This one comes courtesy of the ridiculously cold week we had in August here in Queenstown, NZ… Once a year, we usually get a cold snap that more or less shuts down the town for a week or so. The roads become sheet ice, and all the visitors to town go crazy on the mountains or end up staying inside getting cozy.
Not me. I’ve been off the ski fields for a few years, and the most enjoyable thing I look forward to in winter is some serious snow driving! I may have gotten stuck once or twice this year, but god it was worth it. The state highways turn into playgrounds, and I usually take my legacy out for a spin – literally… Going places some wouldn’t consider in ‘proper’ four wheel drive vehicles.
This photo was actually taken after getting my car stuck after coming out of a drift… Lets just say I ‘parked’ in a less than graceful manner. In a ditch. Well worth it though!
On the way home, we drove past Lake Hayes, and I was determined to capture the wild weather during a brief break in the snow flurries… The friends I had with me opted to sit in the car while I stood in the sub freezing temperatures firing off a bracketed set for this HDR. The photo doesn’t do the conditions justice… But take a look at the imprint in the snow from the wind. We had a week of this weather, and some meteorologists were actually calling it the “perfect storm” — I’m not sure if it were perfect, but my gosh it was fun while it lasted!
This HDR photo was taken with my Canon 7D, using the Sigma 10-20mm DC HSM lens at f/8, utilizing the Promote Control to fire off 13 bracketed photos.
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Great photo! Out of curiosity, from where in the scene did you meter the light, and did you use your camera’s suggestion as you 0EV?
Hi Steve
This scene was a strange one… The light was chaotic that day with the broken cloud cover and all the snow. Metering wise, I was using spot metering on the table from memory. I frequently do this as I use manual focus to fine-tune the shot – and I meter exposure off the same point, usually the main subject somewhere near the middle of the frame.
Cheers for the feedback!
[...] In this case, this week’s post is a followup to one I made late last year entitled ‘The Perfect Storm’ in which I detail the bitter winter we had during the weeks of August. The crazy weather managed [...]