Making the most of winter!

I'm not a big fan of winter, but until I'm able to migrate south, I make the best of it. Here's what I've been up to lately.

Ice Jumping
My friend Scott and I went out to shoot ice piles along the Lake Huron shoreline near Tobermory last weekend. As we were waiting for the light to improve at sunset, Scott kindly agreed to pose for some action shots, jumping off the ice piles in his snowshoes. After about 10 repeat jumps, it all came together for this shot. Note the red jacket - every outdoor photographer should have one! EOS 1DSmIII; EF 70-200IS at 200; 1/800s @ f/4; ISO 400



Icy Shoreline Sunset
The two below photos are what we were really after. Once the sun had set, the afterglow was spectacularly deep purple and orange, bathing the ice with rich color. These were long exposures (20-30s) at f/18, using a 2-stop soft edge Singh-Ray 4x6" ND grad, which I handheld in front of the lens. EOS 1DSmIII; 17-40mm lens; ISO 400; cable release & mirror lock-up




Common Redpoll
I shot these today in Penetanguishene in a friend's backyard. There were about 150 redpolls swarming their feeders - it was very busy! There were only a few individuals that were brightly plumaged males and I spent hours trying to get shots of them. I used my classic feeder setup to get these - attaching perches to the feeder poles with zip ties.
EOS 1DSmIII; 500/4IS; ISo 400; 1/320s @ f/6.3