Figure 1 – Winter Ice #2, Lincoln, Massachusetts on the eve of the winter solstice. (c) DE Wolf 2017.

Figure 1 is a second “winter ice” image that I took on the solstice. Because of the way snow scatters light it tends deeply towards the blue, which in turn tends to become distorted in a photograph. Yesterday’s image I prepared in black and white and then gave it a very subtle blue tone. Today I went the opposite extreme and toned in my usual sepia. So this is a sort of comparative experiment, as to which is the better way to go.

Needless-to-say, we need a quote today and I will give you one from John Tyndall, the nineteenth century Irish physicist who explained why the sky is blue and also studied the phenomena associated with water and ice. The blueness of ice connects with the blueness of the sky. This quote is not about ice itself but about the infinity of connections within the physical universe.

“Every occurrence in Nature is preceded by other occurrences which are its causes, and succeeded by others which are its effects. The human mind is not satisfied with observing and studying any natural occurrence alone, but takes pleasure in connecting every natural fact with what has gone before it, and with what is to come after it.”

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 100 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/400th sec at f/10.0 with no exposure compensation