Winter wonderland

[GREAPER]

This weekend My friend Steve and I braved the frigid weather to shoot some winter landscapes.

We decided to make the 3 hour drive to Cuyahoga National park south of Cleveland Ohio. We went there in the FALL (http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2066122), but I was recovering from a sprained ankle I damaged on a weekend trip to Hocking Hills (http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2011911#102953075), so I did not really get the shots I wanted in the fall.

I am not sure what we were thinking on this trip as the outside temp was 8 degrees F with about 15 mph breeze. but we dressed for it. He suprised me with a couple of chemical warmers to put in my gloves. I had never used them before. Wow did they help. I will never go hiking in the winter without them again.

When we arrived there was not as much snow as we had anticipated. Cleveland usually gets more snow than we do on the other end of the lake so we thoght there would be more.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128781900-M.jpg

The trail starts out with a 30 degree slope downhill for about 300 yards. The footing was treacherous despite out boots. The trail had been used many times since he snowfall and it was hard packed and slick.

We hiked right past Blue Hen Falls pressing on to Buttermilk Falls which neither of us had visited before. The trail took another 30 minutes of hiking before we reached the top of the falls. With all of the slippery sloped trails and patches of pure ice we had to cross I kept my camera in it's padded bag whenever I moved. I fell once and jammed my wrist pretty hard when I caught myself but it only hurt for a few minutes and no permanent damage was done.

When we reached the top of the falls, the veiw was spectacular.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128781689-L.jpg

Water seeping out of the rocks everywhere had frozen into wonderfull ice sculptures.

Here is a shot with my friend Steve to give you an idea of scale (dont make fun of his canon, he is sensative about it :D )

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128780361-L.jpg

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128760639-L.jpg

We shot our fill from the top of the falls and then made the hike down to the bottom. This was VERY treacherous. I fell twice. Once I was down here I did not care for the veiw of the falls as there were deadfall trees in front of it that ruined the shot IMHO.

We hiked back out and made our way back to Blue Hen Falls. The best approach we could find to the falls was to walk down the river itself for the last 200 yards. What a spooky feeling walking up those cascades like stairs and hearing the water running beneath them.

I think thw walk was worth it.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128766745-L.jpg

Again, Steve inserted fo scale :D

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128761863-L.jpg

We shot the falls from several angles and the climbed our way back out.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128783634-M.jpg

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128764881-L.jpg

On the hike out, I liked how the light was hitting the snow. I thought this was a simple interesting composition.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128767726-L.jpg

We travel to the nearby town of Boston mills for lunch (sorry no pics Andy).

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128783962-M.jpg



http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128787630-M.jpg

We decided to stop at Brandywine Falls before heading back to Toledo.

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128789073-M.jpg

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128784696-M.jpg

What an impressive mass of ice. I did not feel that there was a good angle to shoot it from and the light was failing anyway.

I thought that a close up of the ice was interesting. It looked like calliflower (spelling?).

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128786744-L.jpg

I forgot to mention I fell down the ice covered concrete steps here as well. It is lucky I am durable.

If you are interested, the rest can be found HERE (http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2455529#128781900) Thanks for taking the trip with me.

Brian

[ian408]

Lot of ice :eek1

[Rhuarc]

Makes me want to head back home to western Maryland and do some shooting. There is a very similar looking waterfalls there called Swallow Falls. (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/swallowfalls.html) They have a couple of hiking trails around and in them. It was where I proposed to my wife. The temp that day was hovering around 20!!

Fantastic shots, just love shooting snow, even if getting the exposure down can me tough (at least for me)!!

[Skippy]

This weekend My friend Steve and I braved the frigid weather to shoot some winter landscapes.
Brian


I just fail to grasp what ice and snow like that must look like :huh
I'd be in awe of seeing such an amazing sight, funny how we take these things for granted, maybe like many of us take living next to the ocean for granted. :D

Those shots are amazing......thanks for sharing...... Skippy
.

