Howdy all! Well, go figure, I shot more ice on Dream Lake! I had wanted to get up again this winter, but scheduling just never quite worked out! Well, when I saw Jesse's incredible shot he posted on the 28th, I knew conditions were right. The weather looked good, and I just had to go!
So I headed up Friday night, leaving Westminster at about 9:30pm. I found a nice flat spot in Moraine Campground, and slept in my truck. As is quite typical this time of year, the wind was howling all night. Luckily I slept like a baby in my comfy truck.
Five -thirty AM came way too soon, and I headed up the road to the Bear Lake parking lot, finding I was the third one there! Well, at the Bear Lake parking lot, the wind was atrocious! I briefly considered bagging it, but decided that I'd made the effort this far, I might as well give it a shot. I'd at least get a good hike out of it.
I left my car at about 6:30, and headed up the trail. I briefly considered taking the winter shortcut from Bear to Nymph, but decided I didn't want to waste time trying to find the beginning in the dark. So up the very packed main trail I went. From experience, I knew I wouldn't need my snowshoes on this trail, and didn't have plans for any wild bushwhacking, so just used my pair of Yak Trax Pro's for traction. They worked great for sure! Being out of shape, as well as carrying at least 35 pounds of photo gear on my back slowed me down a bit, and I took several little breaks! Once I got to Nymph Lake at about 6:45, I was warmed up nicely though, and headed up the normal summer trail towards Dream, cutting off the regular trail just below the lake. This whole time in the trees, the wind had been a non-factor, except I was getting a little too warm in the layers I had chosen in the windy parking lot!
I got to Dream Lake at 7:10am, and who would have guessed it, but it was windy! Huh! I headed straight for the southeast part of the lake, my favorite spot for good ice fractures! With the wind, I still wasn't sure I was going to be able to even get my 4x5 out, so I set my pack down, got my down jacket on, and set out to at least scout for some good fractures. I spent about 20 minutes just walking around, being extra careful not to scratch any of the "good" ice with my Yak Trax! (Sorry Bob if I screwed any good stuff up for you later that day! ) Finally I decided that wind or not, I was finding way too many cool things to shoot! So I headed back over to my pack, and set everything up.
Well, with a 4x5 camera, bellows = sail in the wind, hence my initial reluctance to even trying to shoot. So, once my camera was set up, I could really never take my hands off of it for longer than a few seconds. A challenge to say the least. And probably a little comical to watch also! It did in fact come up off one tripod leg a couple times. Scary. Even funnier is the fact that my huge photo backpack ended up about 7 feet away from me a couple times just from the wind! DOH!
I found lots of cool spots to shoot, and just had to make the best of the wind. I would set up the shot, and most times have to wait with the cable release in my hand for several minutes, just waiting for a lull in the wind. The fact I was shooting with a 2 second exposure certainly didn't help! More than once I got a nice still moment, only to have the wind come back halfway through the exposure! Oh well!
I shot for almost two hours, and along the way even ran into several folks I knew! Small world. I ended up hiking out with my friend Igloo Ed, and we were back at the packed parking lot at 10:40am. I topped off a great morning with some awesome Mexican food in Lyons with Ed, and was back in Westminster by 1pm.
A quick photo trip, but great one for sure! I'll post a couple images below, and here are all the rest: Dream Lake Ice
Also, here are some digital snaps from the trip. Be sure to have your volume turned up to watch the video at the end. Gotta hear the wind!
Good stuff once again Brent! I like them all as well, but the first one here is my favorite. #3 looks like it could be a Hubble Telescope shot. Very cool. Hmm, now I know where that big boot print came from.
Dear Brent,
Wow! Fantastic shots. I am new to the area and have been to Dream Lake during the summer. You have inspired me to consider a trip next fall/winter. I also loved how your shared about your experience during your day of shooting.
Peacemaker
Posted by Grant Collier on March 16, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Stop copying everyone else and shooting ice at Dream Lake! Actually, maybe you should start collecting royalties for all the other Dream Lake ice shots.
These are great. I like the first two the best, just because they're unique from others I've seen.
Discussion
16 repliesSo I headed up Friday night, leaving Westminster at about 9:30pm. I found a nice flat spot in Moraine Campground, and slept in my truck. As is quite typical this time of year, the wind was howling all night. Luckily I slept like a baby in my comfy truck.
Five -thirty AM came way too soon, and I headed up the road to the Bear Lake parking lot, finding I was the third one there! Well, at the Bear Lake parking lot, the wind was atrocious! I briefly considered bagging it, but decided that I'd made the effort this far, I might as well give it a shot. I'd at least get a good hike out of it.
I left my car at about 6:30, and headed up the trail. I briefly considered taking the winter shortcut from Bear to Nymph, but decided I didn't want to waste time trying to find the beginning in the dark. So up the very packed main trail I went. From experience, I knew I wouldn't need my snowshoes on this trail, and didn't have plans for any wild bushwhacking, so just used my pair of Yak Trax Pro's for traction. They worked great for sure! Being out of shape, as well as carrying at least 35 pounds of photo gear on my back slowed me down a bit, and I took several little breaks! Once I got to Nymph Lake at about 6:45, I was warmed up nicely though, and headed up the normal summer trail towards Dream, cutting off the regular trail just below the lake. This whole time in the trees, the wind had been a non-factor, except I was getting a little too warm in the layers I had chosen in the windy parking lot!
I got to Dream Lake at 7:10am, and who would have guessed it, but it was windy! Huh! I headed straight for the southeast part of the lake, my favorite spot for good ice fractures! With the wind, I still wasn't sure I was going to be able to even get my 4x5 out, so I set my pack down, got my down jacket on, and set out to at least scout for some good fractures. I spent about 20 minutes just walking around, being extra careful not to scratch any of the "good" ice with my Yak Trax! (Sorry Bob if I screwed any good stuff up for you later that day!
Well, with a 4x5 camera, bellows = sail in the wind, hence my initial reluctance to even trying to shoot. So, once my camera was set up, I could really never take my hands off of it for longer than a few seconds. A challenge to say the least. And probably a little comical to watch also! It did in fact come up off one tripod leg a couple times. Scary. Even funnier is the fact that my huge photo backpack ended up about 7 feet away from me a couple times just from the wind! DOH!
I found lots of cool spots to shoot, and just had to make the best of the wind. I would set up the shot, and most times have to wait with the cable release in my hand for several minutes, just waiting for a lull in the wind. The fact I was shooting with a 2 second exposure certainly didn't help! More than once I got a nice still moment, only to have the wind come back halfway through the exposure! Oh well!
I shot for almost two hours, and along the way even ran into several folks I knew! Small world. I ended up hiking out with my friend Igloo Ed, and we were back at the packed parking lot at 10:40am. I topped off a great morning with some awesome Mexican food in Lyons with Ed, and was back in Westminster by 1pm.
A quick photo trip, but great one for sure! I'll post a couple images below, and here are all the rest: Dream Lake Ice
Also, here are some digital snaps from the trip. Be sure to have your volume turned up to watch the video at the end. Gotta hear the wind!
Thanks for looking!
Mel-
Mel-
Wow! Fantastic shots. I am new to the area and have been to Dream Lake during the summer. You have inspired me to consider a trip next fall/winter. I also loved how your shared about your experience during your day of shooting.
Peacemaker
These are great. I like the first two the best, just because they're unique from others I've seen.