OutdoorType

Around 2:30 this afternoon it was time for a break and I decided to venture out to the battlefield for an hour or so of hiking and photography. The roads were still mostly unplowed and the three or four inches of accumulated snow made for some nice four-wheel drive action (the best part of this being the alleviation of guilt that I carry around so often for driving an SUV in the first place. I do like being able to say that I use the car for its intended purpose…)

The battlefield most easily accessible to me is a short drive from the office and before long I was heading up the back road and squeezing past evergreen trees that straining against the weight of the heavy, wet snow, had taken on a significant lean. Under normal weather conditions I walk around with just one camera and a set of lenses, stopping to change them as necessary. Today though I wanted to minimize the moisture exposure and so I brought two camera bodies, one for a long lens and one for a wide. To the 20D I attached the 70 – 200mm IS 2.8 lens (and then left it stuffed inside my jacket for the majority of the trek – which I am sure looked just ridiculous). The Mark III got the magic 35mm 1.4 lens. Strapped to my back was my new favourite camera bag from Think Tank just in case conditions began to deteriorate rapdily.

Most of the time while I was out big, wet flakes tumbled down from the featureless sky. Unlike Wednesday’s squall that pushed a cold, biting wind across the fields today’s storm was quiet and still. The falling flakes muffled most sounds except for my boots crunching across the snow. Wednesday’s excursion was cut short because I was very much under dressed and ill-prepared for the elements. Today though I was covered (except for the jeans) from head to toe in waterproof gear. If only I had been able to find my gators in the morning I might never have returned to the office!

Today I worked on capturing the falling flakes by trying to isolate them against a darker backdrop (trees). And it sort of worked, but even dressed as I was, I felt rushed because while I was warm and dry I wanted to protect the cameras from the elements as much as possible (also, there was a job to return to). A lot of times I used the cover of trees but that limited what I could shoot. A good amount of time was spent trying to get a winter version of this shot, but it didn’t work in the snow like I had hoped. The sky was white, the ground was white… The interesting tire tracks were nowhere to be seen… even the trees were covered with snow and so there was very little in the way of contrast. It was frustrating so I moved on to the barn.

The hay shed barn always has good stuff and I took some time to notice new details of my favourite part, the metal door. I don’t know what to say, except I am still in love with this door and I think I have to keep playing with it… Next time I might bring a step ladder in order to reach different sections. The image below is a straight on shot of a rust spot found near the far right end (usually I work near the left). Inside the barn I finally noticed the model number of the hay baler that I like to shoot a lot when the light is good. It’s a New Holland 273 and for just a couple thousand dollars I could have one of my very own!

Full set of photos on Flickr.