The question is not what you look at, but what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

The forest floor in early May at Elk Garden, VA (click to enlarge)

Winter is usually thought of as gray and stark. Spring is viewed as a time of color – the varied greens of leaf out and the splashes of color from the unfolding display of wildflowers. But there are times even in spring when something catches my eye – a pattern, a texture, a shape – and I stop and look at it in a different way, aim the camera, and focus on the essence of the subject, which is often best relayed through colorless glasses. Here are some examples from my recent trip to Elk Garden, Virginia:

Wake Robin trillium (click to enlarge)

Fern fiddlehead (click to enlarge)

Fern fiddlehead (click to enlarge)

Solomon’s Seal flower buds (click to enlarge)

Unfurling leaves (click to enlarge)

Violet (click to enlarge)

Squirrel Corn (click to enlarge)

Trout Lily (click to enlarge)

Mayapple leaf (click to enlarge)

Take a moment on your next stroll though the woods and stop and look with a new set of eyes and see what you see.