Water Metamorphoses
Mysterious transformations of water
Water is not only the source of life, cloaked in secrets of its properties and its origins on earth, it is also the only substance that appears in three very different states in nature: as a liquid, a solid and a gas.
The transformation from one state into another happens in a constant cycle. Most obvious, through the process of evaporation driven by the sun, is the transformation from liquid water in the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers to the gaseous state in the form of vapor. This is also true of the plant transpiration.
When the water vapor rises high into the troposphere it condenses back to liquid water in the form of rain drops, which might then travel visible in dark clouds over great distances before it returns to earth in the form of rain. Sometimes the rain is accompanied by a symbol of the water cycle: the magical rainbow which seems to connect the sky with the earth.
The transformation from one state into another happens in a constant cycle. Most obvious, through the process of evaporation driven by the sun, is the transformation from liquid water in the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers to the gaseous state in the form of vapor. This is also true of the plant transpiration.
When the water vapor rises high into the troposphere it condenses back to liquid water in the form of rain drops, which might then travel visible in dark clouds over great distances before it returns to earth in the form of rain. Sometimes the rain is accompanied by a symbol of the water cycle: the magical rainbow which seems to connect the sky with the earth.
Image 1 | Rain Clouds
Image 2 | Celestial Twins
Under certain atmospheric conditions condensation occurs on the ground, resulting in the creation of dew and giving the impression that it is coming out of nowhere.
Image 3 | Dew in a Spider Web
Image 4 | Winter Wonderland
A process similar to the transformation to rain occurs when it snows, with the difference being, that the metamorphoses high in the sky is directly from the gaseous to the solid state in the form of tiny, icy snowflakes. It is hard to believe but each single snowflake is unique in shape based upon a six-fold symmetry with infinite variations!
Image 5 | Snow Crystals (by Bentley)
Image 6 | Snow Crystals (by Bentley)
Other magical transformations occur on the ground at temperatures of zero degree Celsius and below when water becomes ice and water in the gaseous state changes to hoar-frost. Under very special conditions it changes to window-frost and angel hair-frost, only to return to liquid water when the temperature rises again above zero degrees Celsius.
Image 7 | Ice Patterns
Image 8 | Hoar Frost
Image 9 | Window-Frost
Image 10 | Angel Hair Frost
Unlike all other substances where the solid weighs more than the liquid, ice weighs less than liquid water. This is the reason why the metamorphosis of water to ice takes place on the surface of a body of water. This unique phenomenon enables animals that live in the water to survive underneath the frozen surface. However the metamorphoses on the water’s surface can produce some extraordinary and beautiful artistic patterns and pictures which show the spirit of nature.
Image 11 | Offsprings of the Atlantic Ocean in Bavaria
Image 12 | Water Metamorphosis
The figures of those delicate ice formations, their structures and colors, reflect the secrets of transformation, order and transience in nature. Magical forces of order act together at a very brief moment creating many unique, magical pictures, enriched by a never ending variety of light effects, mirages and inclusions.
These “works of art” where nature is the artist, usually emerge during the coldest parts of the night. At times they radiate in magical blue or other colors of the spectrum and dissolve completely when the sun’s warming rays appear, never to be recreated in the same shapes. Photography can capture these metamorphoses of water to make them visible to the viewer. Making this micro cosmos visible illuminates the magnitude of the universe.
These “works of art” where nature is the artist, usually emerge during the coldest parts of the night. At times they radiate in magical blue or other colors of the spectrum and dissolve completely when the sun’s warming rays appear, never to be recreated in the same shapes. Photography can capture these metamorphoses of water to make them visible to the viewer. Making this micro cosmos visible illuminates the magnitude of the universe.