While the weather can't seem to make up it's mind I temporarily escaped to enjoy nature! I even dug out my camera. I was bad and requested a trip that is about a fifteen minute drive from the apartment. The weather was warm enough for me to venture outside so we drove over and hiked to the quarter mile path to Tinker Falls. Tinker Falls often freezes nearly solid in the winter. Many years ago my husband and donned proper attire for hiking on the ice and managed to climb up to and behind the falls. It was magical. I know I wrote a blog about it but that is long gone as it was over decade ago now. This day although much of the waterfall was frozen, it was flowing. So the folks who hiked up and behind it were lucky to not get impaled by the thawing stalagmites of ice. I started off using my nifty fifty lens and then switched to the Irix 150 f2.8 macro lens to try to capture more of the details of the ice even though I couldn't get up close myself. The colors and different patterns were a bit mesmerizing. While the air was brisk it smelled so good! As we hiked backed to the car I stopped to shoot some ice that had formed on the bottom of a fallen tree. I almost think that was more exciting to photograph than Tinker Falls itself. The variation of colors and and textures pulled at me. I guess some logs do have teeth, if you want to have a bit of fun. Is this a giant creek shark? Look at the rows of ice teeth! The hike was very brief and I was not ready to go back to the apartment. So we stopped at Labrador Hollow Unique Area just around the corner. We visit here often as it is a nice place nearby to hike. Our son did not want to walk the boardwalk so we took the trail through the woods that goes past a large vernal pond. I grabbed my camera and a couple of lenses. Turns out I only used the nifty fifty. The sun was hovering just above the hills when we started into the woods at the edge of a field. There are some really neat trees along the trail and the light was just right to try to gather up my "inner Adam Gibbs." Adam Gibbs is a nature photographer who loves photographing trees and landscapes on YouTube. I loved the way the trees lined the trail and the mix of curves and colors they displayed in the last bit light. I didn't care that I was being left behind by my family. This was a creators playground and to wait would mean to lose the perfect light. All my shots were handheld as I opted not to lug the tripod with me. Who knows maybe it was a mistake, anyways it was a small moment of glory. I escaped the cage and was free if only for a moment. I wonder what those trees were whispering about. I imagine they were saying" look at the crazy photographer. She thinks she can properly shoot us with a 50mm lens, she should be using the wide angle lens. Ahh, well, I'm sure I will get another chance since it is of course my son's favorite hiking trail. Often times you think you have managed a great shot only to find out it is not. Sometimes the vice versa it true too. With gas prices so high and the huge task of finding and affording a home at hand we won't be traveling much. The next day we stayed at the apartment. The weather was glorious outside and I was going completely stir crazy. I grabbed the camera and walked outside to the pond I photographed the plant life in the pond through a hole in the melting ice with the macro lens. Then I found an orange leaf on the ice to play with. I am not impressed with how those photos turned out. Walking around the pond I found footprints of a creature embedded in ice. I am going to guess they are muskrat prints based on knowing a pair lives here. Then I walked around the pond a bit more and discovered photographic gold! It would be a macro shot. The moment did not last long as few gusts of wind rocked the water the bubbles under the ice escaped and popped. Still it was pretty cool to capture nature made bubbles under the ice! What do you think? Leave a comment below!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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