Clematis on a Frosty Morning

Clematis virginiana is a native plant for North Carolina. In October I found it clambering along the fences in the rural area of Wayah Creek in the western area of the state. By October it has gone to seed in frothy, tangled orbs of thread.

Out in the crisp, bright air of morning I was rambling up and down the road near the cabin. A particularly pretty lichen-encrusted fence post was home to this clematis in it's wine and green foliage. The sun, already high in the sky, was barely peeping over the neighboring mountain, casting the woods along the sliver of pasture into a frosty glare. Everything glittered. Staring into the pasture I could pick out the oranges of dried grasses and fall trees.

Much later I realized there was a soda can in the grass, but despite being litter, I kind of like it there. It helps to harmonize the fractured oranges of the distant haze...and it serves as a small comment on life in America: soda cans tossed in the ditch, people focused on getting somewhere fast, revving on sugar and indifferent to the rich tapestry flying past the window. I guess that's why I love being out and about with the camera. It makes me slow down. I encounter and appreciate so much more of the landscape and of this marvelous Earth when I am out hunting for beauty.

The original of this image is very soft on the focus due to low-light lens limitations and my own lack of awareness at the time. Since I am always shooting for painting references, the use of post processing filters doesn't bother me. It actually helps me see the image in a more painterly way. It is remarkable how differently an image 'feels' inside my head when it breaks away from relentless realism of journalistic photography.

Nikon CoolPix 5700