Figure 1 – Snow and ice on Christmas Day, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2017.

Christmas day in New England began with a snow and ice storm and ended with a magical ice world set against perfect blue sky. In the early afternoon i went out to take some photographs intrigued by the gem like  quality of the ice covered trees. In Figure 1 we have a snow-covered pine with icicles dripping in the sunlight. The tips sparkle like little stars and I am reminded of why, despite the cold, New England is such a wonderful place to live. It is as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said:

“Winter giveth the fields, and the trees so old,
their beards of icicles and snow.”

I have tried this kind of subject before, sunlight through icicles, and to some extent, I am invariably defeated by the depth of the dynamic range. I am somewhat pleased by this image. But it still seems to fall somewhat short of capturing the total beauty of the moment.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 70 mm, ISO 400, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/640th sec at f/13.0 with -1 exposure compensation.