It’s not often that I get up voluntarily at 4am but on Monday morning I’d set my alarm in the hopes of watching the lunar eclipse. Sadly there was thick cloud cover so I rolled back into bed. But yesterday when I got up at my usual 7am there was the beautiful almost-full moon and a bright clear day behind the curtains and so after getting Toby sorted out and off to school I packed my camera and set off for a walk. Winter hasn’t really been that cold here yet but there was an icy wind and in the shadowy places the crystals of overnight frost lingered. The landscape at this time of year is skeletal and stark, all angles and exposed structure and there’s not much vibrant colour. Instead everything seems muted to grey or brown, the tired and dormant colours of mid-winter. The only greens to be seen are in the thorny tangles of brambles or the lichen and mosses that decorate tree trunks. Even at midday the sun is low and casts long-shanked shadows across the ground, drawing out rich colours from the underfoot leaves and stands of dead bracken, and making me look tall and thin instead of my actual short and dumpy (woo-hoo!)
But, if you look closely, you will find tiny shoots of new growth – small signs that even when things can be perceived as stagnant and lifeless there can be the beginnings of bright, fresh hope x
little cotton rabbits 
Beautiful wintery photos Julie xx
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Beautiful photos – and well done for getting out for a walk, it takes a bit of willpower to move out from the warmth of home, but always worthwhile! I have been reading ‘The Hidden Life of Trees'(illustrated version – beautiful photography!), and would highly recommend. It made me appreciate the trees even more than previously, and was a fascinating insight into their secret world, their interdependence on each other and what happens under the soil even in the bleakest winter! Love the photo looking up at the trees’ crowns.
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Love looking at the moon! I did get up around midnight, our time, to see the eclipse. The sky was clear and the view wonderful. Freezing cold here but I could clearly see it through the skylight above my bed. Beautiful, crisp, clear night. Winter is in full swing here! Winds, snow, achingly cold temps… beautiful too! I just completed my eldest’s Masters grad cabled cardigan… the benefit of really cold evenings. It turned out gorgeous & I loved enjoyed every stitch! The process was a pleasure. It will wrap him in love & celebration!
Stay cozy!
Lori from Port Perry 🇨🇦
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Oh, your pictures are full of colour and energy! Beautiful!
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How beautiful is nature – the blue of the sky, the greens of the leaves, moss, lichen, frosted leaves and those golden circles in the log. And how lovely it is to be able to appreciate it through your excellent photography Julie! Thank you. x
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Oh Julie, I feel like I’ve taken a walk through the woods with you!! Thank you for the beautiful journey and your fine description too!! Maire in NY x
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Thank you for this post, and the beautiful pictures. You really captured the woods at this season. I feel as if I had been on that walk.
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Your photos are lovely, Julie. I would enjoy a walk in the woods too. Hope you’re enjoy the winter so far.
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True, that winter walks in the woods are missing most of the green but areas with undergrowth are suddenly explore-able and the trees reveal their structural beauty!
You always post the nicest photos. Thanks!
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Oh it’s wonderful out there at the moment isn’t it. I love the shot through the trees with that oh-so-low sun casting long shadows, fantastic. Glad you managed to get out there and enjoy it. CJ xx
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Yes those signs of new growth are a joy Julie!!
Beautiful images. 🙂
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That photo of the frosty leaves is superb. We are in the midst of an extreme heatwave where I live ( Adelaide, South Australia). Looking at your beautiful wintery photos feels just right today, where it is is almost 40 degrees Celsius already ( at 11am) and climbing – predicted to hit 45 degrees soon. I’m grateful for air conditioning!
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What a beautiful winter’s day you woke up to! Although its more muted than other times of year, this season does have its beauty….love the little frosty leafe edges 🙂
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Thanks for taking me along on your winter walk. The photos are so beautiful. I love seeing through your camera lens.
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What a lovely walk
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I wanted to be on the walk with you.
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Love your photos, Julie. Our pear trees are in full blossom here in the San Francisco Bay Area and many other buds on trees are starting to reveal themselves. It’s chilly, clear and sunny during the day now. Temps in the 60s F. We got some rain last week. Yahoo!
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Wonderful photos and so lovely to see the seasonal beauty especially as we are having an extremely hot summer in Australia. 34.5o at 5am this morning is far too hot and an expected temperature of 45o at our home just 10km from the centre of Melbourne. At least we are one day closer to my favourite season autumn.
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I always feel the same things that catch your eye intrigue me, too–but your photos are way better. Always a joy to see your photos. I love how you can gaze out at a seemingly barren landscape and find delightful little details and compositions. I haven’t been motivated enough to go out for a photo walk recently, though I was lucky enough to see the eclipse. In all honesty, I was lying down on a set of cement steps to watch and photograph it (a tiny, fuzzy disc on a black sea). I couldn’t tolerate being out for long, especially on the steps, so it was many brief dashes in and out of the house. It’s a long, slow process that you really can’t focus on for more than a couple minutes. But, I must say, in totality it looked surreal. I’m in awe of all the professional photographers and actually take more pleasure in looking at what they captured than what I saw with my naked eye and the pathetic little photos I took.
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Lovely photos. Thank you for posting.
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Stunning photos accompanied by such poetic words. My mind is now imagining what else might linger in the shadowy places with the crystals and frost. Thanks for sharing.
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stunning photography!!!
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Your photography and beautiful words took me on such a magical journey!! I have a hard time getting out in the cold weather, so it
was so wonderful to see the beauty of winter through your creative eye and lens! Thanks for sharing Julie 😊
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