It is the last day of December, and the last day of the year, and so this undoubtedly deserves two abstracts, even though ‘undoubtedly’ doesn’t deserve a ‘B’ in there. But let’s not let that get in the way.
Both of these were shot on the same day, one with the knowledge that it was in direct running for this wonderful opportunity, the other with the distinct possibility, depending on how it looked; I knew better than to judge based on the LCD preview on the camera back, and in fact, rarely use that for anything at all. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though.
This one was purposefully and shamelessly altered for maximum impact, or at least to make it ever-so-slightly harder to guess, which means maybe a difficulty of 5 or 6 percent. Sure, I could throw it into en editing program and provide a tougher image to guess at, but what’s the fun in that? There are so many esoteric and useless ‘filters’ in any given editing program that anyone could easily create an unrecognizable creation from a humdrum photo, but it takes real talent to simply post the humdrum photo.
Here’s the unaltered version. Well, mostly – it’s still been cropped a bit.
Jordan Lake was being notably quiet this particular day, with the barest of breezes stirring the water, so the ripples therein were small and smooth, allowing enough of a reflection of this rather branchy tree to pass with little distortion. Normally I see conditions like this early in the morning before the rising sun provides heat that starts shoving the air masses around, but this was mid-afternoon, so a little curious for that.
Ninety-some minutes later came the other.
Or course, now that I’ve explained the first, the second becomes more readily distinguishable, so I made it easy on you (or easier, dropping the difficulty level from 4 to 3 percent I gather.) The goal this afternoon/evening was some sunset photos, which you can never plan, only be ready for, and some decent frames were produced, but nothing too exciting or colorful. And yes, this was among the sunset shots that ran the tally higher right before the last Storytime post.
Next year (meaning tomorrow of course) brings a new weekly topic, as well as some year-end hoohah because I’m just as shamelessly – well, with a pinch of shame – doing that nonsense here’s-an-arbitrary-date-so-it-means-drama schtick, but it’s also winter and the slow season so it keeps a little content rolling here on the bloggohedron. Because if I don’t provide regular updates, the comments, you know, just go insane.