2/22 Cromwell Valley Afternoon

With about two hours of sunlight remaining on a quiet Sunday, I just jumped into the car for a quick road trip with no destination planned. Starting first toward Loch Raven Reservoir, I realized that the reservoir is closed to auto traffic during weekends from 10-5, so I departed there and headed toward Baltimore County's Cromwell Valley Park. Upon arrival I decided to use only one lens, my 70-200mm f/2.8 for all my images. The light was a bit harsh with a bright blue sky but I tried to work with the dark shadows as a composition element. Leaving the County park, I headed north up Manor Road toward Long Green Road, stopping where there was any safe place to pull off or stop in the middle of the road and not get run over. The snow blanket from the recent blizzards really helped to simply the composition. I used a tripod when I could put off, but other times I just had to settle for a quick grab shot where there was no place to pull off the road.

Seconds on the snow

Feeling house bound, I suited up in my muck master knee boots, down vest and rain parka and headed out to see how the snowfall. I had cut a small hole in a quart sized storage bag just large enough for the lens and its filter to fit through. Then another hole was made where the viewer is located. I slipped the eyepiece over the plastic around the viewer and grabbed the camera from underneath the bag. I made my camera setting before heading out and stuffed a cleaning cloth in my pocket. The blowing snow made focusing difficult with the build up on my lenses. The cloth merely got wet over time and just smeared on the filter and eyeglass lenses. I made some quick shots before the snow gathered on the viewer and lens filter and then stuffed inside my vest. I was using a 18-55mm kit lens with image stabilization and ISO 200.