Spring has sprung on Blue Spring Road

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Rain by jansenphotojansenphoto (Dutch goes the Photo!)

Rainy day moments!

Spring in the Mid-Atlantic of the United States isn't as edible as spring in the West Indies, but it's more colourful. I have learned to enjoy the display.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Rain by jansenphotojansenphoto (Dutch goes the Photo!)

Rainy day moments!

Feeling bored, I picked up some camera gear and drove out to Duke Farms in Hillsborough. Just a few minutes from my house as I drove along Blue Spring Road, I noticed the pink blossoms on one of the trees. So I pulled over and captured a few images. I just love how all the pink looks against a background of green.

Even though I spend most of it indoors, with a runny nose, and itchy and watery eyes, and I can barely breathe, spring is my favourite season of the year. I grew up in the British West Indies (Caribbean) where there is no fall, no spring, and definitely no winter. But it's not summer all year long.

There is the dry season and a wet season. The dry season runs from about February to June while the wet season starts in July and ends in January. During the wet season, there is less sunshine and more rain. Of course, there is also a hurricane season which starts in June and ends in November. Ignoring the occasional tropical rain forest shower, with blue sky weather and warm sunshine, the dry season is an ideal time for the islands.

During that wet season, the rains come more frequently and last longer. The land turns an even deeper shade of green. The islands enter a time of renewal when the fruit trees bear so much fruit; bananas, mangoes, java plums (Syzygium cumini), cashews, plum rose (Syzygium samarangense ), soursop (Annona muricata), sugar apple, acerola cherries, coco plum, Bequia plum (Spondias purpurea), guava, guinep (Melicoccus bijugatus), golden apple (Spondias Dulcis), avocado, and papaya. The list of fruits is long.

Spring in the Mid-Atlantic of the United States isn't as edible as the wet season in the West Indies but it's more colourful. I have learned to enjoy the display. And the beer.

Spring is also a time of renewal for me. It's when I come out of self-imposed hibernation both literally and emotionally. It's time for me to be outside, go hiking in the woods or on long walks with Bhavna.

I have decided to release the images under a Creative Commons Zero license. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. You can download the images from Unsplash.

Signs of spring along Blue Spring Road
Signs of spring along Blue Spring Road
Signs of spring along Blue Spring Road

Sometimes the rain brings ...

This was an unplanned shot. I read somewhere that one can find a good sunset following rain. It rained intermittently all day. The pavement was wet when I looked out my bedroom window this morning. Perhaps that was in the back of my mind when I walked out of my doctor's appointment and noticed that it had rained slightly during my appointment. I looked up at the sky and then quickly drove up Route 27 along Carnegie Lake to the Kingston end of the D&R Canal trail.

I wasn't sure I would find a good place to shoot the sunset. The dam is under repair so the area I thought I might use was not accessible. I walked along looking for a clearing in the trees. The golden light was fading fast.

I had some challenges with the tripod. I recently changed to an Arca Swiss style clamp and camera bracket. In my haste, I brought with me only the tripod, camera remote, and level. This proved to be a mistake. The Arca Swiss bracket was loose. The Allen wrench was in the camera bag in the car. I tightened as best I could with my keys. I had to do this several times in between shots.

I didn't realize it but the battery in the camera was almost exhausted. After about four sets of bracketed images, the battery gave out. Good thing too. I was so engrossed in focusing and composing the shot I did not notice that the light was fading fast and the sunset was almost ended. I had a long walk back to the car.

The image is a three exposure HDR from Photomatix. I applied a filter I created in Adobe Lightroom. What do you think?