Long Shadow Of Winter

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Me and my mother / photography partner (she puts the DAJ in DAJ Designs Photography) went for a drive in the late afternoon.  I took us up to Prettyboy Reservoir where I have been spending a lot of time recently.  Neither of us were feeling particularly inspired as we drove along.  We stopped here and there to take a few shots but nothing seemed to be clicking.  This was the day after Baltimore's latest snowfall on January 11th.  It was extremely cold and very windy.  Having driven every road around the reservoir that I am aware of we headed back to this known spot to catch the sunset.

I had been at this same place a few nights earlier shooting star trails.  When I walked down the path to the boat launch the first thing I noticed was this canoe sitting half buried in snow.  I had not seen in during my night shoot.  Immediately the creative juices started stirring and I carefully planned my steps so that I didn't put any footsteps in my shot.  Luckily, for once Sparky was not with me and off the leash or he surely would have put tracks all through my planned shot.  I loved the way the scene looked so I set up my tripod and started setting the camera up.  I snapped a few shots but nothing was coming out right.  So I had to reach into my bag of tools and pulled out a filter I very rarely use.  I used what is called a Graduated Neutral Density Filter in order to get the brighter sky to balance out with the darker ground.  It is basically a 4"x4" plate that starts tinted on one end and gradually goes to perfectly clear on the other end.  Even this was not enough as I needed to take several shots to ensure I had a good exposure for both the sky and land separately.  I also tried to time it so that I captured one of the many snownados swirling around on the snow covered ice.  I think that it really helps drive home how cold, windy, and desolate this place was.

This spot is quite busy during the spring and summer.  It is a boat launch used by many fishermen.  I am not sure who left this canoe or why but it really illustrates how the seasons affect us all.  A recreational item that at one time carried happy people out onto the water now sits alone half buried in snow next to solid ice.  This one spot goes from popular to deserted and from pleasant to barren over the course of a year.  Strange thing about me is I don't really get cold.  I was standing out in what was likely a wind chill in the single digits and the only thing cold was my nose.  There is something very centering about standing basically alone in a frozen reservoir with the wind howling and snow blowing.  I am not sure how most people feel, but for me, at that moment there was no where I would have rather been.