Shutterbugs is a venue for photographers to push beyond existing formats in search of new ways to diary creative imagery. Sunday Shutterbugs is a weekly community diary publishing at 11:30 Central with a rotating host. Readers are encouraged to contribute their own images in comments. Don't forget to click the orange ♥ !
~
The highest good is like that of water.
The goodness of water is that it benefits the ten thousand creatures;
yet itself does not strive,
but is content with the places that all men disdain.
(from the Tao de Ching, 老子 Laozi, 6th c BC, transl. Arthur Waley, 1934)
~
Water speaks to me, as it does to many of us. Elemental, fundamental, source of life, quiet beauty and humble strength. It supports us every day, and yet is a mystery.
These images are all from fresh water flowing, light being refracted by its movement and reflected back into my camera. Puddles, marshy creeks, ditches and other mundane watery places are generally disdained by us, but look what beauty is there, as water quietly flows down toward the sea, nourishing and sustaining us on its way.
(All these photos are in Lightbox mode; click on an image for a larger view)
~
Here is a colorful summer creek in south Snohomish county (Washington state). Duckweed and orange Jewelweed blossoms float on the surface. Creekside vegetation reflects from the surface, lines curved by the uneven water, foliage and flowers a mosaic.
~
~
I first started paying attention to images from water under my feet a few years ago when I looked into a mudpuddle in my driveway.
The silhouetted alders overhead were not just a reflected image, but also refracted (bent) by the ripples on the surface of the puddle.
~
The puddles and creeks beneath us are beautiful! I began looking at water images. All the other photos here are a succession of images seen in that little Snohomish county creek since that time.
In the fall, after the jewelweed-blooming season, the creek was backed up into a pool by a beaver dam.
~
Looking at the surface of the beaver dam pool, bare streamside vegetation flickers in the gray light of an autumn day as the water pours over the dam.
(more photos below the orange swirly wave)
~
~
~
Here's a pipe draining runoff water in a ditch in springtime, creating a dynamic veil of fresh green and crystal.
Now we're looking inside and through the water. The refraction now ripples the grass behind the veil.
~
~
I was at the creek just a few days ago, and tromped through the brush to see the state of the beaver dam this year. On a miraculously sunny November day, the slanted afternoon light illuminated a shallow rivulet, pouring over some downed branches.
~
Green grass and water weed are still growing, immersed in this tannin-rich water.
~
~
I can get lost in the abstract impressionistic patterns, different every moment.
~
~
~
Stepping back, I make my way around to the house, crossing a bridge. Looking over the side, ferns edge the wide slow creek, with the last light of day reflecting from the bare trees to the water's surface...and then to my eyes.
...
I take pictures of water often - whenever there's a magical mix of light and movement - I hang over the surface, camera pointing downward, strap securely around my wrist. I have photos from quiet bays at the seashore, tropical coral reefs, wave surge over rocks, underneath docks, and more to come.
Thank you for dropping by to view these somewhat strange watery images. I'd be pleased to hear any thoughts or suggestions in the comments below.