This week’s lesson in photography is about carpe-ing the diem. On Sunday morning I was up early and restless. I was twitchy to get outside when I saw the morning sun, but when I checked the temps it was still around the -20C mark. WAY too cold to go outside.
After a bit of restless pacing, I decided to go out anyway. There was no wind and it was brilliantly blue and clear. As I walked out down toward the river and the Mill, I noticed some of the trees has a bit of frost on them – more the closer I got to the river. I started over the bridge over the back channel and literally gasped when I saw what the morning frost had done to this willow.
I crept around the banks for the best part of an hour, shooting the trees and the ducks and tried really, really hard to remember where the bank ended and the ice began. I wasn’t so much concerned about the danger of falling in as having to explain to Beloved the circumstances by which I came to fall through the ice. With my camera. Luckily, it didn’t come to that.
By the time I worked my way to the other side of the bridge, there was an amazing ice fog rising off the open water around the Mill. This may be my favourite picture ever of Watson’s Mill:
There’s a lot going on in that picture, but I think the depth of the layers and the various textures keep it from being too much. I like the drama of the B&W. But the tones in the colour version are beautiful, too.
Wall-worth, yes? 🙂
By the end of the hour, the frost was snowing down on me. It was a blissful hour of wonder, though, and I had an amazing morning working the scene and chasing the good shots. You can see already see in this last shot that the brown willow branches are starting to show through the frost. When I drove by about two hours later the sun had completely melted it away.
Seize the moment, get out there and capture the magic when you see it. It’s fleeting!
Any week that starts off like that can’t be all bad! The rest of the week not quite so frosty and magical, though. This was downright cozy!
And I went exploring the Canal for Winterlude a couple of days this week, since it’s an easy lunch-time walk. I am not usually one for street photography or surreptitious photos of strangers, but when I walked by this couple framing up a kiss on the Canal on Valentine’s Day, I simply couldn’t resist.
By the end of the work week, Winterlude was looking more like Waterlogged as the warm February sun (not an oxymoron!) melted the snow and ice. Made for some pretty neat reflections!
Everything has re-frozen just in time for Family Day weekend, though. If you’re out enjoying the festivities on Monday, be sure to drop by the Family Day Festival at Old Navy in the Rideau Centre!
And now we’re off to Lucas’s first-ever birthday party — better late than never!
