We were only expecting a dusting of snow in the morning, but the snow persisted all day long. By the end of my work-day, the conditions seemed worthy of putting on my parka and going for a walk at Green Lakes with my camera.
The first scene that caught my eye was this lone tree on the shore line. It is the tree nearest to the beach. My inclination was to walk up to the tree with a wide angle lens and press the shutter button, but that perspective had the distant trees on the hillside cutting through the middle of the main subject. So I started walking back, and back, and back, until I was leaning up against a fence. I couldn’t step back any farther, but by raising up on my tip-toes I was just able to get something that resembled the composition I had hoped for.
Bear in mind, the day was very dark, so I decided to capture most of the images in camera with the Grainy Film-preset, which features heavy vignetting and grain. I like the look for a small print or if I were to post to IG or SoME, but it is too gimmicky for a print. Good thing I don’t capture anything worthy of printing.
Only a day earlier, people were complaining about how busy the park was despite the social-distancing directive. Today, that was not an issue. I only crossed paths with 9 people the entire time that I was out.
While walking counter-clockwise around the lake, starting at the north end, there was one tree on the south brim that had my attention throughout. I would capture an image every few hundred feet, trying to improve my vantage point, but I never found a way to photograph it that would be frame-worthy. Still, it had character and only looks like this for a few hours, a few times every year.
With a little daylight left as I walked the western shore, I elected to experiment with some ICM before heading home, knowing that he trail sits above the lake for a good portion of the remaining walk.
Although, at the highest vantage point there was a subject that caught my eye, but I could not find a way to photograph it in an effective way. The tree looked so cool with the reflection in the water, but it was the only thing of interest. To even capture this image, I was standing on the lowest of 2 rails that guard the edge of the trail from lake below (I was resting my shin on the upper-most railing).
So – like usual, I returned to my car with no real “keepers”, nothing I would ever put in a portfolio, if I were to ever consider having one. It was nice to get out and do something other than work, though. And besides, it is about the experience, not the picture … with my skills, it has to be.