As did most of New England, we got quite a bit of rain Sunday. By morning there was a light coating of snow on the ground and trees in the hills where I live.
After lunch Monday, Jann and I drove to the place where we often start a nice loop walk. On the way there I saw a frozen stream that I decided to photograph alone later. Photography is not a spectator sport. It took me quite a while to get back to that spot as other photos that needed to be taken delayed me.
My second trip of the day down our driveway brought a surprise – a ruffed grouse in a tree at the side of the driveway. My camera was sitting on the seat next to me already preset for my next photo so all I had to do was lower the window and start shooting. Conveniently, the grouse was on the driver’s side of the car.
I fought with visually obstructing branches trying a get a semi-clean shot as the grouse moved from branch to branch mostly unperturbed by my presence. Cars make excellent blinds. Eventually the grouse moved on and so did I.
I figured I had some time before the overcast light got dimmer, so I turned in the opposite direction of my eventual destination to check out a small local stream. I could not get to the spot I wanted to because the risk of sliding down the steep icy bank into the stream was too great. But I found another suitable spot.
Finally looping back, I was struck by the light on a frozen pond as the sun finally broke through the clouds. So I parked and made some photos along the shore of the small pond.
Another unplanned side trip took me to a spot overlooking a barn and fast-moving clouds. I spooked a couple dozen wild turkey when I arrived there.
I finally took the photo I was planning to take all afternoon. I like the colors in the ice and water, but this shot is not my favorite of the day. Sometimes simply getting out of the house is all it takes to find some pleasant things to photograph.
All of the photos in this blog were taken Monday, January 19 within 4 miles of my home. Some of the photos were made with a 10-stop neutral density filter on my lens. The image below is a blend of a short exposure for the foreground shadows when the sun shined brightly and a long exposure for the sky when the sun was somewhat hidden by the clouds.
