No Snow, No Eco-Tourism

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted January 27, 2011214 views7 comments

There is a noticeable lack of tracks in the snow leading to the ice-bound WW Durant, a tour boat that stays open in winter as a restaurant while docked on Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondack economy now depends more on outdoor recreation by people enjoying the forest preserve than on forest products from private lands in the area. Tourism, of course, depends on the weather. Deep snows were slow coming to the area this year, so some of the people who staff businesses like this did not get much work until the snowmobilers and cross-country skiers came to enjoy the extensive networks of trails that are maintained by both businesses and public agencies.

Canon 50D
Sigma 17-70mm. f/2.8
6 sec. @ f/16; ISO 200
Tripod; 2-sec. timer
Double-processed in ACR and hand-blended to dim the lights on the boat.
Reduced blue saturation from original. (I guess camera sensors and films are a lot more sensitive to blue in the dimness of night than our eyes.)

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Larry Reitz on January 28, 2011 at 7:35 AM

I like this, Wayne. Now, if you need more snow we have an excess here in SE Connecticut we'd be glad to part with. It looks like business should pick up. Hopefully there is enough winter left for these guys to make a few bucks.

Registered on September 7, 2007, 32 Posts, 335 Comments

Comment posted by Hank Pennington on January 29, 2011 at 12:58 AM

Wow, Wayne!

I'm a sucker for warm tones against cool ones. The thing that really makes this shot for me is the way the lights have been used to highlight the features of the boat. Even in the dim light it says "boat" loud and clear!

This comp works well for me. And makes me guess that both you and your tripod were on snowshoes!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 226 Posts, 1532 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on January 30, 2011 at 7:56 PM

Excellent idea to photograph this at night instead of during the day which would be much less dramatic...the fact that the boat is iced in adds to the point you are trying to convey.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on February 6, 2011 at 4:24 PM

Well done image! Good technique. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 8, 2011 at 11:43 PM

This is really beautiful Wayne. Perfect exposure to get the lights on the boat and the dark blues of the snow. The twinkle of light coming off the foreground snow is the "icing on the cake". Well done!

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Schwarz on February 23, 2011 at 9:56 AM

Beautiful shot.

Registered on November 29, 2006, 236 Posts, 1210 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on March 5, 2011 at 7:52 PM

Beautiful, Wayne. Love the dark blues. Makes the lit up boat look very inviting and isolated. Nicely done

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments