I went back to the mountains this week. Out for a walk in the quiet forest as the late winter afternoon light grew dim, long before I could see it I could hear the sound of the river torrent and the rapids swollen by so much recent rain. And then as I emerged through the dense pine branches dripping with a gentle rain, a bright river of blue and white light appeared and the roar grew deafening in complete contrast to the silence of the surrounding forest…
Mike Howe 
Your describtion with the images took me right there – and I especially love the light in the first picture.
Happy New Year! 🙂
Hi Steffi lovely to hear from you, happy new year to you 🙂
Wonderful photos, Mike – such intense blue! The first pic is especially beautiful.
Thanks Jo, it was a lovely experience and I didn’t photoshop the photos at all, that’s how it looked. Very wintry and beautiful
Interesting explanation! What a cool feeling the blue gives (and it probably was cool). I was thinking back to any time I’ve been in a place like that, how true it is that there is such a contrast from the quiet of the woods and the roaring of a creek. Really two extremes. Good point, Mike.
It was a strange contrast Anneli. After a while I needed to leave the river and return to the deep quiet in the forest, so I climbed up and away from it, it was a lovely experience
A bit like closing the door on a house party and walking way out into the quiet backyard to look at the stars – only much more aesthetically pleasing.
Haha absolutely Anneli, I’ve done that many many times, glad I’m not the only one 🙂
Sounds so lovely Mike! Beautiful photos! 🙂
Thanks Elina it was really beautiful and atmospheric in the forest I really enjoyed it 🙂
I can imagine and you described it so well. Felt as if I was there. 🙂
There has to be a scientific explanation! And thanks to following Pairodox Farm I think know it:
http://pairodox.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/a-bit-of-a-stroll/
“…the filtering influence of the forest canopy also affects wavelengths of green and yellow such that the light which penetrates the canopy to reach the forest floor below is mostly in the blue end of the spectrum…”
Well blow me, I thought it was just magic 😉 Actually that’s a really interesting post and rather lovely I think, that the forest canopy filters the light so that the blue end of the spectrum remains. It certainly was the case in this forest I visited, and the remaining blue light mixed with the white light of the torrent (scientific explanation please!) was quite beautiful and provided a haunting contrast to the winter gloaming