Snow Mushrooms

This past Wednesday, I ventured back out to Ann Falls (below the Lake Ann spillway in Bella Vista) to take some snow shots. I got out there around 3:30 or so. One side benefit of being a duck hunter is the fact that I have all the gear necessary for an adventure like this, such as neoprene waders and a heavy, wader-length, waterproof coat. Gloves help, too, but can be a bit of a hindrance trying to manipulate gear.

I am a huge fan of the British magazine Practical Photography. Earlier in the day, I was reading an article in a back issue about fine art photography. I pulled a piece of great advice from this article. Anybody can take the obligatory, wide-angle shot of a landscape scene. A more interesting shot comes from isolating smaller components of the landscape. With this in mind, I was on the lookout for interesting little "mini-landscapes" while slip-sliding through the stream to the base of the falls.

On-course management strategy in golf is to think your way through a hole in reverse, that is, from the green back to the tee. You see things differently. And so it was with the waterfall. Standing with my back to the falls and looking downstream, I spied a nifty snow and ice formation overhanging a large rock, just above the water. The whole formation resembled frozen snow mushrooms growing on a rock. I'm still working on this shot to bring out the texture of the snow, but that's proving to be a challenge in Lightroom, so I may have to resort to other measures. This is a black and white conversion with a light blue split tone applied to the highlights. The wisps in the background were created with a long shutter speed to turn the stream into cotton candy.

(Yes, I'm aware of the lens spots. I'll fix them. I just really like this shot and wanted to post it.)

EXIF:

Nikon D80
18-135mm lens at 44mm (with circular polarizer)
ISO 100
f/16
6 second exposure

Field Trip

During the snow and ice storm of 2009, I wanted to get out and take some shots, but trial prep prevented me from doing so. This week, I have vowed not to make the same mistake. I have my tripod and waders in the truck and I am by golly going to get some winter waterfall pictures this week (and with the temperatures being so cold this week, it's not like the snow is going to melt). So maybe late tomorrow I'm going to head to Ann Falls and/or Tanyard Creek. If you're inclined to tag along, let me know--I'm sure I'll go more than one day this week. You will absolutely need a tripod, although you may not absolutely need waders (I will be in the water, though). You will also need the ability to manually control the shutter speed of your camera. If you can't slow down the shutter speed to half a second or slower, you won't be able to get the cotton candy effect that make all those waterfall shots so dreamy.