I had a 45 minute break yesterday in an otherwise swamped day so I grabbed a sandwich and with camera in hand went exploring.  This was the first time I have been able to shoot any images of the first measurable snow of the season.

I went out to the small dam in Maquoketa but there was no water flowing so no ice formations around the doors.  On the way out I notice this small stream meandering through the woods and I liked the way it looked with all the trees around.   I tried this image in black and white and it just didn’t work as well as it did in color.

I decided to see if there was anything going on at the  “Duck Pond” and there were 9 swans swimming in a very small patch of open water.  By the time I was able to creep up within camera range they were moving toward the center of the pond (very unsociable.)  So the only thing I could do was grab this shot of one of the groups walking away.

Mindful of the image I showed you yesterday of the Hurstville Kilns I went back to them to capture this image with snow.  Again I liked this image better in color than in black and white.

So it was a fun 45 minutes.   I shot up about 50 images in a very short amount of time and I’m really glad I decided to go with my camera.  I got my long lens back from the factory this week (supposedly calibrated) so I’m anxious to take it out this weekend and see how it performs.

A new feature I’ve added to the blog is now if you click on an image it will take you to a larger image.  Then all you have to do is press the back key and you will be returned to the place where you were before.  WordPress limits me to 500 px wide images for the post but I can have a larger image on a page by itself.  So if you see one you like and would like to see more detail just click on it.

I’m lucky to have a three-day weekend so hopefully lots of shooting ahead.  Enjoy your weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and be careful.