Icicles

This has been a particularly snowy and cold winter so far, and icicles are a commonly seen result.

When the morning sun hits the icicles hanging off our roof just outside an upstairs window, we get brilliant flashes of light coming through the glass. And I get to open the window and take pictures of the icicles!

There's a lot more going on "inside" icicles than the naked eye normally discerns. The sun glinting off them can be so bright that some of the nearby internal icicle "magic" is hard to see. The camera does a good job capturing all the details of icicles so that we can better appreciate the simple artistry of water slowly changing from one phase to another.

Enjoy!

Dog Looks On

Scratches

Icicles Aglow

Sky Portal

Icicle Udders

Very Pointy

Icicle Phalanx

Climbing Creature

Ice Knee

All photos © 2021, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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Winter Res

One of the challenges for mid-winter photography is taking pictures on a gray day. In some respects, cloudy days can be beneficial for photos, reducing the harsh contrast that a sunny day might force. On this particular outing, the sun did manage to make a very subdued showing towards the end of my route.

As ice melts, the reservoir surface is constantly changing due to the ice patterns and the different ways winter light hits the surface.

Here a few glimpses of the res from this day.

Tree Reveal

Ice Melt

Res on Ice

All photos © 2020, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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Cardinals in the Snow

We have a flowering pear tree that produces berries that Northern Cardinals, at least, seem to really like eating.

After a recent snowfall, the Cardinals were quite easy to spot, their bright red color contrasting nicely against the snow.

I decided to try to photograph them through the window, an effort that is not always rewarded with particularly sharp pictures. They were approximately 50 feet away through the glass.

While both a male and a female Cardinal were present, the photos below are only of the male. I like the muted colors of the female as well, but none of those photos were quite blog worthy, perhaps partly because she was hidden behind branches.

These are taken with my 300mm (600mm equivalent) zoom lens at 258, 179, and 240mm respectively. The first two are cropped in post, the last is not.

Snackin' in the Snow

Bird in Winter

Happy in the Trees

All photos © 2019, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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Winter in the Park

I continued to experiment with my polarizing filter when I recently visited Cushing Park.
Check out the tone of the color and, particularly, the blue skies in these photos.

Playground and Trees

Birch Tree Against Winter Sky

Silhouette Against Baby Blue

Have a Seat

All photos © 2017, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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Snow Review

I've been reviewing several of my 2016 photos, trying to catch up on some long overdue blogging, and wanted to share a few scenes I photographed back in early February. We got an impressive amount of snow during one particular evening just prior to sunset. Here are a few selected shots.

Hint of Orange

Alpenglow

This next one is slightly "soft focused" during post-processing.

Tree Textures

Snow Sticking to Branches

New Fallen Sunset

All photos © 2016, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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