Crazy icicles

We're past the coldest part of winter now.  The sun stays up longer and the air isn't quite as cold.  This part of the house faces the morning sun, and it's just enough to heat up the metal awning and cause the bottom layer of snow to melt.  Thus, the icicles.

Of course, if it melts a bit more, the whole pack of snow   s l o w l y   slides down the face of the awning.  It freezes again when it leaves the awning surface, but there's a chunk of snow that bent over the 45 degree angle where the top meets the front.  So it curls under as it slides.  Thus, the (almost) horizontal icicles.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	25.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 50.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/50
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Festival of the Belly Button

In our first Festival for 2013, contributors are encouraged to reflect: to look back; and, to look within. To do some navel gazing. The 'Festival of the Belly Button' requires some reflective introspection.
 
Click the link to see the other bloggers' submissions.

Before

After

What have I learnt?  Not enough!  I still avoid photos of people, and that's something I intend to work on.  But this pair of photos does illustrate a change for me.  The top photo is a tree, gnawed by a beaver.  It's a vertical tree, dead centre of the image, surrounded by vertical trees with a very cluttered background.  The bottom photo is icicles hanging off of my house.  Still lots of vertical, but now they're not dead centre.  The background is less cluttered - depth of field helps.  Wish I'd hid the telephone pole behind one of the icicles though.
 
I'm not much of an omphalopsychite.

Icicles

A quick look at the icicles hanging down from the roof of my house.  I'm not walking under there until they fall off!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	125
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Skywatch Friday

It is -6F this morning, and the furnace is working hard to keep us warm.  The icicles are growing little by little, and the frost appears magically every morning.  But the sun is out, the sky is blue and somehow the cold doesn't reach my bones.  On days like this, I am extra thankful for the people who work outside to make my life easier.

A group of photobloggers post a photo of their skies each Friday - it's called Skywatch Friday. Click the link to see photos from round the world.

F Number	9.0
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	38.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 76.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Skywatch Friday

The sun backlit this icicle and it was so pretty I just had to try to take a photo.  It didn't come out as well as it appeared in my mind's eye, but it's not horrible either.  Just don't stand under it! (it's inside the yard, so no danger to passersby).


A group of photobloggers post a photo of their skies each Friday - it's called Skywatch Friday. Click the link to see photos from round the world.

F Number	11.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/800
Exposure Program	Program AE
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Icicicle

I sure love that Nikon Coolpix 950 and its macro ability. I'm used to a Really Big, Really Old Minolta 35mm film camera and I just can't believe this little Nikon can do this. OK, it's not that little, but it's a lot smaller than that SRT-SC2 with a long lens!

Anyway, this is a close-up of an icicle that was growing on the front awning. Yes, it's one icicle, twisted by the wind into a shape that has a nole in the middle. It started as two, I think, ans were merged by the breeze. It's roughly eye level for me (I'm over 6 feet tall) so it was literally impossible to miss!

It's amazing the things I see when I open my eyes.

Icicles

Icicles slowly grow on these old houses. The insulation in the attic spaces isn't the best, so the snow gradually melts, forming water. Of course, that water re-freezes again as soon as its away from the heated roof and the result can be seen here. It gets more dramatic if there's a spell of sunny weather; then the heat from the Sun helps the melting process along, creating icicles as long as 6 feet (1.8M).

Don't walk between the houses until they break off!