Winter View, Hudson Valley
Canon 1DS Mk III, 19mm, 1/8 sec, f/14, ISO 200
Winter has been rather mild this year with little of no snow fall until now – finally! With 4-6″ on the ground, I headed out for a long and very cold hike yesterday up to this spot overlooking Cold Spring, with West Point Military Academy further south along the Hudson. I managed to capture just this single image after struggling to find an interesting foreground and eliminating trees and branches that would have been distractions in the composition. I used a single 2 stop graduated filter to darken the sky and let the highlights in the foreground snow really help lead the eye into the composition.
With ambient temperatures around 4°, it’s tough to manage the controls on the camera and keep my fingers warm, so I use Manzella convertible gloves which make it easy to use my fingers when I need to, but also keep them warm. I have a very difficult time with cold fingers, so I always keep chemical hand warmers in my pockets for that extra burst of heat.
I love visiting this spot during in different seasons and conditions, you never know what you’re going to get, and it challenges me to find new ways to photograph the same view. Thanks for reading!
I have been commissioned by Scenic Hudson to produce a series of 360° panoramas of the major parks they own in the Hudson Valley. Their goal is to use them to promote these parks as recreational destinations, and hopefully get more people to support them in their future projects. I’m very excited about this project for several reasons, mainly because I wouldn’t be able to hike and photograph in many places were it not for Scenic Hudson. Another is that the specific locations are very familiar to me, and close to where I live, especially Mt Beacon, which is literally a short walk from my home. They are interested in six of their main parks to start, with perhaps more in the future.
Interestingly, they had already contacted another company that specializes in virtual panoramas, but felt they would get better results with a photographer who was local, and had more than just a passing familiarity with the parks. When they first described the project to me on the phone, I immediately knew where I could setup my tripod at the various locations in order to have the greatest potential of achieving successful results. This is not because I have some special ability or talent, but simply because I have spent so much time at these places doing exactly what they were asking – looking photographically for great views and vistas. I am certainly honored to be participating on this project, and hope I can contribute in some small way to preserving some of the natural beauty in the Hudson Valley.
This project will probably run through the summer months, in order to capture the seasons and their different colors and moods. I will debut the panoramas here as they are created – stay tuned!
UPDATE: The first of the panoramas is available for viewing here: Foundry Dock Park, Cold Spring, NY
