We’ve had several “warm” days lately and I was concerned that the ice would either have melted away or become less than interesting at this spot. Fortunately the Shutesbury woods are a little colder than Amherst and much ice remained including the somewhat scary image from yesterday’s post. I am pretty sure that the face is gone and possibly much of the ice as we stayed above freezing last night and will approach or exceed 50° today with partially sunny skies. Now for January that may sound good, but so far we’ve had all of 2″ of snow and if we don’t start to get more the streams will run dry this summer. Not good for photographers of water…or the water table.
I was pretty happy with the state of the waterfall and there was a lot of nice splash ice.
And…my chilled brain finally thought to take out the iPhone and get an audio/video clip of the sound.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Thanks for adding the video. I like hearing the sound of the water.
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As do I. It’s nice to have it “drown” out all other sounds.
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Me too! Masterful image, Steve.
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Thanks, Melissa.
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Oh yes, I like the image, very much. The ice-cover stick in the foreground really give the image deapth, and interest, and really makes the shot. [But you know all that!] Perhaps you should consider accompanying each photo with a little video clip! Why did you use the iPhone and not take the clip with your DSLR … in that case you would have had the advantage of the tripod?
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I just haven’t bothered to learn how to do video with the 5D2. I actually did have the iPhone on my tripod but loosely held so there is that bit of movement. I’ll have to take the time to figure it out. As with making videos, I just don’t think of it. Glad you like the image.
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Love the results of the crop in your still image. I could stand or sit there for hours contemplating this natural masterpiece. How long a hike does it take to get there from a parking spot, and do you have any idea how many others take the time to visit it when it’s like this?
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It takes all of three minutes, Gary. The road is elevated so it is a short scramble down the hill to the brook. I have never seen anyone else there, but there are occasional footprints. There is also occasional litter from beer-drinkers who don’t like to return their containers. There are four locations on this brook that I visit and maybe a couple of others I haven’t “discovered” yet.
This is my favorite spot here which is unusual for me since I prefer to be distant from where others may come along. So far though it has always been just me.
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I have a few “secret” spots too, and it’s good to know they’re there waiting for me to come back again.
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Lovely image Steve. The sound of the flowing water is so soothing. The iPhone does a good job.
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Thanks, Yvonne. It’s very soothing. I have been having trouble sleeping through the night so have purchased a sound machine. It offers several sounds and one is a brook. It does help distract from the tinnitus and I am falling back to sleep easier. Love the sound of the water.
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I have tinnitus also. Have had the nuisance since my twenties. Too much aspirin caused mine but worry and anxiety keep me awake or I awake at 2 or 3am lots of nights.
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Same going on here, Yvonne. Worry and anxiety must have been at a high level lately. I hope you’ll be able to stop worrying soon and relax. That will mean Danny’s doing well.
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The video’s a delight. I do enjoy the sound of running water — “live” water, as I like to call it. And that still photo is marvelous. I’m always saying this or that is my favorite, but this may well be my favorite of your ice photos. The fragility of the ice surrounding the falls is so touching. I found myself holding my breath when I first saw it, as though it could fall apart at any moment.
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Imogen Cunningham said ““Which of my photographs is my favourite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.”” Henri Cartier-Bresson said “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” All I can say is that I hope each of my photographs is a little better than the one preceding. Of course, there are some that stand out, but the goal is always to improve. I am glad that you have favorites and that my most recent is one of them.
The small icicles are quite delicate and probably have melted by now. It is @40°F this morning at 4:30. Crazy. We’ll approach 60° today.
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I’ll try to make more videos of these shoots. It’s a wonderful time spending an hour or two at these locations. Nothing but the sound of the rushing, cascading water and the occasional blue jay.
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Beautiful photo, and it would seem with your video recording you could start to make your own sound machine.
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I probably could do that. Too bad…the money’s already spent.
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What an unusual combination of foreground and background.
If the 5D2 is like the 5D3, to the right of the viewfinder is a pushbutton with a small lever above it. Turning the lever from still image position to video position flips up the mirror inside the camera in preparation for taking video. All you have to do then is press the button once to start filming, and again to stop filming. Each video file will have a .mov suffix.
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Sounds pretty easy. I give it a go next time out.
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Stunning. I think this is my favourite of all your winter waterfall images (so far). The composition is brilliant. And thank you so much for the wonderful waterfall sound! Now I just have to figure out how to put this on a loop and listen to it every night to help me sleep. 🙂
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Ah, great comment, I.K. I think I may have quoted Imogen Cunningham earlier or elsewhere. She said, when asked which of her photographs was her favorite, “The one I take tomorrow” or to that effect. So far works for me. 🙂
Figuring out how to create a loop would be good to know. I like my sound machine, but there are some things about their loop that I don’t care for and it would be nice to make my own. Let me know. 🙂
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