Re-Natured: February 2023

Photos by Carolyn Bick

Welcome to a monthly nature photography installment by Emerald reporter and photographer Carolyn Bick. While Seattle is a bustling metro, there are plenty of wild, natural spaces found in the area. We hope these photos will provide a gateway to the colors, textures, and vibrancy of the world all around us, from coastal or lakeside parks to that greenway in the middle of the neighborhood — and maybe encourage you to seek an outdoor adventure of your own.

Bare apple tree branches covered in fresh rainwater gleam in the setting sun against the backdrop of evergreen trees.

A close-up of fresh water droplets hanging off bare apple tree branches. Different colors and the barest hints of other trees can be seen in the droplets.

A vertical photograph of bare apple tree branches in focus in the foreground, with a large, out-of-focus evergreen tree in the background. Water droplets hang off the bare branches, rendering a decorated Christmas tree-like effect, as the way the branches and water droplets run across the out-of-focus evergreen tree look like strings of lights.

A freelensed photograph of water droplets hanging off bare peach tree branches. A single water drop and part of a branch is in focus, while most of the rest of the photograph is blurry.

The light of the setting sun illuminates a grove of tall evergreen trees in this vertical photograph. The trees appear to be around around 40 feet tall, and the golden light coming from the left casts dramatic shadows on the right.

Golden hour light in the setting sun makes just a small portion of a weeping evergreen branch glow in the centre of the photograph, along with part of a rhododendron plant to the bottom left.

Shadows of leaves and curled branches are thrown across the illuminated trunk of a qʷuqʷuƛəc (Lushootseed), or madrone tree, as the setting sun hits it. Its leaves are also illuminated in varying degrees of sunlight, creating different tones of green.

Branches of an evergreen tree splay like fingers against the backdrop of a blue skypeppered with clouds. The middle branches are in focus, and each little evergreen leaf is sharply defined.

Out-of-focus, bare branches look as though they are reaching for the half-moon, which is in focus in the center of this photograph. The sun has not yet set, so the moon rests in a blue sky sprinkled with clouds. There is a dark, shadowy evergreen tree to the left of the photograph.

A freelensed photograph of evergreen leaves that stretch out towards the camera like little fingers grasping for something. The leaves on the ends of these branches are in focus, but the rest are out of focus.

Carolyn Bick is a local journalist and photographer. As the Emerald’s Watchdragon reporter, they dive deep into local issues to keep the public informed and ensure those in positions of power are held accountable for their actions. You can reach them here and can check out their work here and here.

📸 Featured Image: Re-Natured is a monthly photography column by C.E. Bick. (Photo: C.E. Bick; edits by Emerald team)

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