Poem for a Saturday

1/160s (bracketed HDR), f/5.6, ISO 800, 30mm

Encounter

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going?
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

Czeslaw Milosz (1936)

Frosty

1/640s (bracketed HDR), f/8.0, ISO 400, 24mm

Here's a shot from Slivsø (Sliv Lake) near Haderslev in Denmark.  The lake is one of the largest in southern Denmark but was drained and used for farm land for almost half a century.  It's a beautiful spot any time of the year but it feels particularly peaceful in the winter.  I used moderate HDR processing to capture the details in the sky.

Ducks in the Snow (橡皮小鴨)

1/400s, f/1.2, ISO 400, 50mm

Las month, I visited Denmark for a few weeks.  It was the harshest winters in decades and sadly so cold that it was difficult to get out and shoot a lot.  I decided to do a winter version of a picture I shot this summer on my parents' lawn.  The shot has the same happy, whimsical feel as the pervious one, and I like the contrast between the yellow ducks and the white snow.  This time I used the 50mm f/1.2 with the lens wide-open.