This female cardinal seemed to know she was on camera, giving me a fine “come hither” look over her shoulder as I snapped several shots. Of course she could also be thinking, “Hey, who you lookin’ at?”
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/200″ exposure.
Robin & I took a short hike up Cobb Brook yesterday afternoon. I was confident that we’d find some interesting ice formations among the stream’s numerous falls and cascades. We were not disappointed. The hilight was finding these ice discs or ice pans floating in the pool beneath one of the larger falls. These discs form as ice accumulates in slow moving eddy currents. The discs ranged in size here from around 16″ to over 3 feet.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 14mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/25″ exposure.
Bundling up and marching off into the snow when it’s below zero has its rewards. These tiny and delicate hexagonal plate ice crystals formed along the bank of Fargo Brook where stream undercutting has exposed bare soils to the frigid air. When damp warmth filtering out of the ground meets the air the crystals form. These crystals were only a few millimeters wide so getting in close with a macro lens was necessary.
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/16, 1/160″ exposure.
Sub-zero temperatures do have their advantages…
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 320, f/9, 1/640″ exposure.
Light morning snow bedecks the dried seed head of Queen Anne’s lace—a fine little basket of snow.
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/4, 1/4000″ exposure
This abstract photo is actually a paw print. I’m guessing a coyote judging by the size and the placement of the prints across the ice. The animal was running across the thin ice surface of a local beaver pond and its feet were breaking through the slushy ice in places. Cold overnight temperatured had allowed for a thin skim of fresh ice to form in the print.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 40mm, ISO 800, f/13, 1/160″ exposure.
Yesterday’s surprise snow storm made for a pretty morning as the sun rose in a cloudless sky. With a strong southerly airflow, temperatures rose quickly and the 4″ of snow we received is on its way to melting.
According to Mary Holland, this is a boom year for conifer cones, and my observations from around our area bares this out. Those critters that feed on conifer cones—red squirrels, voles, waxwings, chickadees, nuthatches, grosbeaks, crossbills, and siskins—should see a bit of a bump in their numbers next breeding season.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 84mm, ISO 800, f/10, 1/640″ exposure.
When the leaves disappear, subtler natural forms start to emerge. This twist of grape tendril caught my eye on my way up Taft Road.
Panasonic GX8, Olympus 60mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/800″ exposure
Early ice and reflected sky in one of the beaver ponds along Taft Road.
There’s quite a growing complex of beaver ponds along Taft Road now. Cold temperatures have started to close the open water, and the beavers are working overtime (if there is such a thing in beaverland…) to gather enough food to make it though the winter in their lodges bound by ice.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 46mm, ISO 800, f/9, 1/500″ exposure.
John Hadden Photography 