From knowledge that rime ice forms in a fog or cloud and hoar frost forms in clear air, we might suspect that the scene Bonnie and I encountered earlier this past week in the Smokies would be descriptive of rime ice formed where a band of low cloud had settled along Walker Camp Prong as it runs along the lower slopes of Mount LeConte between the Chimneys Trailhead and the Alum Cave Trailhead. That’s my story and I’ll stick with it.
A focal length of 100mm, quintessential short telephoto-land, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted, with a bit of compression and magnification. An aperture of f/16 provided depth-of-field, and a shutter speed of 1/13th second at ISO 100 gave me a overall somewhat lighter-than-medium exposure. The beam of light illuminating the mid-ground ridge was the gift of a break in the broken overhead clouds.
It was with much gratitude that we arrived at the Sugarlands entrance to find US 441/Newfound Gap Road open to traffic. Our morning in rime-filled Greenbrier had prepared us to turn around and head for home empty-handed. The weather gods are sometimes thoughtful and we are appreciative to them and the maintenance crews.
Beautiful shot of a winter wonderland. I am learning that an intimate landscape shot can express more emotion than a full scale landscape. Thank you for sharing. I always look forward to your weekly e-mail.
Hey Chris. It’s great to have you join us. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful insight into the power of images to communicate “story” with all of us. Perhaps you recall my saying that Eliot Porter is considered the great master of the intimate landscape for his wonderful capacity to express such a broad range of emotion and feeling in a mere slice of a landscape whole. His amazing book, “Intimate Landscapes,” is an essential to becoming competent with this genre. I hope you are enjoying the many opportunities to create in this way as your photography journey continues. Walk in Beauty.
This is a beautiful blue and white image with black contrast. I am glad you guys are enjoying this winter wonderland. I have been enjoying the snow from my window. It looks like my car should be de-iced by tomorrow.
I love how all the shapes relate to each other to show off the ice; the diagonal slope on the left supports a clump of evergreen trees, the darker hill in the center fills in just right, and the tall trees framing each side are holding it all together. The colors are also harmonizing to show off the white. Then there is the gnarly little tree, front and center, that is doing a happy dance because it can finally be seen. That little tree (maybe an oak) would be invisible without the white behind it.
It’s a beautiful story; thanks for sharing.
Hi Nancy T. We have also enjoyed the snowy wonderland from the comfort of our living room. Thank you for that wonderful description of the interplay of the elements of this image: line, shape, form and color all doing a collective dance to the joys of winter. The gnarly little tree in the middle was my favorite of the bunch, and it took me some time thinking about how I wanted to express its presence in the image. There was a car parked on the side of the road below that tree. I wanted to reveal more of the tree, but knew I would begin to reveal the top of the car if I went any lower. Always a trade-off somewhere. Take good care and talk soon.
Howdy Don, Your image has a wonderful framing going on. The V of the trees cradling the peak of the mountain is great. The light thin clouds in blue sky adds a dash of color to a mainly monochrome images. How timely your winter image of the week is. I was out yesterday photographing a newly found waterfall that was frozen into stalagmites. I am not a big fan of the cold, but my fiancee encourages me to get out in winter and up for sunrises. We shot all kinds of angles and luckily there were ice climbers there too so not only got great landscape & abstracts but also so photojournalism images too.
Howdy, Michael. It’s always great to hear from you. I really appreciated the opportunity to have those foreground treelines available to me to create exactly the effect you have described. How well I can identify with your sentiment: so often in winter I have had to talk myself into going out in the bleak cold to find and reveal the Beauty that Nature has nearly always without fail hidden there for me. And for your effort, you were doubly rewarded with nature and photojournalism as well: so much wonderful stuff, all for the price of a little discomfort. Hope you guys are having a wonderful New England winter. Take good care, my Friend.
Ethereally beautiful and most comforting! Thanks for this fabulous shot!
Ah Win. How are you, good Sir? I always appreciate your insights and observations. Isn’t it absolutely wonderful that winter can be thought of as comforting; but you are right on point. There is much about the colder season that serves to bring us comfort as well as reflection. Rime ice and hoar frost events seem to bring with them a calming that is, indeed, comfortable. We hope to get to see you before lone and trust that you are safe and well.
Don, a delightful image. Rich and full and lively. We were at the NC coast last week, and I delighted in the wintery waves rolling up and across the deserted beach on overcast days. Endless opportunities for black and white compositions of dark sand, gray sky, and bone-white water. I also realized how filthy my sensor was! Ooops.
Hi Ray. Always good to have you join us and to share your insights. I received my first copy of the NFF magazine this week – excellent! Glad you were able to get away to the Outer Banks for a weekend. Talk about comforting: those dunes and beaches will do the trick every time. Your description of your creative work was a good reminder that I need to be there again soon. And there is something about stretches of relative monochrome that always reveal the need to engage in some serious air-brushing. I need to do some of that myself before we head out again. Have a great week!
Don,
A perfect slice of a cold, cold winter day. So real, I can feel the cold; so beautiful, I want to dance along rime ice trails. Thank you. Love & hugs.
Hello Dear One. I love your description and am very much hoping that in the lee of the storm that came your way this past week your desire for dancing along rime ice trails has remained in tact. I hope you and Sue are safe and well and have been enjoying the winter of Pioneer Valley to the fullest. I think that Eliot Porter would have delighted in the current season as much as he would have looked forward to the advent of the green again very soon. Take good care and be well.
Thank you all very much for being with me for this conversation and discussion. The wonderful intimate landscapes of the winter season serve, I believe, to remind us, one and all, of the amazing opportunities that await us to express the Beauty of the natural world in ways that are not the ruffles and flourishes of spring or autumn, but are every bit as grand and all the more exciting because we must often make a greater effort to uncover and to see them. Color is not so much the order of the day, but it is the lines and shapes and patterns and textures that command our attention and shine Take good care and be safe.