Winter fairy tale

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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Peter Maihoefer
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 5:35 am
Location: Southern part of Germany

Winter fairy tale

Post by Peter Maihoefer »

Once upon an time......No, it was really happened and I like to continue the adventure.

Every year when it´s cold and the chance for ice sculptures is high, I leave the cosy warm house.

After driving my car to my special "cold water creek" I start the tour through a little gorge.

Now I am entering another world with thousands works of art made by ice, created only from flowing water and temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius. The necessary caution and the constantly changing scenes focus me on the moment. There is no room for other thoughts. I am in another world.

It ist crazy, cold, exhausting and a bit dangerous, but it is a great experience that only takes the effort to leave the warm house.

Many years have passed and hundreds of pictures remind me of it. Here are six pictures and I hope they will lead you into the gorge to the works of art far away from everyday life.
Attachments
Ice 1.jpg
Ice 2.jpg
Ice 3.jpg
Ice 4.jpg
Ice 5.jpg
Ice 6.jpg
Last edited by Peter Maihoefer on Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:07 am, edited 3 times in total.

Lou Jost
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Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Lou Jost »

Wow, these are so beautiful they almost make me wish I still lived in the Temperate Zone. Nicely written story too.

PeteM
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Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by PeteM »

Gorgeous images. Thanks for posting them.

Sumguy01
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Location: Ketchikan Alaska USA

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Sumguy01 »

Very nice.
Thanks for sharing :D

ap
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:33 pm

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by ap »

those are really beautiful - definitely worth the effort!
would you mind sharing your set-up?
thx andy

Peter Maihoefer
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 5:35 am
Location: Southern part of Germany

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Peter Maihoefer »

Thanks for watching and your comments.

Set ups:

Picture / Aperture / exposure time / exposure correction / ISO / focal length (corrected to full frame) / camera / special feature

1 / 11 / 1/4 / -0,67 / 100 / 300mm / Canon 5DSR
2 / 11 / 1/40 / -1,0 / 100 / 100mm / Canon 5DII
3 / 20 / 1/10 / 0 / 100 / 282mm / Canon 5DII
4 / 22 / 1/15 / 0 / 100 / 300mm / Canon 5DII
5 / 5,6 / 1/15 / -0,7 / 200 / 150mm (75mm in mft) / Oly 1 M II / high res shot 10368x7776
6 / 8,0 / 1/13 / -0,3 / 200 / 184mm (92mm in mft) / Oly 1 M II / high res shot 10368x7776
Last edited by Peter Maihoefer on Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

zook
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Location: zemun/serbia/milky way

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by zook »

beautiful winter details, very good light, well placed as a required to highlight the delicate structure...

Big Pete
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Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2021 7:40 am
Location: Ulricehamn Sweden

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Big Pete »

Spektacular pictures! Nature is always beautiful even when you get close!

Irisoratoria
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Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Irisoratoria »

Delicate and beautiful. Good images.

Gilles Benoit
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Location: Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Gilles Benoit »

Beautiful photos, Peter.

Dee Aitchess
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Location: Rural NSW Australia

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Dee Aitchess »

Beautiful material, something I will never see personally. A quick question; you say the temperature is below 10C. Is that the water or the air temperature? How does the water freeze if it is (say) 5C?

Peter Maihoefer
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 5:35 am
Location: Southern part of Germany

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Peter Maihoefer »

Dee Aitchess wrote:
Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:46 pm
Beautiful material, something I will never see personally. A quick question; you say the temperature is below 10C. Is that the water or the air temperature? How does the water freeze if it is (say) 5C?
Hello Dee,

I mean the air temperature in the night. As we all know, water starts to freeze at 0 C. The colder it is, the faster the ice forms. Even at -5 C, ice forms, especially in the slow-moving areas and wherever there is dripping or splashing. When the temperature isn't that low, it just takes longer.

There is no fixed rule. Day and night temperatures are different. The water flow in the creek could be low or high. All this influences the development of the ice formations. That's nature, I don't know what to expect when I drive off. With night temperatures below -10 C over 3 days it's very likely to find what I'm looking for.

In a small valley (we call it "Haselbach"), every year a man draws water from a high spring with a hose and sprays the water over a wooden frame. With the fine jet of water, permanent temperatures below 0 C are enough to form an ice tower.

Cheers Peter
Attachments
at that beginning
at that beginning
later on
later on
done
done
Detail
Detail
Last edited by Peter Maihoefer on Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by rjlittlefield »

Beautiful ice structures, well photographed!
Peter Maihoefer wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 3:25 am
With night temperatures below 10 C over 3 days it's very likely to find what I'm looking for
I suspect a minus sign is consistently missing.

Do you mean "night temperatures below -10C" ?

--Rik

MarkSturtevant
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Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Very nicely done! The dedication alone to get those pictures is commendable.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Peter Maihoefer
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 5:35 am
Location: Southern part of Germany

Re: Winter fairy tale

Post by Peter Maihoefer »

rjlittlefield wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:13 am
Beautiful ice structures, well photographed!
Peter Maihoefer wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 3:25 am
With night temperatures below 10 C over 3 days it's very likely to find what I'm looking for
I suspect a minus sign is consistently missing.

Do you mean "night temperatures below -10C" ?

--Rik
Hello Rik,

Thanks very much for the hint. Busy with a language I don't use that often, I overlooked this. I corrected the text.

Best regards

Peter

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