A lick of frosting

Winter tends to hang on well into April up this way and so I found myself on snowshoes in mid-March. We had freezing fog overnight and oh it was beautiful. Not hard to make the effort to get out in it. Again I found myself on the beaver pond. This time I walked out further since it had been so cold for so long that I knew the ice was quite thick. I struggle with white balance with these conditions, but I did my best. Snow is rarely true white, so there is always some color. Seeing that it was morning and the sun still low, I kept things fairly cool.

I like the layers in that scene. The beaver lodge is accessible now, but in summer it’s harder to get close to, but I might try near the dam and see what I get. The light could have been a little better, some sun breaking through the clouds would have been perfect, but what can you do? At least it wasn’t super windy to knock the frost off the plants. When it got above freezing toward the end of my outing, it was falling off really fast. But it lasted several hours and it was so nice to be out. Kind of magical and oddly soothing.

Winter isn’t threatening for me. Even when we get storms, they aren’t as powerful or as destructive as our summer thunder and lightning events. Those cause the most damage. But winter is like a cozy blanket a lot of the time. Especially when the snow is fluffy and there is wispy frost on everything. So delicate and soft. The least whisper of wind will be the end of it and so whenever it forms, I can’t resist. It’s almost other worldly.

Woodland scenes are harder to photograph. A lot of the intricate shapes of the branches are far overhead and against the overcast sky, didn’t work very well. First I started with a trail shot –

But then I went off trail and tried to isolate some of the hornbeams that still had leaves.

I think they work, but they are messy aren’t they?

Then I went over to the river because on my way home I saw the fog was lingering there. Usually I shoot this little island from the road and I did, but then I went to a trailhead by the dam and shot it from there. From the road it’s broadside to me, but this way it’s long side –

I got so lucky with the fog on this one. And yeah, the frost is pretty great, too.

I’m writing this on April 9th and we should see the last of the snow this week as temperatures climb into the 50s. There is one more wintery post coming and then hopefully spring. I have some plans to try my hand at more serious bird and wildlife photography as well as a full kayaking plan. The two go together as well so critters from the kayak! Oh and I plan to see about the potential of another few Prairie River sites I didn’t explore last year. Maybe try for the headwaters again. Anyway, as beautiful and fun as winter is, I’m pretty sick of it now. Hail spring!