Yearly Archives: 2015

I have always loved the insect chorus, a lullaby through an open window. Just as the sounds themselves fade as the year cools, each cricket voice slows. In 1897 the scientist Dolbear wrote an article called The Cricket As a Thermometer, setting out a complex formula where T is temperature, […]

My aunt was a nature photographer, and one of her cardinal rules was always shoot with the sun at your back. For photos she took of some of her wilder subjects- like me- this resulted in many squinting portraits as I struggled to smile with the sun burning its way […]

Nearly halfway through November, it is a strange time of year here. Most traces of autumn have faded, but winter has not yet arrived. Last night it dipped into the mid thirties, flirting with frost. So I spend spare time enjoying the final vestiges of the season, each day seeing […]

In much of the U.S., sunsets become more dramatic in autumn and winter. In the summer there is less air circulation so dust and pollution remain in the atmosphere. These large particles tend to reduce the amount of color getting through, so though there can be dramatic summer sunsets, they […]

Wood frogs provide one of the first sounds of the year, calling from vernal pools even in late winter with a chorus that sounds like tiny ducks. They move from ponds into the woods during summer and autumn, finally sheltering under fallen leaves for winter. When the temperature falls below […]

Nearly a month ago I posted a photo of beech leaves in my yard, still green as other leaves began to turn. In that month I have traveled quite a bit and seen many autumns. There was a whisper of fall in Georgia. An explosion of brilliant colors in New […]

Rain would seem to be a photographer’s enemy, but gray sky actually is nature’s gift of an enormous diffuser. The light is softened, and without the extreme exposure differences of highlights and shadows, subtle tones are revealed. The moisture even brings out more vibrant colors. I knew all this but […]

An unusual feature of the South Carolina Botanical Gardens is a caboose garden, which was donated in 1973 by the Clemson University class of 1939. The caboose came from Southern Railway, painted in a bright red color. There is memorabilia inside the car from the class, and the railway. I […]

Until moving to the mountains of northeast Tennessee, I have never lived anyplace where nature is so closely tied to the calendar. I enjoy the symmetry, each season ebbing and flowing as if the earth has its own hidden tides. Leaf forecasts suggested this would be a better than average […]