Pretty drippy weather here today, so messing with the archives and deciding what to hang in the Town Hall for March. I don’t think this will be a candidate, but felt like sharing something cold and icy and not at all what I expect to see anytime soon. But, as this ice was found in March of ’06, there is still hope.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
I like it. And there is a bonus. The monster can count. I see 2 icicles, 3, and what looks like 4.
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Nine frozen little ice monster piggies.
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They look like a wonderful, wintery instrument — as though they’d ring like crystal if you “pinged” them. If you could do it without breaking them, I’ll bet the tone would be pure, and clear. They may be the most unusually-shaped icicles I’ve ever seen.
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That would be a lovely sound but even if it didn’t break I think it would bob and not ring true. I see icicles shaped like these but that knob is a little different.
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It took me a while to notice the tips of the icicles reflected below. That’s a nice touch.
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Just a little something extra that just happened to be there.
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I had difficulty with scale at first. Couldn’t determine whether this was something small, and delicate … or something quite a bit larger. Like Steve, I cued into the reflections first. Once I realized that branches had been encased in the ice, that set the scale for me. Nice shot. And, nice job with the presentation. I still have troubles setting blacks and white to the correct intensities. Am never quite sure where to set the mid-tones. This one, however, conveys the cold, crisp, feel of winter nicely. And, by the way, has winter arrived ‘down south’ yet?
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I start with the white and black sliders in ACR to just this side of the clipping points then adjust the highlights and shadows to my eye. From there I open in Photoshop and convert in Nik SilverEfex Pro 2…again to eye. Then further tweaking back in PS.
Winter is here but not with much authority yet. We may get a couple of inches overnight.
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ACR? What does this, and Nik do, that PS (or LR) cannot?
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ACR=Adobe Camera Raw which is the raw converter contained within Photoshop, accessed through Bridge, and is basically the same engine as Develop in LR. Nik SilverEfex 2 is much more robust than the B&W function within Photoshop. Way more robust. That can be said for all the Nik plug-in products which are accessed through Photoshop or Lightroom or as stand alone software. One could do all or most of what Nik does but Nik is simpler to use. I believe they still offer free trials”.
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Lots of dripping and hanging in this photo so very suited to the dripping weather and the hanging of photos. The weather is dripping wet here too, but no ice of course.
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The sun will shine again, Ann. It is now cold enough so I won’t, hopefully, have to reach into the archives for ice images to share. It’s summer there now?
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Summer, yes. 🙂
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I love this picture ! this is so impressive. I love what water can do.
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Thanks. Water is one of my favorite subjects as well and ice is the main reason, aside from work, that I leave the house in cold weather.
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Fascinating. I love it!
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