“In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me.” ~ John Fowles
As you can tell from the posting of another forest photo, I found that recent walk in the woods to be rather “productive”…at least in my eyes. In winter the forest is a bit more simple and perhaps a bit easier to photograph without looking too busy or distracting yet there is still a bit of color available if you look for it. I’ve made several photo in this same general area before but I believe this may be my favorite — so far.
I had a moment of panic today. I installed the latest Apple OS X 10.7.3 (Lion) update on my main computer and afterward it tried to do the final reboot and it wouldn’t. No startup, it went to a solid white screen and no combination of key strokes or restarts would get it past that point. I left it there for over 30 minutes and nothing. I couldn’t even get it to boot from the built in CD/DVD drive — just a white screen. I was stuck and I sat there for a while considering my options — there didn’t seem to be many options if it wouldn’t even access a drive.
Then I remembered I’d recently plugged in an external USB CD/DVD/BD drive. Unplugging it allowed a normal start up with no other problems with the update. I’m glad I thought of that before taking more drastic measures.
It pays to take some time to think things through.
Earl, I’m finding that I’m enjoying the winter time park a lot myself. I’ve always liked the leaves of the beech trees sprinkled throughout as well as the different lighting. Lighting that never reaches the ground in the spring and summer because it gets absorbed by leaves. I was in McDowell park the other day and had the nice experience of seeing a few deer run by … well, I heard them and I saw their rumps as they rumbled by some 30 or 40 yards away.
Now that I have my D300 back, I’ll be grabbing the tripod and heading there this afternoon, barring any rain.
Good to hear that you got your computer rebooted. What a horrible feeling that is. It’s a good thing that you remembered about the drive!!!
Paul, glad to hear you got your D300 back. Let’s hope there’s no need for any more fixes in the future. This weather and light has certainly been wonderful for photography. Good luck at the park today.
Yeah, I was “sweating bullets” over that computer for a while. :-) I have all the data backed up but it doesn’t do much good if the computer doesn’t boot up.
I love that opening quote. Thank you for sharing that.
I hate those moments—that sinking feeling that you may no longer have a functioning computer. I had two of them just last evening. In both cases, mine turned out to be burps; but, nothing permanent. At least, that is the current assessment. Congratulations on that patience that paid off.
As far as I am concerned, I would love to see you revisit this setting on a regular basis—camera at the ready, of course. This one is beautiful.
Anita, thanks. The quote seems to fit the way I feel about walking through the woods. It transcends the physical process and becomes something more — John Folwes expressed it far better than I could but it certainly isn’t unique to only him. I’m sure I’ll photograph this spot again and may even post one of then down the road. :-)
I know the anxiety you must have felt when the Mac wouldn’t boot. Most days we take it for granted that they’ll work properly (and most days they do) but a bug like this is very frustrating. I know your pain.
I haven’t seen a leaf on a tree in months here, so it’s nice to see a photo like this now. Ant there is a little green in there too.
Ken, my brain was quickly running through all the possible work arounds if my main machine was down for a time. I’ve a laptop I could work on but it would be a totally different experience and process. Luckily I quickly landed on the problem and solution before i took steps that may have made it worst.
We’ve had no snow or ice here to strip those last leaves from the trees…it’s like we’re stuck in late autumn which is slowly turning into an early spring.
O such a lovely view… Your Winter doesn’t seem to get more wintry than our Autumns usually are. Over here, a Siberian cold wave have covered most of Europe in ice, so this image of yours is like balm to my eyes. I like how it looks like the red leaves have been put on straws or a net and how the crossing lines of leaves can be seen as a projection, like if an image of the Autumn was projected over the Winter landscape.
Ove, thanks. Yes, our winter seems more like an extended late autumn. I’ve been reading and seeing news reports on the severe winter you’re experiencing in Europe. Last winter was very severe for much of America, making this mild one even stranger. Keep warm and take care!
A fine “woods” shot! I like the spot color effect of the leaves in the shot. Glad you figured out the Mac hangup. I updated mine yesterday too. I can’t imagine the servers that feed that to all the customers!
Don, yeah, they must have banks of servers that do nothing but upload software updates to customers. Perhaps they can bring additional ones on line for those times they need extra capacity…I’d like the see the data center(s).
Earl, you did an outstanding job of conveying the feeling of open space. I know from experience that the forest is a very difficult place to photograph.
Steve, thanks and your right. I usually take a lot of photos when in the forest but most of them say very little to me when I view them later. This walk was above average on productivity.
Love the quote and the image!!! The parks I have out here are more in the line of wide open grassy fields with children’s playground equipment and concrete paths around a small pond. A few picnic tables with grills. Very different than the Metro parks in Columbus with nature trails and scenes like you share with us.
Glad you did not have a major problem. Computer problems always scare me.
That quote struck a cord with me too, Monte. Thanks!
Your framing is brilliant, the path leads the eye beautifully into the forest. I really like the bare branches, they almost make an abstract image. Beautiful!
Martina, thanks for your very kind words.