Spring Dogwoods
There was a five day stretch in early May when it seemed like all the dogwood trees in the world bloomed at once. We went from a winter that just wouldn't quit to flowers and leaves bursting from the branches.
I've always liked the early part of spring when you see the fresh varied green of young leaves on the trees, but you can also still see the branches. This fleeting view only lasts for about two weeks. In the summer, the canopy of mature leaves covers the entire tree in solid green and hides it's inner branches. But for a couple weeks in spring, you get fresh shades of green connected by a network of twisting branches. Add some rain and those branches get darker and share equal billing with the green of spring.
I visited this same small woodland two years ago and posted a dogwood photo in the May 2016 blog. As I was driving to the location in the morning, I wondered why... since I had already seen everything and photographed everything there. Towards the end of my morning, I remembered the tree I photographed two years ago and saw that it was completely different - some branches died off and others were blooming. And because dogwoods are such fragile trees, the swirling shapes made by the white flowers seen from a distance were different than they were two years ago - because of the natural growth and death cycle of the trees. It was a reminder that everything changes - the trees, the weather, the light, and the person observing or photographing.
I was glad I spent a couple hours that cloudy morning looking again at things I had seen before. Try it - you might be surprised too!