It has been cold here in Ohio, but the snow has only started to come the last few days. We have had some consistent freezing/thawing which, based on my limited research, can help create interesting ice patterns. I decided to head out to a creek in one of our Metro parks and kick away the snow…to my surprise I found 5-7 ice scenes to play with.
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I did not focus stack these, in talking with a photographer friend, that may be a path I go in the future. There was also a suggestion of a macro lens, something to explore.
I went with a high contrast look on all of these, this is the first of the bunch. Interested in your thoughts!
This is very nice David.
i love the mood of it and the general composition.
If this was mine i would clone away that little white pattern on the LLC, as some of the white spots on the opposite corner.
It reminds me of a night sky landscape. The shape is so sinuous and full of texture. Agree that some of the spots that get split at the edge could be cloned away. A marvelous example of how ice forms. Glad it wasn’t snow covered!
These are a lot of fun to do, nice to see you dabbling in ice abstracts. Yes, focus stacking can help a lot, especially if you cant’s stand on the ice itself, and have to shoot from the bank of a stream (and you can’t get your sensor parallel to the ice). When i do these I use my 100-400mm and focus stack.
This struck me too, it looks like stars in a night sky above the “mountain”. The “cave” in the center of the ice mountain is pretty cool too, and adds a nice resting place for the viewers eye. I also think you nailed the colors here, the various tones of blue look great.
My only nitpick is with the sine wave at the bottom, I’m not sure I like how the trough touches the bottom frame edge. I wish there was a slight bit of breathing room below the trough. But that is a minor nit, overall this is a great ice abstract Dave.
@joaoquintela that was my initial thought as well and I wanted to see if anyone noticed it without me bringing it up…so thank you for confirming that!
@Kris_Smith I had to kick away about 4 inches of snow…but it was worth the effort! I could have stayed for hours, but I promised my wife I would come back when the kiddo woke up from his nap! my initial thought was a snow covered mountain with stars above!
@Ed_McGuirk I debated going to my 100-400 but I was able to get out onto the ice without much fear so I stuck with the long end of my 28-75mm. I tried a more high-key and it just didn’t seem to fit the images. Glad the colors worked out, I tried to push it blue without over doing it, I particularly enjoy the darker parts of the image. I didn’t even think about the line at the bottom, I probably had room to spare there as well…a sign I still need to work on slowing down in the field.
@Diane_Miller I do. But if I took it to my metro park I think I’d get even goofier looks than I already do as the guy sprawled out on the ice staring down through my viewfinder!
@Tom_Nevesely thank you! I think it takes it up a notch for sure!
