Monday, January 27, 2014

Wallkill River Ice

Like almost everyone else in the northeast, I'm getting  a little tired of all the extreme cold weather this winter. But I also decided to take advantage of the cold and get some photographs of ice on the Wallkill River at Benedict Farm in Montgomery, N.Y.

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A couple of  weeks ago I stopped there on one of the few relatively warm days we've had in January. Although ice still covered the river, the park was covered in fog.
Last week the scene was completely different. Instead of dealing with light rain and clouds, I was facing bright sunshine and temperatures in the single digits. Blocks of ice were piled up on the river banks in some areas. And the smooth surface of  ice was interrupted in places with jagged pieces.


Here's an overall look at ice on the shore with the river in the background. I used a wide angle lens to take this picture.

After shooting many photos from right next to the blocks with my wide angle, I backed up a bit and switched to a telephoto lens.

Here's another shot with the longer lens.


 For the next photo I moved behind the blocks of ice for a detail shot.


 All of the photographs so far were taken fairly close to where I parked my car. Next I decide to take a walk along the river toward the back of the park, an area I had never checked out. Walking helped me stay warm, but I did not find that many spots along the river to take photos. I was, however, rewarded with the photo of the bald eagle at right. I heard the cries of hawks, and I had seen hawks at Benedict Farm before. But this was my first time seeing an eagle there.
On my way back to the parking area the sun was lower in the sky. The shards of ice were now more backlit, which made for more interesting pictures.

Here's a slideshow with these images and more:


Wallkill River Ice - Images by Tom Bushey