Silver & Snow

Silver Cascade in Crawford Notch, NH is normally surrounded by hordes of visitors, especially during fall foliage season. The fall of '09 was marked by lots of rain, and in this case snow during early October. Normally, I pass by these falls to avoid the crowds but on this day, I spent about 1.5 hrs. checking out many photo opportunies with not a sole around. Falling snow and raw conditions led to some unique photo opportunities during the peak of color. f 16, Canon 24-105L, 2 sec. expos., polarizing filter, umbrella. There is a fine line when too much snow hides the fine details of the trees and rocks, or makes visibility poor. Wind can also be a big problem for this type of shot- blowing snow off trees and moving branches around. On this day, landscape charma was in alignment. A magical time amongst the falls.

Hopefully a refreshing look at one of NH's most accessable and

photogrpahed waterfalls. Normally I drive by these, but on this day the

magic of the falls, foliage lured me in. Comments most welcome.

I love the exposure in this one, Harry. The snow highlights are just the right amount of brilliance, stopping just short of overpowering the colors in rocks and leaves. The near-square crop is a good choice, too.

(Aside: I'm going to try to get up that way tomorrow. Is there anything left of the fall color in the Whites?)

Hi John - I doubt there will be much going on up there. There may be some isolate patches of color in the Jackson area, but the rain and wind may take care of it today :( I was up last weekend and most had gone past especially at any elevation. Some backlit trees past peak often give the impression of being at peak, and some color amongst the barren trunks might also be cool. Some hikes in the Lakes region might be more productive photographically.

 

Good Luck!

Harry, this is one of the finest photos I have seen on this platform in a long while. I really mean it. It's possible this could squeak under the radar for some of our less enlightened viewers, but I think anyone with good judgement will concur with my assessment. It is simply brilliant. The larger version is really amazing. Now for my observations regarding improvements. Well, it could hardly be improved upon. I do think, however, that it is tilting to the left (based upon the lower falls seemingly falling to the right a skosh). The upper fall seems to be falling straight down, but the volume is probably higher and the water would probably travel outward to the left before falling straight anyway. It's so minor, I doubt it would be necessary and I would hate to see you crop anything, especially the upper right bare branches, as a result of the straightening. Then again, your original may have more room. Well, I thought I would offer my first contrary thought. Regardless, I am in awe of this one. It is magnificent!

Mark - Thanks for your keen observations- I will try a minor straightening. I did straighten a tighter composion, as it did look slanted, but I didn't catch this one. The most unique thing about the image is all of the environmental conditions coming together as they did - a degree or two warmer and it would have been rain ( it was actually 35 degrees when I took these), a little cooler and too much snow covering everything -you know the story! Luckily, ther was nearly no wind, which may have been great for an impressionistic photo, but not the highly detailed one I was after. About an hour later, snow turned to rain in this area, so I followed the snow to to otherher possibilities.

 

Not sure how long it will take for a straightened version to be updated, but I think it's a good idea.

 

Thanks again, Harry