Tag: snow

Surface Hoar Frost

Abstract, Macro, Winter
Monday, February 29th, 2016

Hexagonal Hoar Frost on Snow

At just the right temperature and humidity levels, frost will form in hexagonal towers. Here’s a more descriptive photo of what this looks like (click on the photo for a larger version). These towers were about 1cm tall.

Hoar frost is a beautiful phenomenon that can cause problems if you’re in the mountains in winter. The hoar frost forms on the snow, and when fresh snow falls on top of it, it forms a weak layer in the snowpack. This can make avalanches a lot more likely.

Taken in Yosemite National Park.

Trio In Ice

Abstract, Water, Winter
Monday, March 11th, 2013

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On my latest trip to the Rockies, Eric and I found some pretty great ice. This is where we found it — under snow.

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Ice may not have the same movement as water, but it still causes the light to dance.

Playing in the Snow

Wildlife, Winter
Sunday, December 2nd, 2012

elk-in-a-herd-of-bison
snowshoes

I just got some excellent snowshoes to make my winter excursions a little easier than in past years (I’m used to slogging it with just my winter boots). And hopefully I can get out to a bunch of new places. I tested them out in Elk Island National Park today and had a lot of fun. I came across this herd of bison hanging out with some unusual friends. Click on the image to make it larger to make it easier to spot them.

300mm, f5.6, 1/200 of a second

When There Was No Snow

Forest, Macro
Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
fall-birch-leaf-caught-by-evening-light

Sometimes the light hits an un-extraordinary subject in just the right way and creates an extraordinary scene. My favorite part of this photo, though, is going to depend on your monitor being a reasonable brightness. In a print this is something you can easily control but online it gets harder — I love the dark fall tones and subtle evening light in the background.

Taken in Elk Island National Park, 150mm, f2.8, 1/800 of a second.

Astotin Cattails

Macro, Photo of the Day, Plants
Friday, March 18th, 2011

I went for a hike on Astotin Lake yesterday. I’ve been to the shore often enough looking out at all those islands, but I’ve never been on the lake. I decided, before it all melts, to walk out and see some islands up close.

I headed out, wondering how far I’d get. The crust on the snow wasn’t thick enough to support me and made it even harder to walk through the thigh-deep snow. I found a few old snowshoe tracks which usually held me up, and got out onto the lake. It turns out that further out onto the lake, it is easy walking. Once away from the shore I was only sinking down a few inches. This was a pleasant treat, and I got to three islands before heading back.

Here are some cattails (Typha latifolia) from the shore of an island in Astotin Lake.

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Dirty Snow

Landscape, Mountain, Photo of the Day
Friday, February 11th, 2011

The wind picks up soil from the windward side of this hill, and deposits it here, on the leeward side. It also creates these fantastic swirls on the snow here at the edge of the ice. Taken beside Abraham Lake.

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