Hoar Frost

As photographers, one of the challenges is whether we will stop long enough to take photographs.

Of course, we plan to and assure ourselves that we will, but sometimes we say to ourselves, "next time."

Have you noticed how next time does not wait for us?

The situation varies, the lighting changes, it is inconvenient, what will people think, and those precious moments slip past the camera tucked away in the bag, making us a wee bit nostalgic.

That almost happened with these hoar frost images on the kitchen window. The reason it did not is that I decided to act instead of thinking about it.

Yes, it took time to get organized and be in the position I desired. It was not easy maneuvering my tripod into the sink, as I perched awkwardly beside it on the kitchen counter.

And this is how I captured the mosaic of frost right then and there.

By adjusting my angle slightly, the colour changed according to my background and the weather outside. The deep blue is the sky as a background. The lighter shades are the neighbour's garden shed and white fence in the background.

Note: If you examine image #1193, notice the small dark specs - an example of dust on the camera sensor if you are not familiar with it.

Thirty metres is generally felt to be a safe distance from other animals but watch out as mothers especially can charge you at any time! For elk in rut, make sure you are far away and in a safe space. They stop at nothing if they feel threatened.

Finally, if you cause an animal to move, you are too close.

Note: Why did I set my ISO to 3200 when the higher the ISO, the more picture quality is affected? The higher ISO increases the light sensitivity on the image sensor, allowing for faster shutter speed. Because I'm hand-holding approximately six pounds of weight, with a fully extended lens is, it's challenging to hold steady. The faster I can make my shutter speed, the better my chances of taking good pictures without the blur caused by camera shake.

For this photo, I would have preferred closer to 1/5000 to 1/2000 because of hand-holding. However, increasing my ISO to obtain this speed would cause too much digital noise (grainy looking) for my liking.