Winter Beauty

Winter: besides The Bison, The Bakken and misuse of woodchippers, it is what many know of my home state, North Dakota.  Really, we get a bad wrap regarding winter since there are many places that get, and stay colder than we do (I'm talking about you International Falls, MN...) but maybe its is the vastness and seemingly desolate landscapes combined with the cold that make it seem so much worse to many.

We all tend to eventually cuss it, swearing we are going to move, but most of us just put on another layer (of clothing or fat) and endure it.  And, on rare occasions when Old Man Winter isn't feeling so grumpy, we are blessed with being surrounded by heavenly pageantry in the form of hoar frost.

I am captivated by hoar frost. Up close, the details of the crystal formations are amazing.  From a wide landscape view, the appeareance of flocked trees in glittering white is breathtaking.

Cacie, who I love and adore, and trust with my children, (and actually keeps coming back after watching them) said the other day she would love to have some winter photos done. She is a senior this year and has an amazing future in front of her. With the hoar frost hanging around for two days, we nabbed the chance to get some beautiful winter photos!

Then I wanted to play with some images that have been dancing around in my head.  My friend Jamie has an amazing driving with GINORMOUS trees that line it, creating a canopy. They didn't fail to create what I was aiming for.

The following is the same image, but cropped in, and edited differently to give it a far more mysterious and foreboding feel.

Towards the Light

Finally, as scouting locations for this shoot, I came across this isolate short tree row plunked in the middle of a field. It was perfect.

Thank you Cacie for letting me capture your beauty, and being my subject to help capture the beauty of the frost.