There Will Be Beautiful

On winter coming:

"It won't be so bad.

There will be beautiful."

Hoarfrost

Nothing quite like it,

when hoarfrost pays a visit.

Closer

We're getting a little closer to 2013...

Louise Bridge

Frost Remains

As was my hope, the frost remained overnight and seemed to only multiply today. How beautiful, our city! How beautiful, the frost!

I shot this image at 1/100 with an aperture of f/2.8. My focal length was 68 mm and my ISO was 100.
It is good to find something to contrast with the otherwise white scene that frost often gives. Here the hearts turned out to be the perfect contrast!

Seeing this lady make her way through the winter wonderland, I knew I had to take her picture. Her bright coat and hat were exactly the right pop in the frosty landscape. The blur worked quite well with this composition.
I shot this image at a speed of 1/60 and aperture of f/5. My focal length was 70 mm and my ISO was 100.

Couldn't resist shooting Garry! I love to get shots of pedestrians in the city. I do make an effort to make sure they are not so easily identifiable by softening the image or at least the person.
I shot this at 1/50 with an f stop of f/5. My focal length was 40 mm and ISO 100.

The contrast between the strong, steely corporate buildings and the gentle frost is significant. Further contrast is found between the teal glass and the greys/whites in the image.
My aperture was f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/125. My focal length 38 mm and ISO 100.

Scenic Manitoba

These trees looked as though they were dipped in frosting and then stuck back into the snow to set! Scenic Manitoba!!

Turtle Island

Hoarfrost at Dusk

Last winter was an amazing winter for hoarfrost in Winnipeg. Instead of disappearing with the sun's rise, some days it lasted well into the day and on occasion into the evening and night. Hoping for more of the same this winter.

Winter-Kissed

Making sure to compensate for the full white composition, I bumped up my exposure so the camera actually indicated the image was overexposed. I shot at f/8 and a speed of 1/800. My ISO was 100.

Once on my computer, I converted the image to a black and white because I wanted to rid the shot of the blues that are often found in snow compositions. However, it is not a true black and white as there are some warm tones present.

This wintry scene originally presented quite grey with a blue cast. Using a preset and then adjusting the colour from there, I eventually found what worked best, but the image was not yet complete. I brought it into Photoshop and applied a texture layer over-top.

In camera, I shot at f/8 with a speed of 1/800 and ISO of 100.

Winter Road

Last winter was an exceptional one for hoarfrost. There were many days when the frost would blanket the trees and stay well into the day, sometimes even overnight. It was a winter wonderland!

I shot this picture in Winnipeg. I chose to go to an older part of the city, where the trees were plentiful and mature. The resulting images I took had beautiful canopies of frost covered branches reaching across the roads to meet.

I shot at a focal length of 27 with an aperture of f/8 and shutter speed of 1/200.

Once on my computer I cooled the tones even more than what was already present, which resulted in a blue tint to the snow and ice that I quite liked.

Prairie Winter

Unlikely Pieces

This seems like such a gentle story-book picture. What is a surprise to me is how well the debris is camouflaged amongst the snow and grasses. Behind this tree lies a junk yard of sorts. Strewn about are metal scraps and tires.

Had I taken the time to move these things out of my composition (and I wouldn't) something would surely be missing from the picture. It would not be as beautiful minus the darker hues and shapes. Some of the rocks would remain but it still wouldn't be the same picture. Sometimes the most unlikely pieces are necessary to the whole.

Winter's Beach

Looking for the unusual often brings me the image. Here we have two pictures of a frozen lake with a frosted line of trees in the background. Winter. Winter with a sailboat. Beached, of course, but even so, a sailboat. In the second picture, the sailboat is missing but the tree in the foreground can easily be replaced in my mind's eye by a palm tree, like those snapshots often taken on hot getaway vacations.

How quickly I drift between quiet winter afternoons and calm summer days. My vessel through these seasons is the sailboat.

Frosting

Exceptional Hoarfrost

We've had frost and fog for a few days now but today was an exceptional one where these were concerned! When the sun came out this afternoon to play with the frost I was in the right place at the right time. I will share one of my shots now with promise of more to come once I've had some time to go through my images from this day.

Day or night...

...the hoarfrost remains.

Bent and Beautiful

Photographing a Winter Wonderland

These last couple of days of mild weather and early morning fog have gifted us with beautiful hoarfrost that lasts well into the afternoon. To be able to walk out my door and out on the trail into this wonderland has been such a blessing. Seeing things anew inspires creativity and opens the world up in a whole new way, at least for a time.

When heading out with your camera into a largely white landscape, remember the tip "push the whites to the right" when viewing your histogram (just don't go off the graph). The camera will be fooled into thinking an underexposed image is a proper exposure. Compensating for this is necessary to avoid an image that is grey and dark.

Winter in Winnipeg

The branches from one side of the street reach across to touch those on the other side, much like neighbors' hands do on milder summer days. It is as though there is chatter amongst the treetops while they enjoy their time, their days. In a matter of weeks, the branches' chatter will start to recede while the leaves' voices will grow louder in the springtime winds. They have today.

Canadian Mint