The Bleakness – And Beauty – of Winter in Ashe
Kim Hadley – Winter in Creston
All photographers know the great advantage of rolling out of bed early and getting out for that elusive first light in the morning. It requires a particular dedication to venture out into a windy, 22-degree morning after a snowfall with a hope the morning will be special and offer an opportunity to capture a unique and memorable image. “It was barely pre-dawn…and I was facing North. The sun had not yet broken the horizon to the east and actually when it did, it was quite uneventful due to how cloudy it was – so the only show of color was during these few minutes before dawn”, says Kim. “It is a very mild HDR…I wanted to preserve the pink in the sky without losing all the details in the valley to darkness.” She found an opening between the near trees to frame the distant mountains. The closer, darker mountain and the black pond provide a clear focal point to bring order to the scene. The early light had a definite blue bias which could be corrected in post processing, shifting the snow to white, but that would alter the reality of the light, remove the “cold” one feels and take away the very pleasing contrast with the pinkish sky. On this particular morning, Kim was rewarded for her efforts.
Canon EOS 50d fitted with an EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens
Focal Length – 18mm
Shutter 1/60 sec @ f/3.5 aperture
ISO – 400
Hi Cohort, nice photo. I’ve not played with any HDR stuff yet, will have to try it out.
Man, you guys are awesome – thanks!!!
Beautiful Picture, Kim.
Absolutely be-utiful!
Wonderful, Kim! The bleak winter-iced trees are beautifully contrasted by the pastel-like colors of the sky. Great foreground attention and fantastic depth of field. Love it!
Whoa, is this beautiful! I haven’t been up prior to dawn since babyhood. But I’d sure get up for this one.
Very well done, Kim, a winner on a number of levels, subtle color with the pink and light blues, but a wide dynamic range, too, with the white of the iced trees and the black of the pond as well. I have to say it, I’m jealous.
Hi Kim,
I need to quit my day job so I can get back out and see sights like this.
Great Shot.
Dale
Wow! I really like this, Kim.
Just beautiful!
Beautiful in tone and subtle colors – the warmth of the lower sky perfectly completes the subject and adds cheer to the chill!