While walking, and photographing the first spring blooms, the remnants of winter were evident.
Ice, snow and wind combined with soft wet ground usually brings down a number of trees and limbs each winter. If it’s in a public park they’re quickly cut to size and disposed of. In unmanaged areas they the decaying process begins, adding nutrients for those that remain.
It’s a right of passage that old gives away for new just as winters cold pause gives way for springs abundant growth.
Initially my thinking was of both photos in black and white, but I so liked the rich yellow-orange of this downed pine tree trunk–color won out.
If you look closely at the bare trunk in the second photo you can see some of the designs created from pine beetles burrowing underneath the bark.
The larger versions give an added punch to these fine shots. I like the detail in the black and white one. The color did add much to the bare, old log. Nice shots.
Looking at the world with my forester hat upon my head, there are no bad images of trees or logs for that matter. It was always a joy to see a rotting log on the forst floor knowing it was providing a home for some critters and helping to rebuild the soil.
Ha! I see that we have been thinking about the same things! As challenging as it can be, I think there are a lot of details to find in this time of transition.
@Mark: I really liked your leaf study photos. I enjoy finding and trying to photograph those links/details of nature. The challenge is the fun part. ;-)