When the Weather is Bad...It's Really, Really Good

 The deep freeze that settled over Kentucky left its winter signature over the landscape with snow and sub freezing temperatures that extended for the better part of a week. All the ponds froze and even the larger lakes became encrusted with a layer of ice. By the beginning of the second week, warmer temperatures infiltrated along with a steady supply of rain that swamped the landscape for another week. Two weeks of bad weather and I loved it because, as a photographer, when the weather is bad, it is really, really good for capturing moody and dramatic light.

A break in the weather came toward the end of the icy week with broken clouds and blue sky peaking through. The daytime temps still hovered in the upper teens but I could not pass up the opportunity to return to one of my best rustic locations where the combination of snow, fence row, background trees, clouds, and sky offered one of those rare moments in Kentucky when all the ingredients fall into place for a winter wonderland scenic landscape. 

My fingers turned into icicles as I stood in the open with exposed finger tips. So numb they became, I could not feel the shutter release button and struggled to fired off the shots. Even so, I did manage to capture a few images, and my fingers quickly thawed once I returned to the confines of my Jeep.

I did manage to get out a few more times and photographed the local deer herd in the snow along with other landscape scenes. Always exciting to photograph deer in the fields. Add a layer of snow and cold air, the experience becomes almost surreal. Overcast skies and soft blue light gave the scene an historical measure as though being transported back in time to another era. Being warmly dressed, I braved the cold yet still felt its sting. All of it, every icy snowflake hitting my face, every numb finger, every chill infiltrating through the layers of clothing, was worth every moment.

Eventually, warmer weather settled in and the snow began to melt, but the ice covered ponds and lakes retained their icy mantle for several more days. This along with the rain and warmer temps created an amazing opportunity on Barren River Lake when fog drifted like a soft blanket across the still mushy frozen ice. I managed to spend most of a full day out there searching for and photographing this amazing combination of conditions.

With the rain and fog, it became so hazy, my camera found it difficult to find enough contrast to focus properly. I really had to struggle with it, but managed to make it all come together.

The fog was simply incredible in that it seemed to lay down close to the waters surface and slowly drift with the air currents which lifted the veil up and over the rugged shoreline and into the trees where it hovered like a ghostly apparition. It rained off and on, hard at times, but steady and eventually all that rain soaked through my rain gear and I became somewhat soggy. I loved it.

I made it over to the tailwaters area below the dam. There I discovered a good number of gulls flying around looking for something to eat as the small fish were washed through the turbines. I practiced following flying birds with my camera and big lens. Never been very good at such things, but did manage to catch a few shots of these amazingly graceful flyers. When spring comes, they will migrate back to their breeding grounds and will return again the next winter.

I must admit, it was fun to watch them zip and dart, then plunge into the water. If one happened to catch something, all the other gulls tried to steal it from him.

There were also Blue Herons standing in the tailwaters. Normally quite skittish, they seemed rather tame as I was able to easily approach them and capture a few images of their graceful stance.

The day became one of those iconic days, the kind of day that builds on the reservoir of memories collected from times past. I'll not long forget how the morning fog embraced the lakeshore and how the rain blended with the fog to create a soft misty atmosphere. Cold fingers, soggy clothing from leaky rain gear, constantly drying wet camera gear...yeah, when the weather turns bad, more often than not, it is good for the photographer. 

I suppose it is simply a matter of perspective, but one where you must be willing to charge into the moment and expect the best outcome regardless of the conditions. The roughly two weeks of marginal weather provided some wonderful opportunities to explore the best of nature at her...worst.