Shadows, light, lines, patterns ... plus a blue heron with a turtle at Yates Mill Pond

It wasn’t until I got home from Yates Mill Pond Park on Thursday that I realized the vast majority of pictures I had taken earlier (yes, while on my regular walk) had vertical orientations. 

Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with that. But with this blog, I try to present in the lead-off position (at the top) a photo with a horizontal orientation so there is there not a lot of wasted space up there. Worrying about wasted space is a concern that goes back to my days as a newspaperman in Indianapolis. It’s not critical in blog world, I suppose ... but it’s still something I try to avoid. 

My photography mission Thursday didn’t occur to me until I was on the far west loop of the Creekside Trail heading back to the start, about a mile or so away from the start point. But boy, did I find lots of compositions to photograph for the category of shadows, light, lines and patterns. 

And as for the bonus — the blue heron and turtle — that’s something I had photographed the previous day. I’ll save those photos for the bottom. But I was intrigued by the proximity of the heron to the turtle in the pond. My photos were taken with my iPhone 13 Pro, so the quality isn’t the best because of the distance. 

But the first three shots of the heron and turtle were taken with 1) a brief light on the heron’s beak just before 2) dipping the beak into the water, presumably for a snack, and then 3) coming up. The fourth photo is from several frames later, about 30 seconds after the heron did a very slow strut to get closer to the turtle. 

By the time I decided to leave the two and resume my walk, the heron remained in this position; I don’t think it intended to do the turtle any harm. 

The final two pictures are from the forest landscape that I grabbed during my walk later that morning.   

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Four Days in Januaryat Yates Mill Pond Park

Day 4

Jan. 12, 2026

The fourth day of this series was notable for the bright sunlight that had returned to the North Carolina piedmont. The sunlight helped render the lead-off photo that is full of straight (and leading) lines, as well as diagonal lines and nicely spaced shadow patterns along the rail tops of the pedestrian bridges. 

The sunlight also played a role in several of the other photos you'll see in this post, beginning with the first photos below. 

And oh, about that sign on the orange cone on the far left ... there was absolutely no ice or treacherous footing there that day. 

To view a full gallery of images from this shoot, follow the link in this sentence.

Above and first four photos below: Shots I made from a second pedestrian bridge, not far from the main bridge shown in the lead-off photo. Some pretty dramatic contrasts, not to mention lines, angles and patterns. In the fourth photo, I made a shot of the bridge rail's shadow ... including my head sticking out as I took the picture.  

The above is probably my favorite shot of the day, a wonderful and dramatic vista of scores of trees, most of which are leafless, and their shadows casting a synchronistic pattern on the ground. An exception to the lack of leaves is the horizontal patch of golden leaves across the lower portion of the tree trunks. And all of this cast against a blue sky.

A photo that reminded me of an “other world” visual (above), and a nearly fully leafless tree amid sparse green vegetation (below). 

Above and below: More tall trees, golden leaves, a closely cropped tree trunk and an angular branch arched over the landscape (below).

 

Above: When I returned to the main pedestrian bridge, I saw a heron gliding across the small portion of the pond. I have no idea if this was my blue heron from the day before; I couldn't get close to it with the iPhone zoom. But I like the capture of it in rippling water just before it crosses the tree reflection ... with a duck in the background. 

 

Above: Another reflection in a slightly different section of the same area of the pond. 

Above and below: On the return trip from my walk, I stopped at a second pedestrian bridge (which isn't far from the main bridge) and took these photos of the shadows and lines there. 

When I made it to the original bridge (above and below) on the return trip, the sun had apparently shifted sufficiently to render the shadows to what you see here.