Cypress Sunrise [explored]

Black and White "antique" treatment of Cypress stand at Lake Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

I didn't really have the right lens on for this location. A mid zoom would have been ideal, I had only my wide angle 12-24 and a 200 prime. The cypress stand makes for a great composition by itself at 70-100mm range from the viewing stand at Mattamuskeet. Since I couldn't get that I chose to include the sun peeking over the horizon. The sunrise was not the most colorful, so I found it looked more effective in monotone, but I liked the old-fashion tint best (also experimenting, as I've never used that on a photo before).

 

The sun reflection is very bright because it is reflecting off the ice on the lake. Larger lakes in North Carolina rarely ice over so this was unusual. It was a bitterly cold morning with winds gusting about 20-30mph, and hard to keep the camera steadied even with the tripod weighted down. I ended up just resting the camera on the ledge of the little viewing stand at the edge of the lake and holding it down during the shot to keep the wind from blurring it.

 

For other exceptional shots of this cypress stand see:

www.flickr.com/photos/krashsphotos/12210501246/

www.flickr.com/photos/krashsphotos/10753965324/

www.flickr.com/photos/8310992@N04/8248284861/

 

Best viewed in lightbox, click on photo or hit 'L' key.

 

My first Explore, many thanks for all the comments and faves!!

Done