How do you convey a sense of the winter season? Do you take wide-angle shots of snow-covered mountain peaks? Do you show vast fields or forests or frozen ponds, all blanketed in white?
I didn’t really have a plan when I set out for a walk in my neighborhood after a recent storm that dumped over six inches of snow (about 15 cm) on us. The sun was shining and the snow was beautiful, though it was windy and cold. I walked for a while, taking in this uncommon view of the common scenery (we don’t get snow very often in Northern Virginia), when I caught sight of some motion out of the corner of my eye—an oak leaf was dancing across the surface of the powdery snow.
When the leaf came to rest, I hurried toward it, wanting to capture the simple beauty of this winter still life that conveyed to me a sense of the winter season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
The shadow looks like a doorway to …..
Yes you captured it all right. Six inches – that’s something!
By your standards, it’s not much, but it was enough to close the federal government for a day and schools for several days.
Really well seen
Nice post today, Mike. Good photos, great thoughts, nicely written. 🙂
Love it!
I believe you conveyed winter perfectly.
Dance on!
You have seized the moment just beautifully. I really like this dance!
[…] Center (post forthcoming) for a little exercise and photography. The day before I had seen Mike Powell’s photography blog post on his “Dancing Leaf” photo conveying winter, and I was inspired on such a simple […]
Mike, I ‘liked’ this post of yours on the 24th, and truly do love it. Such a simple shot. During my Saturday snow hike, your post popped up in my mind when I saw leaves in the snow, and so I hunted for my leaf-op to see what I could create. What fun it was!! I just posted it, with a thanks to you for the inspiration! Thanks again!
You’re welcome. Inspiration can come in so many forms and sometimes the simplest subjects can help us produce beautiful images. I’m glad to see that you enjoyed my photo enough to remember it and then to seek a similar opportunity.
[…] Dancing leaf […]