The adventure begins
The Ocean. My happy place. When I go out to capture images of my favourite place - the beach - it’s usually in shorts, a singlet and often barefoot. Well this adventure was different. In sub zero temperatures, I recently tried my hand at something new. Snow. Cold, wet, did I say cold? Snow.
Dressed in my warmest gear - a statement piece camo jacket and boots recently acquired from (my personal favourite) Walmart - out into the elements I went.
Rookie error #1 - Not recognising that gloves ARE safety gear
Everything was white. Or grey actually - my fellow photographers will know what I mean. So, I adjusted my settings and started looking for THAT scene. The one to make you stop, captivated and entranced.
I found a new take on an old friend - the ocean. But the light wasn’t quite right. Adjusting my settings would have fixed it but it was difficult to do with my gloves on. So, I took them off. Within 10 short minutes my fingers were hurting so much I could no longer use them. I was concerned they would start falling off. Adventure over. At least for that afternoon.
Rookie error #2 - Forgetting that herbivores may eat grass but can still KILL you
Early the next morning (well not that early thanks to a late rising sun), I headed out with the idea that morning light would give colour to the snow. I was right. But it was also colder. Much colder.
I found some tracks in the snow. The tracks looked like they were made by a large animal...so I followed them. The tracks entered a large open clearing from the scrub and exited the clearing into more scrub on the opposite side. I started to think about the creatures that were local to the area. It would be so cool to get an image of a moose! With their huge, strong bodies and lethal antlers. Wait... Not that cool to be dead or lying on a hospital bed with limbs missing. My quest for an image of such a majestic animal ended abruptly.
Back to the relative safety of the roadside, for me, as the sky turned to pinks and oranges. Trees. Tall trees. Tall, gnarly trees with crooked arms reaching out for the warmth of the sun’s first rays. Love trees. Freezing. Morning outing completed.
Rookie error #3 - Underestimating the bone chilling cold
Ocean. Done. Trees. Done. It was time for a road trip. Into the car. Heated seats on. Off to wherever the road would take me.
I always thought cold was cold. But it turns out, there is cold and then there is a whole other level altogether. As I stepped out of the car onto the causeway, I inhaled sharply Gosh it was cold, but really how bad could it be? Words could never fully explain how I felt after just a few minutes in this howling minus 7 degree Celsius , 50 km/hr wind. But a picture is worth a thousand words.
Rookie error #4 - Assuming that frozen oceans are safe to stand on
When I got back into the car everything hurt. My eyes were gushing tears that had frozen on my cheeks, my nose was sealed shut with frozen snot (just like in that 1994 movie – comment below if you know which one I’m talking about) and my whole body was shaking. My cheeks hurt from the facelift the wind had just given me. As I thawed out on my heated seat, I was just happy not to have lost any limbs to frostbite.
Another day, another rookie error to be made. I rugged up and headed out the front door and onto the frozen ocean. It was early in the day, the light was amazing and a fog had settled over the peninsula. I began with caution, walking gingerly along where I knew the tide line to be under the ice. As the light changed and the fog shifted I threw caution to the wind in search of that ONE shot. And that’s when I stepped through a soft spot in the ice and was suddenly waist deep in icy slush – just like a slurpee from 7-11.
To be honest, it was a tiny bit scary at the time, as thoughts of frostbite and amputation of my own legs with a sharp rock raced through my head. In the end, my camera was undamaged by the fall and I sported just a large bruise on my leg from knee to waist. But it was totally worth it!
Back to the warmth for me
I have to say, I think the ocean will always be my happy place. And even though it was interesting to capture some cold climate scenes, I still prefer the ocean when it’s warm enough for swimming to an ocean that’s frozen solid. Or not so solid as the case may be.
Thanks Nova Scotia. It was a blast....a freezing cold blast. For now, I think I will stick to my warm weather photographs.
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