Shots of the Day - # 53 - Looking Back on a Triple-Digit Day

One day this week, the temperature in Baltimore hit 104 degrees. I give thanks for air conditioning.

As I shelter in place, I worked to select favorite images to set aside in a ‘Best of the Year’ folder…a practice I’ve employed since going digital in 2005. A set from February caught my attention. You can imagine that pictures of fresh snow could be particularly attractive on a scorching day. I paused my review of the rest of this year’s shots to post some thoughts.
   

Hungry Cat and Dismembered Monkey (12 February 2025)

When it snows here, I enjoy taking the camera down our wooded paths to find images. This snow was of a consistency that made it cover vegetation in a particular way. I suggest (even without mind altering substances) one can see familiar figures in natural settings. We do it with clouds. Instead of ink, these are like white Rorschach tests.
    

When You Come to a Four in the Road… (12 February 2025)

While this snowfall was not particularly beautiful and the images have limited aesthetic appeal, I believe they have achieved ‘Best of’ status because of their titles. As I noted in 2017 (S.O.D. #5), my image titles are almost always mundane, ‘place-date’ affairs. Once in a while, there is this urge to call it something else. I do believe a clever title can influence an image’s reception.

Anyway, put another ice cube in your cold drink and know that in six months, you may be shoveling snow again.