Ice Pear no. 1
Ice Pear no. 2
Ice Pear no. 3
During my time at the Quabbin, I spent the majority of it camped out at one spot. At first I wanted to see what I could capture of the landscape in front of me, hence the first post of this year. To get that perspective, I need to get down low. I am taking a few inches from the rocks and water. Thanks to the super wide angle lens I had, it enabled me to photograph the icy shore as well as the distant islands and blue sky. I was literally laying across the rocks, trying not have some on the tiny waves lap at my lens. It was not the most comfortable position, but it gave me a clear view across the water. That is when I noticed the ice formation attached to a tiny twig. I called it an ice pear because food is where my mind defaults to with comparisons in shape. I changed lenses to an telephoto (85mm) and began photographing the ice. As the wind blew, it kicked up more tiny waves that grazed the bottom of the pear as they passed. I moved a few rocks to better steady my arms, and tried to capture a wave passing by the ice pear. With some patience and steady hands, I was able to capture a passing wave. I chose to show the ice pear in a series of three images because the contact of the water from the wave demonstrates how a ice pear might form. The wind pushes the water gently over the twig, leaving some water to freeze. As more waves graze the twig, more ice collects and form a shape. In this case, it is a pear shape. One could argue that it is also a tear shape, but I like pear better. If I called it a tear, I feel I would have to name the formation something awful like “Winter’s Tear” or “The Sorrow of Winter”. I will spare you of the cheesy titles, and stick with something with less cholesterol.