Nature's Chaos

December 30, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

A close up on tree roots, pine needles, moss, grass, and snow. NatureNature's Chaos Reading through the text by James Gleick and looking through photographs by Eliot Porter in the Nature's Chaos book was a pleasure on multiple levels.

When you look through online photo sharing sites, photo contests, photo magazines, chances are you will find a lot of wide angle photographs with strong foreground interest, a lake or a pond, and a mountain range in the back, topped with a great sky at sunrise or sunset. There is nothing wrong with these grand vistas shot in David Muench's style. Despite how prevalent this style became I still like them too, and try to capture them any time given a chance.

But that is not all there is to nature, is it? Eliot Porter's photographs in this book show the details missed by a lot of us every day. They show the seemingly random arrangement of natural elements forming the chaos. Yet, this random chaos seems to create patters and at times may not see random at all.

Timing was right for me to go through this book too, as I was just exploring a local park and its then only thin layer of snow. I've had the book in the link on the left from a local library but later editions still seem to be available for purchase. The mathematical theory by James Gleick is kept at a fairly understandable high level and is also fairly short, most of the book consisting of Eliot Porter's beautiful photographs.

On the right, I am linking to a newer paperback edition.

On this day in the Chestnut Ridge Park (Orchard Park, NY just south of Buffalo) I was exploring the interaction of snow with different surfaces. The partially snowed in ground peeking out at spots showing grass, tree roots, and other objects, rocks with nice snow caps, or water in puddles or open sections of a tiny stream..

A close up on tree roots forming an X, pine needles, moss, grass, and snow. NatureNature's Chaos

In the first two photos, I really enjoyed how the roots created different curves and patterns and showed through the snow while the pine needles added a splash of warm color. They brought my mind back to Eliot Porter's photographs and thoughts of random or not so random natural chaos. Does the first photo appear more random that the second, with the second forming some kind of a pattern, or is it just my imagination going wild?

In the final photo, I liked the arrangement of the wet spots on an almost frozen and snowed in Shale Creek. That also seemed to cross into the minimalist area, which I have been exploring over the last year or so too.

Have fun, whether shooting the arranged or the random!

Wet spots on a frozen and snowed in Shale Creek, Chestnut Ridge Park, Orchard Park - Buffalo, New York (NY).Shale Creek, cesta na Věčný plamen v zimě


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