Frostober
Seems like yesterday I was sadly watching the snow melt, but here we are again and it’s about to return. Frost and even some snow has come early, and nipped the brief but beautiful fall colour season short. Luckily I was able to get out in some of it.
Just as a preface, so I’m not whining throughout :) after last month I felt quite a bit of a high, like I’d finally captured some images I was happy with. This month I’ve been out less, and I feel rusty again. But so it goes.
I was fortunate to be able to spend a cozy weekend near Minaki again with family. The weather turned cold and froze overnight leaving a bit of a forlorn scene in the morning:
Waiting for the fire…
We all dared each other to swim, which was shocking, but worth it. The lake was warmer than the air (though that was little comfort), hence the mist on the first morning:
The second morning was a bit drier, but colder:
I can’t really say these compositions are as effective as I’d hoped they’d be. The mornings were beautiful, but I just couldn’t make it work. It was very windy, so any foliage was in constant motion.
On a smaller scale things worked a bit better I think, and the damp conditions really brought the colours to life:
Back from Minaki, Bird’s Hill Park remains a reliable go-to place if I have limited time. There are all kinds of little side trails and meandering ways. It’s getting to the point I know the bottom half of the park almost by heart, and how everything intertwines. I caught these next scenes at sunrise across a couple of different days.
A closeup of the puff-capped plants in the foreground:
And closer yet, with each seed-feather gently frost-coated:
Late turning leaves with a frosty rim:
I converted the next one to B&W because I thought more effectively brought out the swirling patterns in the grass:
Then it snowed, and I thought it was heavenly. Bird’s Hill Park is well-used, but I think I had the place almost to myself, as the sleet was coming down hard at times, the wind was gusty, and the light was fading to sunset:
Sunset arrived as the sky miraculously began to clear. It was dark, so I set the exposure to 10 seconds, which blurred, the clouds as they drifted past:
However, I wasn’t that pleased with the composition, I though the darker patch in the left foreground would provide more contrast and interest. Somewhat impatient, I jostled the camera, and the result was kind of surreal. I took a couple others, first intentionally swaying the camera gently back and forth, then moving the camera in three shorter increments. I kind of like the effect:
I haven’t really processed these, I don’t think they’re good enough to pursue. I just thought the effect was interesting.
On the way back to the car the clouds finally drifted away and left a fresh crisp scene:
The snow melted quickly, and I found myself spending a couple days on different weekends at Grand Beach. I was surprised at (or had forgotten) how much colour there was, the shrubs topping some of the dunes had turned a brilliant red:
The clouds were heavy with bright gaps between. I was treated to a spectacular show of twin light rays, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. It went on for about half an hour:
A different weekend brought more overcast, and air still enough for reflections:
The willow leaves curl when they fall, and lay across the sand in pretty patterns, and when the wind blows they spin and leave tiny ridges:
I meandered down the beach, enjoying the fresh air:
…and was joined by a type of sandpiper, I believe this is a Greater Yellowlegs. He or she let me get pretty close:
Towards evening, it was iffy as to whether there would be any sunset colour. I set up and waited, and I thought this was as good as it was going to get, which was a bit disappointing, but time spent near a lake just waiting is never wasted:
What little colour there was faded and I thought it was all over. I knew the sunset time to the minute, and it was past that already. So I packed everything up and began returning along the lakeshore, but after another few minutes the sky started to light up in the gap between the clouds and the lake. At first it was small, but it kept growing and getting wider, until the whole view from north to south was crimson. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. It was a good 20 minutes after sunset. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to zoom in to pick out some amazing patterns, but there would be no foreground. I also wanted to get a wide shot to catch the incredible horizon, but that was the only part of the scene that was colourful. Eventually I settled on the wide shot, and it will just have to serve as a record of a gorgeous day:
And that brings Frostober to a close. I’m hoping to get my mojo back once the real freeze begins.
Cheers!
