Patterns of Bark

Yesterday was a gorgeous winter day, perfect for taking a drive around Ontario’s Grey County and Georgian Bay areas. I think typically people don’t find trees beautiful unless they have their foliage, but I was captivated by the various patterns and textures of the trees in this little patch of forest along the Bruce Trail. The challenge came later when I had to adjust the colouring in Photoshop. I hope I got the greys and browns of the tree bark right after I adjusted for the blueish cast of the snow. I was so worried that the snow remained too blue that I had to compare to random snow shots found online. It was comforting to see that snow shows various colours, depending on the light, in the work of professional photographers. This is another case where the eye makes adjustments that the lens does not, and we always perceive snow as white. Still, I think I’ll add “snow” to my list of photographic challenges, right along with “photographing a black dog.”