[schmoo]

Beautiful scenery! I love winter and haven't been getting that much of it here, so this was extra interesting to me. I love the ice formations you've captured there, and Rhuarc has made me want to trek out to Swallow Falls sometime this month since it's a bit closer to home. :D

[Rhuarc]

Beautiful scenery! I love winter and haven't been getting that much of it here, so this was extra interesting to me. I love the ice formations you've captured there, and Rhuarc has made me want to trek out to Swallow Falls sometime this month since it's a bit closer to home. :D

Trust me, it would be well worth the trip!! Where at in MD are you from?

[schmoo]

I'm currently in Catonsville but have been in Baltimore City for (oh my goodness) 10 years. I've done a lot of hiking in Patapsco Park but never really ventured into the other parks in the state... but I know there's a lot of hiking to be had there, if I can remember to do it! :)

[GREAPER]

I just fail to grasp what ice and snow like that must look like :huh
I'd be in awe of seeing such an amazing sight, funny how we take these things for granted, maybe like many of us take living next to the ocean for granted. :D

Those shots are amazing......thanks for sharing...... Skippy
.

Thx for the comments Skippy. I can't really imagine living close to the ocean. It's a 9 hour drive to the Atlantic from where I live so the ocean is a big treat for me. Every place has is unique character.

Usually the grass is greener somewhere else... :D

[GREAPER]

Lot of ice :eek1

I would love to be there when it breaks up. Wouldn't that be a sight? :D

[GREAPER]

Thx Schmooo and Rhuarc.

I have never spent any time in Maryland. I am sure it is beautiful. I may make a side trip there sometime when I visit my Brother in Maine.

In the mean time I will have to watch for your pics... :D

[Nikolai]

Remember whar your Dad told you: never-ever eat the yellow snow/ice:

http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/128789073-S.jpg
:wink

JK! :rofl

Nice series! You guys get it pretty cold out there...

Cheers! :1drink

[ian408]

I would love to be there when it breaks up. Wouldn't that be a sight? :D
It sure would. I've heard the falls in Yosemite when large sheets of ice
break free and that is an impressive sound and sight.

[pathfinder]

Thx for the comments Skippy. I can't really imagine living close to the ocean. It's a 9 hour drive to the Atlantic from where I live so the ocean is a big treat for me. Every place has is unique character.

Usually the grass is greener somewhere else... :D

Toledo isn't that far from Lake Erie is it, Brian?? Lots of neat water shots around the Great Lakes.

Looks like you had a great day. :clap

Seems like many of your ice shots tend strongly towards the cyan. #6 and #10 do not seem to do this. There is always a lot of discussion about the color of snow and ice. How did you choose your color balance for these shots, Brian??

I like the shot of you friend out on the ice in front of the water fall. I must keep that tactic in mind if it gets cold enough here in the next few days.

[GREAPER]

Toledo isn't that far from Lake Erie is it, Brian?? Lots of neat water shots around the Great Lakes.



Toledo is RIGHT ON Lake Erie. We are a very busy port. Lots to shoot if you can brave the cold and wind.

The color of snow is a tricky thing. As the comment about yellow snow pointed out :D

Some of the snow had a yellow tint, some went as far as brown. I assume this is from the minerals picked up in the ground as most of this is ground water. There were even a few spots where the ice was red.

Some of the shots are blueish, and that may be because of the bright blue sky reflecting... or it could be that I was a dope and had my white balance set to a custom setting set for my lights i the studio from a recent session...:bash

Note to self... check white balance settings. :D

[S_Leeper]

Nice shots...

Do you use something like the below to help with traction?
http://www.yaktrax.com/products.aspx

[GREAPER]

Nice shots...

Do you use something like the below to help with traction?
http://www.yaktrax.com/products.aspx


No, I didn't, but I wish I had. I saw some other folks using them and they seemed very effective. Thx for the link, I think I will order some.