Moving Water & Falling Snow

So it is snowing again.  At the moment in Hailey it's 20 degrees and about an inch or two of new with 8" to 16" forecast to fall by tomorrow.  Town is still quiet but I cannot imagine that will last long.  The bug activity on the Big Wood River has been fluctuating much like the weather.  On the warmer days there have been enough bugs to get the fish up on the surface.  And on the colder days--highs below 20 degrees--there are better things to do.  If you have the chance to walk over the River Run bridge, take a moment and look upstream and to your right--river left--and watch the shallow water.  There are many fish sitting in 6 to 8 inches of water.  I see that spot as a barometer spot that is very easy to get to and observe.  While I am not likely to fish there, it certainly acts as an indicator as to whether or not fish will be feeding elsewhere on the Wood.

The images below I took this morning and range from 2.5 to 4 second exposures.  It was snowing quite hard when I took these shots on the Big Wood River.  I am hoping to get out tonight if it is still snowing to capture a few more falling snow and moving water shots...

 

 

 

 

A Silver Creek Morning

I shot down to Silver Creek this morning with nothing really in mind other than looking for an image or two.  It was pretty cold.  Around 6 degrees at sunrise.  There are a bunch of Trumpeter Swans on the Creek at the moment and I watched a coyote stalk abot two dozen of them near what I refer to as the East Oxbow.  The coyote was pretty sly as it walked along the bank of Silver Creek and acted as though the Swans were not there.  The thing was though, that it paced back and forth.  The coyote just didn't make eye contact with its quarry.  It was not, however, going to jump in the water and swim after a meal...  I never did see the coyote catch a prize. 

 

 

 

Sledding Day

Here are a few images from a sledding day about a week ago.  I used NIK'S Silver Effex Pro for the black and white conversion.  I have been working on picking a color channel within black and white and lightening or darkening that specific channel.  I worked on the blue channel in the images below...

 

 

 

 

Looking Back And Now

The two images below were both taken last June and for whatever reason slipped through the cracks and never garnered any of my attention.  To me, they both really speak of June on Silver Creek which is not my favorite fishing month there but is certainly the month for which I look forward to the most.  Green.  Ominous clouds.  Ephemeral weather.  Relatively uncrowded.  Cloud-loving and non-clockwork hatches.  Too early in the season for mosquitoes.  Wildflower extravaganza.  Occasional hair raising thunderstorms.

 

As it is, though, now, water is funnelling through the wet snow on my roof and pouring down on to a spring like slush.  It is December; mid-December.  It rained much of the night last night.  Snow is changing to rain and rain is changing to snow like an indecisive child on a run of mind changing furor.  The low tonight is anticipated to be around 10.  The wind will surely pick up.  The soaked ground will freeze and harden unevenly.  Perhaps I'll head out and try and capture a few images...

 

 East Oxbow.  June, 2010

 

Nature Conservancy.  June, 2010

Midges In The Snow

I took a walk along the banks of the Big Wood yesterday afternoon looking for midges.  I found a few sitting in the snow along the bank.  It was a warmer day; probably mid-thirties and certainly above freezing.  I watched a few fish feed on the surface in a spot I don't consider great winter dry fly fishing.

I took a few images of a midge with my 105 macro and extension tubes.  Extension tubes essentially allow me to get closer to my subject.  The midge in the two pictures below was TINY.  Probably a size 26 or smaller.  If you are wondering, as I was, what the small "blob" below where the wing extends from the body is, it is called a haltere.  A friend of mine, Pat Barrett, who happens to be an entomologist by trade responded to my inquiry of what in the world is that blob: "The blob is called a haltere.  It's the reduced hind wing found on true flies--Diptera--and it serves as the stabilizer that lets them hover and do all that other cool stuff with only two wings.  Wasps, dragonflies, mayflies, etc. all have four wings."

I will say that what I don't know is considerable.

 

 

Mud Creek

Here's an image from Mud Creek.  Obviously cold temps brought the ice across the river.  I did have permission to be where I was.  I did see one small rainbow dart downstream.  We are back in the grey sky weather pattern.  It's snowing lightly at the moment with another couple inches expected tonight.  Hopefully I will get a chance to ski and shoot Craters of the Moon within the next week.  There is a groomed ski track at Craters and it's a pretty cool and surreal place to skate or classic ski.  Snow shoes are allowed as well.

 

Mud Creek

 

Big Wood long exposure.

Fairfield In The Snow

I took a drive over to Fairfield yesterday in a near white out with two to three sloppy inches of snow on the road.  I was out looking for images.  Panos.  Black and white.  Falling snow shots.  Whatever I could find that interested me.  I was not really in a creative mood and was more focused on an intriguing story on NPR.  I grabbed a great cup of coffee at the Soldier Mountain Brewing Co. on Main St. in Fairfield (perpendicular to HWY 20).  I poked around on a back road and took less than a dozen shots.  I drove back by Silver Creek and that was that... Sunny today.  5 new inches on Baldy (Sun Valley) and back to a possibility of snow through the rest of the week.  Here's what I finished with yesterday:

 

Black and white is usually my first choice for this type of landscape.

 

Here's one from the same spot but in color.

 

And... a 6 image pano of grain silos near Picabo.

