Charles T. Low Photography

One of the nice things about February is that it contains Valentine's Day. I used to be a bit a humbug about it, and then one year embraced it, giving flowers to the people whom I loved most, and they all liked it more than I could have predicted.

Not that I need my spirits lifted. I don't get the winter blahs or the February Blues, and all who do receive my sympathy. I do nothing to avoid them. They simply don't visit upon me.

As I say to the many who disparage winter: it doesn't really last very long, and certainly has a beauty all its own. And we don't live in log cabins or tents; there is really very little for us (most of us, to be fair) to endure.

Nonetheless, has this not been an exceptionally and persistently cold and snowy winter in Eastern Ontario? Sure feels like it. I saw -33ºC on a thermometer when out photographing one morning, and that doesn't happen most years. (This by the way and of course is almost certainly, if counter-intuitively, from man-made global-warming.)

Artistically, it's easy for me to blame things on the ongoing pandemic, but, along with the weather, it is true that recently my output has dropped. Also, I do not continue to show new work just because I made new work (standards!). However, I have been planning for an upcoming exhibition at the Brockville Library (so follow me or subscribe to the blog to learn more as the date approaches), very exciting, and have submitted to several competitions, and have been a winner in one of them — also more on that in the near future.

This all took time. I plan now get back to more hours with camera.

Oh, and the roses came from Colonial Flowers. Their work has always been superlative — clearly artists of the highest order in their own right.

Now, many artists including myself also love "decrepitude" as a subject, and some may find the symbolism disturbing (I do not), but the tones and textures appeal to me very strongly. The following is over a week later.

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This is Water Street, looking back from Blockhouse Island, pre-sunrise, over a partially-frozen St. Lawrence River to frosted trees and an overcast sky.

I found it interesting that on that day, a short distance inland, the trees sported much less frost — a river effect, I presume.

I made another edit of it, and to me it looks almost like a different photograph. I like them both. Neither quite captures what I saw with my eye at the time, and that (for the art-photographer) is often completely intentional.

A different image from the same session:

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February Blues (and Reds, and Whites)

Every month in Eastern Ontario is magical, February being no exception.

Remember to look through my portfolio. Almost everything is for sale. I favour large wall art, and also deal in small prints, notecards, and postcards.

I would love it if you were to subscribe to this blog, and refer friends.

Thank you all so much for reading! I would love to hear from you.

Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #78
2022-03-03

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