Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Strength of the Mountain


She moves with a power born before the trees.





Her color is blacker than starlit darkness. It exist nowhere in these forests other than her coat.




Like a secret whispered in early summer, the strength of the mountain is reborn.


(Taken in a quiet hemlock grove with a Stealthcam I230IR Trail Camera. Starlight, Wayne County, Pennsylvania.)

20 comments:

Jaye Wells said...

You are a brave man, Jason. These are neat though. Those babies are precious.

Anthony Rapino said...

Nice pictures, and great captions/poems.

I bought my first digital camera a few months ago. I'm still messing with it, and the only pictures I have posted have been of food, but I'm hoping to get out in the woods and snap a few too.

Bev said...

beautiful shots of those wonderful creatures.....thanks Jason!

Pallav said...

BEARS!!!! ya ha ha ah...damm...man, what if they had attacked you?? I like bears though....pretty cute creatures :) All Cuddle cuddle, then they kill you...:P

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Anonymous said...

i love these black and whites. it makes the solitude of the forrest in these pics that much more real.

and bear cubs are so freaking cute.

Anonymous said...

Jaye, not so brave. ;) A trail camera is an unattended camera that is triggered by heat and motion. Once I ran into a cub in the forest, and luckily mom was not around.

Onipar, digital cameras rock! Years ago, I messed around with film photography. The ability to blow off a bunch of pictures and instantly see how they are coming out is invaluable.

Bev, it was a thrill to download the pictures from the trail camera and see these!

Nothingman, if I ran into a sow and cubs in person, I would be heading the other way. Slowly. The trail camera is a wonderful way to get a peek at what goes on when we're not there.

Kate, they are cute, aren't they? They were born in the den this year. They'll be with mom 1 1/2 years.

Terri said...

Lovely words with great photos... When I saw the pics and before reading your comments I was thinking, "This guy must be insane!!!". Now come, be honest, you wish you'd actually been there hiding behind a tree and snapping those yourself don't you..?!

Anonymous said...

That was cool.

Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...

Beautiful Jason & in a way that is breathtakingly so. :)

Anonymous said...

Righteous! Do you set something out to attract them or did you know they'd walk through this way?

Kim said...

Lovely photos.

A hemlock grove? Isn't hemlock the poison Socrates drank to do himself in?

I am guessing I couldn't find a hemlock grove in Oklahoma to save my soul.

Anonymous said...

Neat pictures. I didn't catch the part at first that this was taken with a trail camera.

My initial thought was that it'd be crapping my pants to be this close to a bear and her cubs.

Anonymous said...

Terri, hmmmm. No, that would've been way too close. I'd probably be in a full body cast now.

Steve, thanks.

Suzan, it was a privilege to get the picture. When you're dealing with an unattended camera, you don't often get such well framed moments.

JLB, I put out some old venison burger in the hope of bringing in a coyote or fox. I wasn't expecting this!

Kaycie, these are eastern hemlock trees, a very slow growing evergreen. Very pretty. The hemlock poison that did in Socrates was a plant which is also called hemlock.

Strugglingwriter, yeah, that would have been a tough moment. The wrong move could been quite bad.

s.w. vaughn said...

OMG, those are BEARS!

Okay, I'm sure you knew that. Wow... you were so close to them! It must have been an amazing experience.

I know I have chills...

AngelConradie said...

love it love it love it! wonderful post!!!

mermaid said...

The contrast between the bears' blackness and the white surroundings is powerful.

Anonymous said...

Sonya, I like knowing they are cruising near our cabin.

Angel, thanks. :)

Mermaid, that's the coolest thing about infrared photography. Growing things appear white because they reflect so much infrared light.

apprentice said...

They look like infra red shots, the green turned to white, is that what you mean by a trail camera?

Lovely shots, those cubs are adorable.

Anonymous said...

very cool, jason!!!

Anonymous said...

Apprentice, you are correct, this particular camera takes infrared shots (the main reason is to get night shots without a visible flash). By trail camera, I mean the type of camera you mount to a tree. It is triggered by heat and motion.

Anne, thanks! =)