Liberty Lake, Oklahoma, Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @ 92mm, 1/2000s, f/4, ISO100
It may not be the last picture from our recent trip through New Mexico that I will post here in the blog but it was one of the last photos of the journey. On our way home we stopped for the final night at Liberty Lake, just north of Oklahoma City, OK. A peaceful sunset like this was the perfect moment to unwind after a day with nothing but long distance driving.
Reflections in the fog, Spring Lake Park, Cherokee, Iowa
If only sunset pictures or a rain of colors is on your mind, this one is not for you!
It is a tradition for us to make a walk around Spring Lake in Cherokee, IA at Christmas time. We have seen this park and lake with great colors, blue or gray sky, and during very low temperatures in the past. This year was probably the warmest weather we have seen so far at this time of the year in Spring Lake Park. The ice on the lake and the old snow from some time ago make the viewer believe we had a white Christmas, but it was actually warm, slightly above freezing. Different than during other years was the fog on Christmas Day. In a lot of city parks we can find “items” that are a distraction, hurt the esthetic feelings, and last but not least, can ruin any photo. From the inescapable trash can to the ugly concrete park bench (that nobody uses because they are too cold on your rear end), Americans have sometimes a “great” way to ignore their best designers and landscape architects. I still think it is a nice park, but after retouching and cloning away distracting elements these thoughts became dominant.
Because of the fog, much color wasn’t part of the picture, but I made the photo anyway with having black and white in my mind already.
In my last blog post I mentioned a location here in eastern Iowa we hadn’t visited for a while but a nice hike last Sunday made me considering it more often for future wildlife or landscape shootings.
Backbone State Park is a heavily forested area, mainly oaks and maples, measuring over 2000 acres (8.1 km2). As part of the driftless area it was left unglaciated during the last ice age. It has an interesting geology with ancient dolomite formations dating from the Silurian period. A large ridge of rock divides the park, resembling a spine, and lends its name to the park and adjacent forest. The area is characterized by active springs, caves, sinkholes and karsts. (source: Wikipedia)
A lake was created by building a dam across the Maquoketa River in 1933/34 and during my hike along the shore I found ducks, geese, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and finally saw three Eastern Phoebes catching insects by perching on branches hanging over the water. The phoebe is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, despite the fact that we had some light snow again today…
It was the pattern of old snow below one of the rock formations that made me push the shutter button. At this time of the year (no sign of any green yet) and with last Sunday’s gray overcast it was not so easy to “romance” the landscape. I tried to combine the textures of the grass, snow, rocks, and the trees on the slope and let the river guide the eye through the image.
Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, @ 200 mm, 1/320 s, f/8, ISO 200
Watoga Lake, Watoga State Park, Allegheny Mountains, West Virginia ————
The further south we went in West Virginia the less we saw fall colors. Some trees had already lost their leaves while others still showed a lush green. However, it didn’t deduct from the beauty this part of the country has to offer. Watoga State Park was our second base camp for exploring more of the Allegheny Mountain Range and Monongahela National Forest, a vast paradise of forest land and natural wilderness areas.
Just before the sun was about to set behind the mountain ridge the clouds opened a small gap and suddenly the texture of the forest across the lake came to life. The reflections on the lake had to be included. It was an easy click!...
