www.hdrspotting.com

Pleistocene

http://www.thewindypixel.com/?p=2851
The ice-covered jetty at North Avenue Beach, Chicago.

I was thrilled with the response to yesterday's post - I hope some of you made it out to the Lincoln Park Zoo lights yesterday; if you did and loved it/have a pic to share - send a tweet to @thewindypixel. One of the coolest features of getting comments is clicking through to see what you all do with your webpages. I got a few comments yesterday with a bunch of links - check out your fellow commentator's links, you'd be surprised how many different kind of places those links will take you.

It is no secret that I am in love with the photographic opportunities ice and snow provide. We are, in actuality, in the midst of an inter-glacial period within a great ice age. That is to say, short of our mucking things up with global warming, we would eventually be headed for another period of cooling and continental glaciation. I've been reading Brian Fagan's The Little Ice Age in my spare time and I have really enjoyed it - highly recommended for those interested in climate history. I have always wondered what the Midwest would look like during the Pleistocene fully glaciated - with enormous sheets of ice covering the land from the pole to central Illinois. Fortunately, I live in Chicago, and if you want to know what the Pleistocene was like - come to Chicago in January (and if you're from the chamber of commerce, please realize that is, in my book, a complement).

I did a lot of shooting this weekend; Mike and I headed out to the lakefront for some sunrise shooting - so be on the lookout for some fresh shots from that outing in the near future. One of HDR's most popular photogs, Trey Ratcliff, a.k.a. StuckInCustoms, was in town promoting his book and hosted an impromptu photowalk at the Hotel Sax on Sunday. I popped by for a few minutes before work and met with a bunch of fellow photo enthusiasts. What's more I nabbed a fellow Chicagoan Matt to do a guest post in the near future. Trey's blog has become immensely popular and it was cool to find out he's a very down-to-Earth and friendly person.

The cold does something to your brain. I stopped by the North Avenue beach this Saturday at about noon for a few photographs. After climbing out onto the ice covered jetty at North Avenue (myself moving at a glacial pace to avoid slippage), and having nearly frozen off my fingers, I returned to my car invigorated. Perhaps facing the elements, cold as they may be, is like some kind of near-death experience (though never approaching anything scary) that shocks the mind and the body into a state of raised alertness, higher blood pressure and a caffeine-like high. Though, I'm afraid, a cup of coffee is probably more appropriate for most folks.

Submitted By: kern.justin

Jan 4, 2010 07:03 AM