City SpringFort Wayne, March 2012

Country SpringSalamonie Reservoir, March 2012

It seems the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had over the last month or so has managed to thoroughly confuse the local plant life. Almost everything capable of blooming or budding seems to have done so over the last couple weeks. It’s been a good time to head outside for a walk, wherever you’re at.

I took the camera out last weekend for a walk around downtown, for the first time in a couple months. It was a good reminder of how quickly you can get out of practice with something when you don’t keep on top of it. Consequently, I didn’t come home with any great photos, but there’s still something about that low, late-winter light that I like.

Shadows #2Fort Wayne, February 2012

I guess we’re a couple weeks into 2012 at this point, but that’s OK. It’s not like timeliness has ever been a major concern for this site. I hope everyone’s having a happy new year so far. Looking back on 2011, it was kind of a rough year from a lot of perspectives, so I’m hopeful that this year will be a better one.

Parapet Brook New Hampshire, August 2011

I suppose "ill-fated" is probably a little overdramatic. I had that camera for something like 6 years, and I got some pictures I really like out of it. That’s not a bad run for a digital camera, especially considering some of the conditions I hauled that one through.

Regarding the photo itself, I was continually surprised at the amount of water we encountered in the Presidentials. We had to cross countless streams like this pouring down the sides of the mountains, and there were even a few small lakes up above the treeline. I expect to see that out West, where there are glaciers that melt all summer to feed the lakes and streams, but not in the lower mountains out East. With the difficulty we ran into hiking out there in relatively dry August, I can’t even imagine climbing those mountains in the spring with snowmelt and rain.

White Mountains New Hampshire, August 2011

Fortunately it wasn’t my bigger, newer camera, it was the little Panasonic I carry in a chest pouch when I hike.  Still, it was pretty disappointing.  Not only is the other camera more work to get out and get set up (which cut down on the number of photos I shot during the trip), I’ve always been fond of the Panasonic’s native “widescreen” format which encouraged me to experiment with shots like the one above.  I haven’t inquired with Panasonic yet to see how much repairs would cost, but I suspect they’ll be expensive enough that the money would be better put toward a new camera.  So it goes with modern technology…