In the last couple weeks we've had sub-zero cold, snow, then freezing rain, and then freezing mist making hoar frost. Everything was covered with it for days. A few scenes from the period:

Last Look Before Bed A junco looks out at his frozen world before heading into the cedar to roost.




Ice Gully




Light Freezing Mist




Ice-Crusted Hedgerow




Struggling Through the Snow




Snowbank




Finally the Sun

[Rense]

Tamia, these are great shots. The second one is outstanding imo!

[Sparkle]

The cold must have gotten to you. Seems to me you are not up to your usual abilities.
You probably have your reasons. IMO:

# 1 Would look better cropped to a panorama of the bird (about 2 inches to the left, one to the right and one inch above and below.

# 2 Quite artistic. Like it.

# 3 Picky, but not a "hedgerow" just a non-descript "woods", regardless of the frost.

# 4 Could be sharper and brighter to show detail of snow.

# 5 dirty snow has no appeal to me, I see too much of it!

# 6 Needs brightening.

If I'm not so critical you may slip into complacency.

[slowpez]

Lovely series Tamia. The second one is beautiful and I also like the leaf struggling through the snow. The ice crystals on it show up very nicely.

[Tamia]

Thanks Rense, Sparkle, and Susan for your comments. Much appreciated!

The cold must have gotten to you. Seems to me you are not up to your usual abilities.
You probably have your reasons. IMO:

# 1 Would look better cropped to a panorama of the bird (about 2 inches to the left, one to the right and one inch above and below.

# 2 Quite artistic. Like it.

# 3 Picky, but not a "hedgerow" just a non-descript "woods", regardless of the frost.

# 4 Could be sharper and brighter to show detail of snow.

# 5 dirty snow has no appeal to me, I see too much of it!

# 6 Needs brightening.

If I'm not so critical you may slip into complacency.

Sparkle, the dreary overcast got to me more than the cold. Weeks of it without very many minutes of sun. Thanks for your critique, and I'll comment in turn on my pictures, including the ones you spoke to:

#1 [Last Look Before Bed]: Shot with the DA 50-200mm when I was very cold and in very low light and higher ISO/lower shutter than I'd like for the K200D. I had been shooting pictures of a hawk which is out of the field of view in the lower right. The junco was watching the hawk, and finally went into the cedar to roost. The image isn't as sharp as I wanted, but I found the small bird in so frosty a landscape to be evocative.

#2 [Ice Gully] My favorite of the lot. The backlit gully is in fact between a pair of ice-covered boulders below a falls on the river, and I couldn't get as close as I wanted, so was forced to use the 50-200mm. I did like the layers of coppery colored ice quite a lot.

#3 [Light Freezing Mist] Not sure if you were mistaking this one for Ice-Crusted Hedgerow in this comment, but think not. The hillside was another one shot with the telephoto and I had to clone out several utility wires which were adding nothing to the picture.

#4 [Ice-Crusted Hedgerow] I think this is what you were commenting on. I assure you that it is a hedgerow -- about 15-20' wide -- but I was shooting obliquely to it, which gives the impression of a woods. I had attempted to capture the quarter-inch coating of frost which was on every branch and twig, and which had "grown" on much of the bark. I don't think I was very successful in that goal, perhaps because the light was very poor.

#5 [Struggling Through the Snow] This tiny sapling was alone in a field of snow on a dark overcast late afternoon when there was a freezing mist, and I tried to capture the crusty nature of the frost, which reminded me of rock candy from childhood. In doing so, all the detail of the snow is lost.

#6 [Snowbank] I think this is what you're calling #5, and it isn't dirty snow. It IS a snowbank pushed up by a plow on a utility road, one not transited by any but a patrol truck, and it isn't sanded. Again, very dim light. My goal here was to explore the shapes and texture of the snow, which was coarsely sugary. This one was entirely experimental and I have swing from each end of the spectrum. Some days I like it, others not.

#7 [Finally the Sun] This is what I think you're referring to in your #6 comment. I disagree on it needing brightening. Perhaps I should have titled it something else, but here again, I was looking to capture the snow's texture. When I brightened it, the texture was lost. This snow was feathery and light, and quite coarse in its appearance on the nap of the land.

In shooting snow this year, I've been attempting to depict its nature, its texture. I wonder how many people actually look at the snow in this way, and have been hoping to show its variability. I keep trying, and in doing so hope to improve, and I sure don't want to slip into complacency!

[Sparkle]

I'm happy to read your remarks and pleased that you did your best in the circumstances. Pleased also that you appreciate the challenges of photographing snow. We get lots of it but not yet this year. Have been having horrific wind and rain storms, so much so that the shutters (ornamental) blew off our house which is well protected. No sun here for the past week until today. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Sailor]

Wow - I'm really knocked out by all of these shots, Tamia. The define the concept of cold. Great job.

Jer

[Bob Harris]

The photography is wonderful, I know that it is because I had to turn the heat up after viewing. It always amazing how those little birds can exist in such conditions.
Thanks for sharing. Bob

[Tamia]

Sparkle, I hope the weather calms and you get some sun. Saw it yesterday as a parting gift to 2010.

Jer and Bob, thanks very much for your encouragement! Bob, it IS amazing how the little birds can cope. Especially when you realize the juncos come SOUTH to here in the northern Adirondacks to get warm in winter.