Photo of the Week – February 21, 2013

This photo reminds me of something, but I can’t figure out what it is.  Help?

Melting snow around the base of prairie grass.

Melting snow around the base of prairie grass.

The photo shows melting snow crystals around the edge of some prairie grass.  You can’t see the grass because I focused in very closely on the snow crystals, with shadows in the background for contrast.

The “character” on the left is very familiar somehow…

Photo of the Week – February 14, 2013

It’s a tough time of year to be a wildflower photographer.  The first spring flowers are still months away, and fall flowers are a distant memory.  What’s a guy to do?  Gotta make the best of things, I guess.

Here’s a shot from a few weeks ago when we still had snow on the ground.

A frosty rosinweed seedhead in winter prairie.

A frosty rosinweed seed head in winter prairie.  Aurora, Nebraska.

Many wildflowers lose the majority of their flower parts as winter sets in, making them relatively uninteresting to photograph.  Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) is an exception; while this one has lost its seeds, it has retained much of its characteristic shape, making it easy to identify and fun to photograph.

The frost doesn’t hurt either.