Bending The River

I am still out daily taking and making a few panos.  The one below is of the Big Wood River.  Again, I shot it using 24 mm trying to get a little distorted (bent) look.  The weather broke up today which made for some spectacular skies and a little fog as well.  Temps are not as cold either.  High today was somewhere around 38 degrees.

 

 

 

 

Silver Creek Pano

It keeps snowing here!  Lots of small pulses and lots of grey skies.  An inch or two yesterday.  An inch last night.  2 to 3 inches forecast for today and snowing and socked in at the moment.  I have been out and about trying to get better at panos.  The pano below was taken and put together yesterday.  It is immediately upstream of the HWY 20 bridge.  It is comprised of 12 images each of which was taken at 24mm.  I used 24 mm to see what kind of distortion (bending) I would get.  I use Photoshop CS5's photomerge tool to put the pano together.  The file size is 141 mb and 27.6 megapixels.  The best advice I have been given so far is to shoot vertically (portrait rather than landscape) so as not to make the pano too long and narrow.

 

Also, to check out the Nature Conservancy's blog for Silver Creek go to:  http://idahonaturenotes.blogspot.com/

One of my images was used there and mentions the fact I got stuck in a snow drift...  It won't be long before the hill above the Nature Conservancy closes to car traffic.  It's a little dicey at the moment.

"It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive."--Robert Stone, Outerbridge Reach

 

Last Day Of the Season In The Nature Conservancy

Today was the last day of the season for fishing on the Nature Conservancy Section of Silver Creek.  I spent the morning through the early afternoon down there.  It started out around 9 degrees and crept up to around 20 when I left.  I saw two midges in the snow on the bank.  That's right, two midges.  Had I stayed a little longer perhaps I would have seen 6 more...  In any event, it was a wonderful way to spend the final day of the season there.  And yes, a few nice fish were caught to top it off.  While the fishing may be closed through the winter in the Preserve, it is certainly worth heading down with skis or snow shoes and tromping around.  Plenty of birds, elk, etc...  We are pretty fortunate to have access to such a marvelous place.  Thanks go out to The Nature Conservancy!

Also, I am now profiled on the MidCurrent Web site within the fly fishing photography section.  Check it out, it's a great site:  http://www.midcurrent.com/flyfishingimages/photographers.aspx

 Panorama of the oxbow within the Nature Conservancy

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Water And Ted Talks

Have you checked out Ted Talks (http://www.ted.com/talks)?  It is quite a remarkable site with intriguing, inspiring, creative, funny, contentious, informative talks on many, many different topics.  I often find myself clicking on the option, most inspiring.  I have been thinking about and talking about the John Wooden clip for some time.  So, here are just two to start with including John Wooden touching on true success: 

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

 

And on a photography note, here is an image of moving water:

 

 

Spring Creek Ice

Here's an image of ice forming on Stalker Creek. The rich colors in the water are quite a contrast to the shelf ice and the blanket of winter-white snow on the ground.  Stalker Creek along with Grove Creek forms Silver Creek.  Generally the closer to the source of the spring the more constant the year round temps are and it is not very often that Silver Creek in the Nature Conservancy section gets ice all the way across the surface.  The ice on Stalker Creek where I took the image below had only crept out 10 or so inches at the most.  We received about 7" more inches of snow today and it has, as I write this, cleared up and the temps have dropped.

 

Sledding

Here are a few more fun shots.  Sledding in the front yard.  If you are thinking of fishing Silver Creek, we have through Tuesday to do it as the Nature Conservancy section closes on December 1st.  Silver Creek does stay open through Feb. below the HWY 20 bridge (think Willows and Point of Rocks) and all year below HWY 93.  From what I have observed lately the browns have finished their spawning business and have moved on.  I have not seen anything in the way of bugs/hatches outside of blowing snow...

 

 

The Nature Conservancy cabin taken on 11.26.10.  It's a 4 frame HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. 

Cappuccino

One of my favorite things to drink.  A cappuccino...  Here are a few images from Italy taken a few years back.  A bar and a cappuccino from that bar.  Cortona, Italy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Spindrift

Just about a foot of new in Hailey by this morning.  Some showers through the day and by now, early evenning, the mercury is dropping fast.  High tomorrow is expected to be around 7.  Sun Valley will be open for skiing on Thanksgiving.  In any event, here are two images from late this afternoon as the wind was picking up and the sun dropping.   Spindrift on top of Della in Hailey.

I converted both of these images into black and white using Nik's Silver Efex Pro which is now available in 64-bit mode.  I really cannot say I notice any speed difference using Aperture 3 between 32-bit mode and 64-bit mode.  I toggle between the two due to a few plug-ins I use which are only 32-bit compatible.  I upgraded from Aperture 2 to Aperture 3 about a month or so ago and have found the upgrade ($99) to be far better for many reasons.  A couple of factors are:  Aperture 3 does basic video and you can incorporate that into pretty cool slideshows all within Aperture 3.  The brushes are another great addition.  The list goes on...

 

 

Fun Shots and New Snow

Here are a few fun shots.  A little new snow with more on its way.  As I write this--10 PM Monday night--it's starting to snow quite hard.  By Wednesday the high is supposed to be 7.  "If you want to explore, don't start with a plan." -- Jay Maisel