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Multnomah Falls - Thanksgiving Day 2010


Tuesday - below freezing - have to work
Wednesday - below freezing - have to work
Thursday - first day I don't have to work - not freezing...
...but managed to catch a little bit of ice accenting the falls on Thanksgiving morning.



The trail up to the bridge was closed by a gate. A sign on the gate threatened a three hundred dollar fine for trespassing.



Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced Wednesday that he would vote against the White House's recent tax cuts deal.




So I did what I could from the viewing area, trying hard to come up with some unique perspective of this often photographed gorge icon.


Beneath the roar of the falling water, you could hear the vibration of heavy things letting go.


The wood in the splash pool grows a thick coat of ice on the side facing the falls. This image quickly encapsulates what happens to things that face the falls in sub-freezing temperatures...say a camera lens for instance.


I like the naked little tree thing in the left lower quarter. It would make a great Christmas tree for the Peanuts gang.


Edge of the cascade, framed in ice.


Flowing water carves away the encroaching ice.


Briefly, the icicles advance, appearing like a mouth full of Tyrannosaur teeth.


The ice does not prevail in this preliminary skirmish.


The temperature gradient sharpens at the interface between air and water.


Ice garden.


Flags pointing toward the splash pool.


This might be what the surface of Uranus looks like, if Uranus is really cold.

Comments

  1. Mr. Dietz - Very cool. Were the first 3 using the high dynamic range plug-in? They look surreal. Or is that effect created by a long exposure?

    I remember going up once to photograph the ice on the falls and having the battery die in my SLR in about a half hour. It was a very long cold snap and the falls were almost frozen solid.

    My fav was the third one down with the closer up view of the lower falls and bridge. Nicely done.

    ST

    ReplyDelete
  2. ST,

    To some degree, I adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness and saturation as part of a post processing routine for images that I post to this blog. However, I think the surreal effect in this case, especially in the first two images is a result of taking the image at about the time the natural light from the dawn was beginning to balance the artificial light from the viewing area lamp-posts. This, in my opinion, is what causes the warmer reddish tint in the lower splash chamber and which contrasts with the colder blue evident beyond the bridge.

    If memory serves, the first two images had exposure times close to 30 seconds apiece.

    Also, it should be noted that the pictures of Uranus are really from the vicinity of Latourell Falls.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't believe that some knowledgeable photographer guy makes a serious and complimentary comment and you use it to draw attention to Uranus again....try this.....next time someone identifies their favorite picture you should go back and repace that picture with one of Barney Frank licking a popsickle or maybe 2 dogs humping.

    ReplyDelete

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