THE BIG CHILL

  The southeast United States has been seeing some unusually cold temperatures this year.  I can't remember the last time we got snow in December in East Tennessee. It really is a welcome change though. Growing up in Michigan, I got used to and liked the snow.  The low temperatures, single digits at night and 20's during the day, are a little tough to used to before January and February though.

  The low temps does make for some neat photos, however.  The shot in today's post was taken yesterday morning on Tellico Lake. The day before we had gotten snow and some ice so both docks at work were covered.  The sky was very grey-blue with the oncoming ice and freezing rain we were in store for later in the day.

  The clouds did form a nice parallel line with the horizon just above the tree line and mountains visible on the other side of the lake which allowed a sliver of orange and pink light to shine through contrasting the ice blue clouds and lake reflection.

  The dock I was staked out on had two lights that work kind of like lighthouses over night so no one runs into the dock.  I aligned the single light I placed in the foreground on the horizon between the sunlight and it's reflection on the lake almost as if the light is force behind the sunlight. This was accidental but looks really neat. A neutral density filter allowed for a long exposure (30 seconds) and a glassy reflection on the water.

  All in all I really like the way this shot came together. I think it visually displays how cold it was that morning.

Details: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, D9 Neutral Density filter, ISO 100, 3 exposure HDR at f/16.