snow

Stebbins Gulch

As a participant in the Holden Arboretum Winter Photography Workshop, we hiked into Stebbins Gulch. The icicles are amazing, with some more than 20 feet tall. This area is designated by the National Park Service (U.S. Department of Interior) as National Natural Landmark in 1967

For more on Stebbins Gulch, visit Holden Forests & Gardens website.

Ice Flows

Yesterday I took my dog to the park at Lake Erie Bluffs so we could hike down to the beach for picture taking. She was a trooper. Even though the ground was cold, she followed along, no leash. She did have a light jacket to help keep her warm.

Down at the beach, the sand was still partially frozen, but it was warm enough that the lake water had started to melt. Chunks of ice were floating around, moving west with the currents. There was one little pocket where the water was calm and the prettiest blue I have seen on Lake Erie. 

This wasn't a shot I had planned, but I tried to get a nice one. Sadly, my DSLR photos of this area didn't turn out, but I got a beautiful pic with my iPhone.  Photographed and edited in Camera+

Winter Walk at Gully Brook Park

When I turned in Saturday night there was a light rain with temperatures hovering just above freezing. When I woke up, everything was covered in a beautiful fluffy white blanket of snow. The sky was overcast, but there was no wind, not even a breeze. After breakfast I headed over to one of my favorite parks to get some pictures of the snow covered trees, before the snow melted or blew off the branches. 

I've been experimenting with black and white images, and I really like the way they turn out in the snowy scenes. Three photos in this set were converted to black and white. 

Winter Walk

New Year's Day I woke up to a heavy snowfall. After fussing around the house and snowblowing the driveway, I grabbed me gear and headed over to the Lake Metro Parks Chair Factory Falls. There had only been a couple people there throughout the day (based on the footprints in the snow). The snow that collected on fences and trees had remained undisturbed. The hike down the hill to the falls was a little slick, but manageable.  The falls were partially frozen.

With all the white snow, and lack of color, aside from some evergreens, I decided to convert the files to black and white. Earlier in the week my friend, Andrea, posted a fun art related project for her friends on Facebook. Anyone who wanted to participate was assigned an artist to research and find an interesting photograph of there work. I was assigned Ansel Adams who is known for his iconic black and white landscape photographs. I would say this definitely inspired me to look for or create an opportunity to shoot in black and white.