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Well, the ice-storm was mostly a dud. The models were right and the surface temps warmed rather readily, thanks to some intense warm air advection off the ground. It was below freezing for the first portion of it however. Above is a wet/icy squirrel at my parent's. I got a ride out there with them so I could borrow their Blazer.
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As I went to leave their place, I wondered just how bad the road would be(I'd now been there awhile). I wondered just how slick it'd be going down, and if I'd be able to get back up if I drove down it. So I first drove up a ways to check. This is looking up the road, newly broken branches in the foreground.
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Getting ready to head down the ice-rink. Talk about slick.
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Play ball. By now it was probably 32 out. Even while it was just below freezing, a lot of the rain ran off things and onto the ground. Had it been colder, things would have gotten real bad fast. I didn't walk around here long as my feet were quickly getting wet.
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Blair.
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As I drove back into town, I noticed how cool the hills looked, as some slight sunlight was filtering through. I wanted to shoot it, but needed a good hill. I thought about the hill up at Neighardt Park. It's a steep long road to the top. I've driven up there when it was slick before, only to sort of regret doing so. It's not as scary going up as it is making yourself commit to going back down. It wasn't bad at the bottom with all the running water, but towards the top it was rather slick. Figured, I get up there and any filtered sunlight was now done for the day.
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This is actually the following day, December 2nd. My hope was to drive north to regions that stayed below freezing and got more ice. But, I kept checking the surface temps during the day, and they were rising just as well up that way. That and there was a good deal of sleet being reported up there. So the plans for the 2nd were squashed. I noticed how quickly the low clouds were moving outside, and thought about some longer exposures during the day light. I bought 3, 3 stop neutral density filters to do this a long time ago, but they weren't enough. At least it wasn't enough for a wide angle lens, all I had back then. I now had a zoom though, and I figured it could work(if you zoom in on a moving object you don't need as long of a shutter to get the blur). So not wanting to go out in the cold, I just shoot from my apartment. I'm shooting out the window when both cats jump up on the entertainment center. The above was one of the rare shots I got with them not moving around. The shutter was open for probably 4 seconds.
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Seeings that it was working, my interest was sparked. I had to go somewhere else. I try my parent's place. I again try from indoors as it was just cold out, about 20 degrees and very windy.
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I drove by the plant on the way up, thought about stopping off the road, but kept going. It was still in my head, but I'd have to drive back down there, or walk up the hill in the cold and shoot through the trees. Silly me chooses the walk.
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I've done this at night enough times, but never during the day. I will now have to get some better shots, without the trees. Believe me, I "tried" to get them today....
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You can tell how windy it was, since at times(like above) there really was no rise to the steam plumes. Seeings how cool it looked, I just HAD to get back down the hill and do it from the highway. I was freezing anyway, and the wind up here was moving my tripod all over. These of the plant were all about 4-8 second exposures(bluring the steam plumes), stopped way down(F16-F22) and with 3, 3 stop neutral density filters on. I never make it to do those shots from the highway though, as I tried to destroy my $1400 lens instead(Canon 100-400L IS). I put the fully extended tripod(all three leg sections were out) under my left arm, hands inside my sleeves, and stuck the camera with the lens attached inside my coat, hanging from my neck. I zipped up, with the end of the lens sticking out the bottom of my jacket(it was extended, so it's rather long....it's the white lens on this image HERE). It still had the cokin P filter holder with all three of those ND filters still attached(thank god!). I wasn't far into my run like this, on a flat dirt trail, covered solid with ice and a dusting of snow on top, when it crossed my mind just how dumb I was being. It was half comical how the moment after I realized how dumb it was to be running, I went straight down on the ice. Before I crashed, I was just thinking, oh I can run and not fall, so I'll be ok. So I'm flying along, foot slips, one arm stuck with the tripod, other in the sleeve. Having the camera inside my coat, sticking out the bottom did not help matters. There was no way to do a thing for the camera and lens as I crashed on it. The front of the lens smashes into the ground pefectly head on(since gravity was sure to make sure it was pointed that way, the way it was poking out below my jacket). Me, with my momentum, make sure to finish it off as we smash into it. I could tell the lens and cam took the majority of this crash. My jacket was not protecting things, the actual end of the lens with the holder/filters drove into the ground(there's not much to the filter holder or filters). I was scared to roll over and open my jacket so I could move the camera and see the damage. First thing I see were broken pieces of those filters. Next thing, the filter holder, away from the camera now. Had the filter holder and filters not been on there, the glass on the end of the lens would have surely been scratched to hell, or more likely broken. It just wasn't a friendly smash to the ground at all. So I get up and finish the walk down the hill, "knowing" the inner workings of the lens were toast, and possibly the camera. I mean I nailed this thing down into the ground very very hard. I dry it off and check it out. To my amazement, looking through it, things looked fine. I then flipped the IS on, and it still worked! The auto-focus worked as well. To give some idea how hard I landed on the thing, smashing the end perfectly into the ground, the filter holder adapter ring was now stuck on the lens bigtime. It's pretty impossible to screw it on too tight, since the part that attaches to the filter holder can just spin loosely. What I did was smash the end hard enough into the ground, to pinch the threads together. I thought I was going to do more damage just trying to get it to spin off. It just wouldn't budge. Finally after some time trying, I got it to start to move, then it spun off. Anyway, it is simply amazing to me this lens can still work fine. Had I had one of their non-L telephotos on, there is just no doubt in my mind it would have been broken into pieces. I would have been buying another lens. When I first rolled over, after this happened, I had that super sinking feeling. You see just how it hit the ground, and felt it too, and are just certain, this thing will not possibly work properly now. Built like a tank is not an understatement on these things! It's just strange to be so certain something is toast, then to have it be completely fine. If I was asked which I'd rather have done to that lens, drive over it with a car or crash land it into the ground just like I did...it would be a very hard decision. Something tells me you could probably drive over this with a car and have it be fine. |
