TECHNICAL DETAILS
Sony A7ii with Sony Zeiss 16-35mm f/4 T* at 16mm. 1/40 at f11. ISO 64
HOAR FROST AND RIME ICE, BURNTSIDE LAKE
I was only up to the cabin for a single evening, driven to suffer 7 hours of driving and an impending snow storm because I left the heat on the wrong setting and was called by the alarm system with a low temperature warning. Cold weather was upon the region, and temperatures were expected to be well below zero degrees Fahrenheit in the coming days. I had to drive up and adjust the heat, but also had to return home for scheduled meetings. Oh, well.
It’s an obvious statement that I always travel with some sort of camera along. It was no different this time, and in fact, I had the full Sony kit with me. It was a good thing.
I arrived at the lake in the late afternoon, which is like 3:00 p.m. in northern Minnesota this time of year! I had to shovel out a parking spot, and get the cabin opened, the car emptied. Finally, with the evening sun starting it’s obvious glow down on the water, I grabbed a camera and walked down to the lake edge for sunset. Evidently I hadn’t really looked around too much in my hurry to get unloaded and the heat situation straightened out. But when I got down to the lake shore I was gobsmacked by the quality of the light and the incredible hoar frost coating every pine needle and tall blade of grass. At -4 degrees and the water still mostly open, it was easy to see why. The cold air settled in over the open water and was naturally coating everything in hoar frost and rime.
The sun was setting quickly and I had only a few minutes to get the tripod set up and make a few exposures. I shot this one looking to the east down the lake, framed low along the edge of the water to capture the stunning texture of the rime-coated rocks at lake edge. The ice was just setting up, and there was a light, cracked coating extending out for maybe 20 yards before opening up in the large part of the lake where the depth and the wind keeps it from freezing until extended cold sets in.
My hands numbed quickly. I had to hold my breath while composing a shot if my head was close to the camera body so I didn’t fog the display. I was able to capture images in both directions, ultimately resulting in two which I was very happy with. Of the two, this is my favorite. But the photographer’s favorite is often not the same as that of the audience! I submitted both images to CaptureMinnesota.com, a website dedicated to photographs of Minnesota by local photographers. And I was very surprised to see that the other shot was awarded with Photo of the Day, which is especially gratifying as it’s voted on by peers. You can see the posting here. So it just goes to show you, there’s no accounting for taste.
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