When it gets really cold, neat things happen in the atmosphere. Ice crystals form right in the clear air, and dance about glistening in the sunlight. Mist and seasmoke fill the air above any open water. Long crystals of hoar frost coat the trees. And the intensity of the morning light is unparalleled. The air itself feels different too, it’s dense and honestly feels great to breath!

Going out in these conditions requires proper gear, but I rarely find myself in serious discomfort while shooting. I’ve blogged about proper gear in the past, and taking proper precautions, I’ve yet to lose a limb or had any ill fall upon me befitting the stark warnings I always hear.

This past weekend was by far the coldest weekend of the year so far, and I set out to ‘reshoot’ some scenes that I wasn’t ever happy with last year. The first was from an overlook in North Conway, which had been recently cleared allowing a beautiful view of New Hampshire’s most “Prodigious Hilltop”.

Mount Washington Centered

Mount Washington Offset

Mount Washington - Pano

I shot a variety of compositions here, from centered to offset to pano pan. I’ll let the viewer decide which they like best. I like them all…such great atmosphere!

From there, I drove a few miles down to the dual covered bridges in Conway, and crept down to the river, and cautiously out onto the ice to get the sun rising through the mist over the bridge and river. The light was ever changing, and keeping the mist from icing the lens was a challenge, but the scene remained captivating for about 45 minutes.

Frigid Bridge - Conway, NH

By this time, the sun was high, the temperature was above zero, and I was itching for a cup of hot tea. So I went back inside to a local coffee shop…where everyone else was complaining about the cold, and ignoring the beauty surrounding them.

Frigid Bridge - A Midday Shot that Works Due To Heavy Hoar Frost!

The golden hour is great for photography as the intensity of light is less, and therefore local contrasts are greatly reduced. The light is also warmer; whereas midday light is a cool, blue color that many characterize as uninviting, golden hour light has hues of pink and orange that bring wholly different emotional responses to images. Golden hour light is a commodity, it’s rare, and it’s cherished. I’m sure everyone has had a moment where they were completely blown away by a sunrise or sunset that stops them in their tracks.

When photographing light during the magic hour, there is a strong tendency to shoot the sun itself. Unless I can incorporate the sun as a dynamic piece of the landscape, I tend to compose off of the sun, and sometimes even directly away. This technique is most successful when there are mountains to capture the longest of rays, sometimes when the sun is still below the horizon in the valleys. This Alpenglow can make the harshest mountain landscape seem inviting.

Shooting alpenglow can be challenging. The intensity of the light is low, but the color is high. Additionally, the land below the alpenglow is often incredibly dark, almost requiring split neutral density filters to balance out the scene. In winter, two stops tend to do it. If you don’t have split ND filters, good strategy when shooting for alpenglow in digital photography is to overexpose, or shoot to the right. As long as you don’t clip the highlights, you can dial down back to a normal exposure in photoshop, and have a much wider range of quality tones in the final image.

This past weekend, I caught two great displays of alpenglow from overlooks in Conway and Jackson, overlooking Mount Washington. With the now near blank slopes of snow, the light was fantastic. I hope to explore overlooks that require a bit more effort this winter, like Mount Adams, Mount Hight/Carter Dome, and Jackson/Pierce, whenever the forecast looks clear…but this weekend is just forecast to be too cold. Safety has to be considered, and shooting in twenty to thirty below temperatures miles from a road with a planned hike in the dark is just not prudent. Patience…

Here’s some alpenshots from the weekend…

Predawn Glow From Conway - No light on the Mountain!

Strong Glow over Conway Lake

Early Glow From Jackson, NH

Later Golden Light From Jackson, NH

This weekend I had two clear mornings when the temperatures dropped to about -10F, and the light and atmosphere did not disappoint. I started Saturday morning on a hill above Conway, NH and as the light began to emerge, I saw some fog in the valley towards Eaton. Knowing that this could in fact be ice fog, I drove down to Crystal Lake, and found myself in the most magical scene.

Sundogs in Eaton, NH

Hanging in the air were millions of tiny ice crystals, each one capable of catching, reflecting and refracting the light. Looking away from the sun, the air looked to be twinkling, not unlike a summer night, but the points of light were smaller and warmer. If you’ve ever been knocked on the head and saw stars…that’s what it’s like. Magical.  And something that cannot be captured with any justice to real life…

Hoarfrost on the Lakeshore

Towards the sun, the light was refracted into sundogs, prismatic effects to the right and left of the sun. They hovered in the foreground right over the lake. And lining the entire shoreline was a coating of hoar frost on all the trees. I donned snowshoes, and trudged all around the lake and the area behind the famous white church, and remained in awe for hours.

Fridgid Bridge on Chocorua Lake

This morning, I was hoping the scene would repeat itself. After shooting Mount Washington at dawn, I raced down to Chocorua, hoping for more diamond dust. None to be found, but the hoar frost was thick and heavy around the bridge. There is enough current flowing between the two sections of lake to keep it open, and mist completed the scene.

I shot until my feet said no more…it was cold after all!