Prairie Winter 5001

Posted by G.B. SHETTLER on Sat, 12/27/08 14:40
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Comments by Ernest Cadegan on Sat, 12/27/08 14:54

Best of the three for me. It hangs together nicely compositionally and has great texture. That little bit of snow? in the lower left center pulls the eye a bit.


Comments by G.B. SHETTLER on Sat, 12/27/08 14:58

Thanks Ernest !! Yep, I noticed that also when I posted, I suspect just a compression thing as nothing originally irked me in the full Tiff. I will check that out for sure prior to printing.


Comments by Dan Rubin on Sat, 12/27/08 16:11

Agree with Ernest, this is my favorite of the three. Just curious as to how you go about shooting in such apparently frigid conditions, can you operate the camera wearing mittens?


Comments by G.B. SHETTLER on Sat, 12/27/08 18:05

Hi, Dan--- mittens up here are what your mom knitts out of wool, we wear them in side mitts that are horsehide usually and they might be lined as well. I have a pair of very very thin very tight machine knitted gloves that I keep in my camera bag at all times and I could easily work my camer with those, but I have never worn them. I let my wife wear them this fall in Jasper when we were hiking back as her hands were cold. For cold winter shooting I wear my horeside winter mitts or a pair of Army Arctics that go to the elbows in white but the main hand portions are horsehide as well. When I shoot I hold my camera in my left hand with the mit on and I take my right hand mit off to put the battery in and out of the camera and shoot my shots with a bare right hand. Betwwen shots the right hand mit goes back on and the camera hangs inside my winter jacket. I am used to freezing my fingers and usually last until the numbness will not go away even inside my mits. Then its time to trudge back to the vehicle and feel the real pain when the fingers start to thaw. We older Manitobans are pretty much used to that. I used to play outdoors hockey from age 6 years and nothing freezes faster then toes in skates at -26 or what ever. In between periods of the game we would go back to the club house that had an oil or wood stove and everyone would be banging their feet (in the skates) against the wooden floors to try and thaw their toes. And many times team mates would be crying from the pain. You might get 3 minutes of relief before you headed back out again for the next period.


Comments by Jan Bjorklund on Sat, 12/27/08 19:21

Another image that captures the sense of winter for me (again with the black background) to enhance the detailing. I'm curious... you mention that you take the battery in and out of your camera but the camera is inside your jacket next to your body... what could be a warmer place to keep your battery? I keep a couple of extra batteries inside my jacket but even down to -52C windchill I've never had problems with keeping the battery in the camera... the fingers yes... the batteries no.


Comments by Maria Salvador on Sun, 12/28/08 09:41

All the three posts are very nice. This is my preferred too. Nice curly snowy leaves and tones.


Comments by AG Laycock on Sun, 12/28/08 09:59

This is my preference as well. I like the broad interpretation of the subject and the range of tones.


Comments by Dan Rubin on Sun, 12/28/08 11:09

Thanks for all the info Greg, it clears up a lot of questions. I've never seen, and can't quite picture, the horsehide overmitts into which one inserts one's already mitted hand. You northerners are a hardy breed.


Comments by G.B. SHETTLER on Sun, 12/28/08 12:10

No Problem, Dan. Here is a photo of a pair of Horsehide mitts with inside mittens. (These are a older spare pair as our son has my good pair right now.) These inside mittens are called icelandic mittens identified by the design and the wool used and this pair were actually knitted by an icelandic person. The White are my older Army issue Artic pair and the blue gloves are the tight machined knitted gloves that I always carry with me. Thank goodness you did not ask about footwear or winter parkas. Cheers !!


Comments by MONIQUE STAP on Sun, 12/28/08 16:36

I struggled trough the story of the mittens but your last picture says more than
words............... to me :-)

groetjes,
Monique



Comments by Rick Longworth on Sun, 12/28/08 23:38

What an excellent adventure! The equipement alone must make every trip an adventure. I do remember my toes getting damn cold playing hockey on the rink in the back yard. But that was near Toronto, so probably we never saw -26.


Comments by Richard Dong on Mon, 12/29/08 17:35

I like how some of the foliage reminds me of strands of pasta.

I'm jealous of your mitten collection, I could never assemble such a collage as all of mine are sewn to the sleeves of my winter coats.


Comments by Linda Frey on Mon, 12/29/08 22:05

What Richard? You don't use strings? All grown up I guess.

I can relate to your winter hockey story, Greg. Except I didn't play hockey, so would be relegated to skating on the lagoon which was two streets down and at the bottom of a heavily treed hill. (Boys usually took over most of the cleared ice to play hockey anyway.) There was no heated change room. I remember one day my hands got so cold, I couldn't unlace my skates when it was time to go home, so I had to climb the snowy hill carrying my boots, and walk the distance home wearing my skates. Don't get me started on the daily walk to school!

Oh, and nice frosty grasses in your post.


Comments by Richard Dong on Mon, 12/29/08 23:41

Greg's story of freezing our extremities playing hockey outdoors is a Canadian rite of passage although the only times I willingly did that was in school gym class. Street hockey without skates was much more civilized, at least one could wear thick socks and winter boots while doing that.