Unstoppable spring!, originally uploaded by k~owl.

When we last spoke with k~owl, the sprouts had just appeared in early January. Here is what has been happening since then, with reference to this February 5, 2010 image: Actually I can’t tell you much new about the photo – I used the same gear as I did in the other picture (Canon 40D, 50mm+macro lens, ring flash). My poor daffodils are experiencing an extreme winter, like the rest of Europe – snow since Christmas, unusually low temperatures and little sunshine. But at least it looks like the snow is melting at last, so I expect to re-discover them soon (We got 15 cm fresh snow after I took the picture and our current closed snow cover wouldn’t even allow their tops to peep out).

The comment on the photo’s flickr page offers these hopeful words: My daffodil sprouts haven’t been idle under their white blanket. The heralds of spring have re-emerged eventually … and they are singing of better days.

The heralds of spring, originally uploaded by k~owl.

Photographer k~owl tells us about this January 23, 2010 photo: The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, a 50mm f/1.4 lens and a close-up filter (Marumi DHG Achromat +5) @ f/22 (the smallest possible aperture since the close-up filter creates a very shallow depth). Camera was stabilized by a bean bag and I used a ring flash.

Location is my garden in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany. I planted the bulbs on November 8th, 2008 (not that I would remember the exact date, but I posted a photo on flickr that day: www.flickr.com/photos/dsungi/3012955781).

Well, today everything is covered under a 10-cm layer of snow again. No signs of spring or sprouts … but at least I know that they are out there, waiting for better days

Here is what k~owl wrote on the flickr post: January – the darkest and dreariest month of the year. Spring seems so far away, but today I felt like going outside and searching the garden for signs of spring. And lo and behold! I discovered the first shy daffodil sprouts cleaving through the dead leaves. A sign of hope!

If you click through to this photo on flickr, there is a second photo with more sprouts posted as a comment.