Ice Tree Morning

Some days I wake up and I don't want to go anywhere. I have a dull hangover from a week long binge of ordinary, everyday office-work. Despite my lethargy, Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed, knowing I would feel better with fresh air and exercise. Two hours later, I was standing at this scene. The trees were coated in snow-crusted ice. Everything was crystalline. The beauty of the day and the exertion of exercise cleared my mind and focused my appreciation on the serendipity of the moment. I felt lucky that on that day when the trees looked like this, I was there when I could have been at work.

This panoramic image was taken along Three Mile Run at White Grass.  It is composed of three rows of ten shots. It is a very wide-angle image, particularly in the vertical axis. This explains the strange appearance of the tops of the trees. Frequently people ask me why I bother to shoot such large panoramics. "Couldn't you just get a fisheye lens and be done with it?" Yes, I suppose I could, but I like detail. For this special image, I have posted a zoomify version that will give you a sense of how much detail I capture in a shot like this. Check it out.