The recent time change seems to have affected me more this year than any other year.

My colleagues tell me it’s because I’m getting older.

“Just wait ’til you’re our age!” they say.

But the benefit to the change is I can see things like this:

The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth 
all the effort. ~ Sir Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic

Winter in eastern North Carolina comes in one color: brown.

Winter rains transform open ground into a morass of dirt and mud, covered by the winter winds with a blanket of dead leaves and pine straw, leaving barren trees standing as skeletal sentinels waiting for spring’s resurrection.

In this scene of seasonal tedium I discovered a hint of things to come:

Our assignment was this:

Capture the natural world with your camera: document a moment outside, big or small. From a panorama snapped during your morning hike to a close-up of a leaf in your yard, we invite you to document this wondrous world around us.

Can’t go outside? Photograph something — furniture, architecture, etc. — that looks or feels organic, or mimics the shapes and movements of nature.

Today’s Tip: Exploring the outdoors, with camera in hand, is an opportunity to look for natural lines that lead our eyes to different parts of a frame. Envision the bend of a stream, or the curve of a petal: how can you use these lines in your composition? If you see strong vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines, can you play with the orientation to create a more dynamic composition? Can you apply — or break — the “Rule of Thirds“?

I find a sort of beauty in the asymmetrical radial lines of the pine cone against the horizontal wood grain.

I’m also kind of proud; this is the first time I can recall producing any sort of natural soft focus in the background.

What do you think?