Hi folks, it looks like my endless travels have somehow returned to NPN once more and with me I have brought this capture from the Canadian Rockies, where I recently had a great time spending about a month of photography. What you're looking at here is violent winter winds blowing new snow across the 3-ft thick translucent clear ice on a frozen glacial lake on the Icefields pass. The shutter speed here was 1/30 of a second to give you an idea of the power of these winds. To me, standing there, it looked like near white-out conditions and I was barely able to see what I was capturing. I had my tripod outfitted with ice screws attached to the legs to anchor it to the surface and hold on in the 70mph gusts! The winds and snow created a sort of ground-blizzard that really helped showcase the peaks here. There was actually a vibrant sunset going on but I felt that the absence of color and its reflections made for the more powerful image.
Back at my website is a huge release of all-new work today. You can check it out
HERE. The month in the Rockies in winter was memorable but so were many travels and tours I lead around Oregon and the Southwest. Selected pictures from these last few months are on display and I'd be glad to hear any thoughts you may have.
Comments
67 commentsEd
I really like your idea of setting your tripod up so that you could screw it to the ice. I will have to remember that. Fantastic image Mark.
Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI
Chris
just wow Marc, waiting you to visit us soon
Hamed
BTW-the new images on your website are excellent. Just a heads-up, but in your shot of the sun rising on Toroweep "Follow the Light" you explain how you created the "steak in the sky". Pretty sure you meant streak. Did you skip breakfast to get that shot?
I looked at your new work and I see that you did indeed get that shot we were looking at with "Sunrise Tower". Nice work there, too.
Kory, yes, much stronger winds than we encountered at any time on our trip. It was crazy! They closed the pass due to wind later this same evening.
Hamed, yes! The UAE is going to be quite a tropical vacation after shooting up here for a month! We look forward to it.
Bruce, thanks. Changed.
Rgds
Mark
I have to disagree with Floris, i think the new set has a fresh feel to it, my favs are:
Winters Magic, Winters Light, Frozen Cosmos, Frozen Crystals, Peace of Morning, Thoughts of morning. Im worn out just listing those, cause ordinarily i would have limited it to 2 or 3, but there's a lot of strong images in this collection.
And reading in the comments that you're going to visit Hamed in the UAE makes me really look forward to your next set of work, too!
aF
this is surely my favorite of your new set, along with frozen abyss and in winters shadow. the foreground rocks in the latter are the icing on the cake for me.
Last year in Glacier I was emboldened to face the high winds (mainly encouraged by seeing a lot of your straight on work) and for the first time I did the same type of thing (w the waves of water from the lake crashing on me) and found it was quite possible to pull off the shots at a higher ISO and faster shutter speeds (and you have to be very savvy about keeping your lens dry). Having said that I also got to experience being picked up and thrown some distance by the 70 mph gusts! Love the power!
The ferocious power on display here is wonderful.
- Dan.
Viewing the images motivates me to get out and do some winter photography
and also return to the Southwest, one of my favorite locations.
Regardless this is probably my favorite from the new gallery as well. There are a ton of great images there, but this just stands out in terms of drama and originality.
Sorry about the theft of the camera gear. I can't imagine how it would feel to lose all of that work. If my camera were stolen I would get over the monetary cost pretty quickly (I have my gear insured), but the lost images would drive me crazy. I can only imagine what it would feel like if that were my form of income.
The conditions sound Amundsen or Scott like. I think your image brings that out very well. When I see a thumb like this Adamus immediately pops to mind. I like your style and your passion.
Paul
I don't know much about DOF blending, or if you used that technique here, but where might I find some type of tutorial on the subject?
Anyways, TFS!
Take care,
Michael
I love it, sorry for your loose.
Gary.
If I had to pick a favorite of your new work, "Peace Of Morning" would be it.
this is TOO much
Those mountains in the back are epic, but what I enjoy most about this image is the depth in the ice. Very cool!
Btw, sorry to hear about the camera gear. How did that happen? You are usually in such remote places I can't imagine anyone wanting to haul out extra gear.
And if you go to Dubai...well...it's definitely an interesting place. One thing you must do is snowboard (or ski) in the giant freezer they have at one of the malls. Can't remember which, but it's most certainly an interesting experience walking into the smelly heat after a funny evening of boarding indoors on a 1 minute slope. Enjoy the traffic!
Also, great images in the new gallery. I personally never tire of well done photography and editing. It's the lazy and badly processed crap that I tire of. Not seeing any of that there. Great work!
Awesome work with the new images Marc. I have to say though that I am really digging the close-ups and abstracts. I do enjoy looking at your landscape work but have to say that I personally enjoy the abstract intimate views more and more.
Happy New Year!