Cold temperatures make for fanciful ice formations in Fargo Brook. It’s interesting to ponder the process that creates these lovely little ice bells that are suspended from a rock and hover just above the water’s surface.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 61mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/640″ exposure.
Rain, warm temperatures, and rapid snow melt make for fast moving water in Fargo Brook where a branch of a fallen tree cuts the water. Dialing in the right shutter speed freezes the action creating a satisfying sense of flow.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 140mm, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/30″ exposure.
With the sun on the water, the right shutter speed accentuates the ripple distortions across the pebbles on the stream bed. A thin skim of ice provides something solid for the eye to rest on. I’ve found that between 1/200″ and 1/300″ exposure nails the effect.
Panasonic GX8, Olympus 60mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/8, 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.
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.
Morning dew forms perfect beads of water on the tip of a sensitive fern leaf.
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 1250, f/16, 1/500″ exposure.
There’s an unnamed brook that cascades down from Taft Road to the Huntington River. There are a series of small waterfalls and cascades along it all under the cover of a mature hemlock forest. This falls had no name so I took the liberty of dubbing it “Hemlock Falls”.
While scoping the site for the best angle, I noticed the tiny mushrooms growing on a hemlock trunk. I framed the shot and cranked down the aperture to get everything in focus. The lighting was tricky for this shot as well. It was just past midday on a partly cloudy day, and a hole in the dense canopy was allowing sunlight to fall directly on the water and right side of the scene. I had to wait for clouds to cover the sun to get any kind of worthwhile shot.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 14mm, ISO 100, f/22, 2″ exposure.
If you slow down, take your time, keep your eyes open, you just might see something special…
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/4.8, 1/2000″ exposure
We travelled to Maine over the weekend to take in a little bit of ocean. While exploring the rocks and tide pools of Fort Foster Park, I snapped these shots of sunlight glinting off the water and rockweed. A relatively slow shutter speed and tight aperture create the wonderful starbursts and light squiggles on the water.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 97mm, ISO 400, f/22, 1/30″ exposure.
John Hadden Photography 