Rime ice, a polarizer, and a blue sky.

A willow tree coated with rime ice in Innisfail, Alberta.

I woke up to clear skies and a world encased in rime ice.  I grabbed my polarizer filter and camera and headed out before the sun undid the magic that was gracing all the surfaces.  The mundane had transformed into the extraordinary, and time was not on my side.  

I visited half a dozen places, each with its own unique brand of splendour.  The downside of the clear skies was that it was cold and my time outdoors would be limited to only a few minutes at each stop.  On the other hand, the blue skies provided the perfect opportunity to employ my polarizer.  By rotating the ring the filter blocks out polarized light from certain planes.  This has the effect of darkening blue skies and reducing colour casting.  The contrast between foreground and background is enhanced; even more so with the white world before me.

I got quite a few photos I liked, but this one has a certain appeal to it.  Normally, I do not like a photo of just one thing, especially if it is placed squarely in the middle of the shot as if cataloguing it for some event.  This was definitely an exception, probably because it was an exceptional day and the subject could stand on its own without relying on other compositional elements for enhancement.

I also visited the Red Deer River and took a series of photos that I merged into a panorama.  You can see the end result below.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com