Winter's Waning

I got a late night e-mail from Steve letting me know he was heading up to the Susquehanna in the morning as he was thinking this might be the last chance to catch the icy beauty that is created on the banks of the Susquehanna. I decided to go and left Baltimore at 7:15. When we arrived it was nice to see surprisingly, Don and Carl were already at work on the shore. They had the same thought. The river was low and it was cold enough over night to freeze the receding waters. So we quickly set up and got to work. I chose my 200mm macro giving me plenty of working distance so as not to break the delicate ice. After working for an hour and a half, the temperature started to rise above freezing and the texture of the ice began to change as it became more and more translucent. As the sun became brighter on the shore we packed up and headed north to the banks of Deer Creek, where the sun rises behind your back and casts a golden glow on the ice and water on a blue sky day. The golden reflection occurs because of the high bank of trees and field across the creek when the sun hits it. The blue sky overhead creates blue highlights in the water making for a stunning combination of colors. The icy snow banks added some winter beauty and softness to the scene. We worked until 11:00 when hunger got the best of us and the sun crested the hill behind us making the light in the creek harsh to work with.