2503_1448 Icy Wonderland
I pushed the macro lens closer and closer, incrementally, until I started to get excited by what I was seeing. Same day as yesterday's posted shot, but a different location.
The frozen bubbles - presumably methane from decomposing vegetation below - are at various depths, so there was no way to render all of them sharp, even at f/32. Depth of field is very shallow when doing ultra close ups. I focused on the ice surface and did my best to get the camera's sensor parallel to the flat plane of my subject.
That's the tech part. Very simple, really. The rest is seeing. Is there potential in this little patch of ice, or should I look for a more interesting one? I was in a ditch - yet again. Shallow water, because we did not have a whole lot of snow this past winter. We're in the melt-refreeze cycle, and it doesn't last long. The clay soils here don't absorb much; most of the water will evaporate.
For shots like this I need a cold night to re-freeze the water, then I have to get out early, before it starts to melt. Almost all the snow is gone now, so my window has almost closed for another year.
The seeing part... you just have to feel it. I was thinking "square crop" all along. It seemed to suit this subject. I like the formal dimensions. They remind me of my first camera: square format with a waist level finder. That was in 1960. Square is comfortable for me, and I use it fairly often for some subjects, including ice.
Photographed along Butte Road near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2503_1448 Icy Wonderland
I pushed the macro lens closer and closer, incrementally, until I started to get excited by what I was seeing. Same day as yesterday's posted shot, but a different location.
The frozen bubbles - presumably methane from decomposing vegetation below - are at various depths, so there was no way to render all of them sharp, even at f/32. Depth of field is very shallow when doing ultra close ups. I focused on the ice surface and did my best to get the camera's sensor parallel to the flat plane of my subject.
That's the tech part. Very simple, really. The rest is seeing. Is there potential in this little patch of ice, or should I look for a more interesting one? I was in a ditch - yet again. Shallow water, because we did not have a whole lot of snow this past winter. We're in the melt-refreeze cycle, and it doesn't last long. The clay soils here don't absorb much; most of the water will evaporate.
For shots like this I need a cold night to re-freeze the water, then I have to get out early, before it starts to melt. Almost all the snow is gone now, so my window has almost closed for another year.
The seeing part... you just have to feel it. I was thinking "square crop" all along. It seemed to suit this subject. I like the formal dimensions. They remind me of my first camera: square format with a waist level finder. That was in 1960. Square is comfortable for me, and I use it fairly often for some subjects, including ice.
Photographed along Butte Road near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.