Snow Lined Winter Creek, Harriman State Park, New York
When I woke up yesterday morning, I was quite excited to find that it was snowing. The view outside my window was drenched in a light coat of white and bit fat snowflakes were fluttering down from the sky. Sweet! After doing a few morning chores, including checking the weather forecast, I headed out to Harriman State Park in New York in hopes of photographing some local winter scenes with snow. The natural areas around where I live really are quite beautiful, so I’m hoping to capture more local landscapes before heading off to grad school later this year and leaving the area. New Jersey gets a bad rap, but really, once you can get away from all the people, its a great state with a ton of natural beauty.
Admittedly, I did head over the border and into New York state for yesterday’s morning snow, but Harriman is only about 1/2 hour from my house, and I love this creek that runs through the park. The weather forecast predicted that the snow would turn to rain by noon in my area, but north and west of where I am it was just supposed to stop snowing, so I decided to head out a bit farther in hopes of having more time to photograph. As it turns out, nearly all of the snow had melted by 2PM and this morning, it is impossible to tell that it had ever snowed at all.
I’m hoping we get more fresh snow soon, and I can take advantage of some of my other local hiking trails, but I’m pretty happy with being able to grab some wintery shots in the short time frame I had.
I DID get to test out my new Gitzo GT1541T tripod for the first time yesterday. I purchased this tripod specifically for landscapes, as I wanted something lighter and more compact for hiking and backpacking, and I’m quite impressed. It packs up nice and small and fits into the side pocket of my Osprey Talon 44 pack, where I don’t even notice it while hiking. Set-up is a breeze with the rotating leg locks, and the closures that spread the legs out from the base plate are different from the heavier duty Gitzo’s I’ve used and I think an improvement. Of course I’ll have to put it through a few more trials before I can really offer a thorough review, but so far my impressions are extremely positive.
on January 29, 2010 at 9:23 am
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It is typically the kind of wintry scenes that I like! Great composition !
Cheers,
Jean-Michel
on February 3, 2010 at 9:28 pm
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Beautiful fresh snow picture Kari! I love the way you placed the trail and the flow of the water in your composition.
on February 7, 2010 at 4:55 am
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Hello Kari.
I love snow and this photo location reminds me of Asdøljuvet Gorge in Norway.
Though, there is a lot more snow there right now and can only be enjoyed on snow shoes.
I appreciate this photograph for giving me the feeling of “being there”, smelling the cold air, wet trees and the sound of water.
Best Wishes
Seung Kye
on February 7, 2010 at 4:56 am
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…by the way, are you norwegian?
Your name, Kari, is a typical norwegian name.
Just wondered.
Take care.
Seung Kye
on February 7, 2010 at 8:28 am
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Thanks for the warm compliments! I’m a mutt (a mix of English, Scottish, Irish, Czech, French Canadian, and much more I’m sure), although I don’t know if there is any Norwegian mixed in there. I’d really like to visit Norway though and I’ve put it at the top of my “want to go” list. The landscapes from there are spectacular and I would love to photograph musk ox.
on February 10, 2010 at 5:20 pm
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What a beauty! Wonderful seen.