I got to the top of Hinkst Hollow, I did pull over and compose a shot. This is one of the straightest roads in our township. And the view is always amazing to me.

Normally you don't get such vistas where I live. But there are a few to be found.

I didn't get the wildflower shots I wanted. Nope, not at all.
Instead I had a very interesting drive.

It was nice to have a small break.

Here is hoping that the rain and gloom ease up. Notice that most of the fields are not worked up. Our farmers are way behind in planting. And those that did plant corn have some very yellow sickly plants coming up.