Frozen

We enjoy our creek all year round, but it definitely takes on a life of its own in the winter.  I braved the single digit temps last evening once the sun went down and went out to capture some “silky” water shots. 

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Just in case anyone is interested, the settings I used for that photo were f/16, ISO 100, shutter speed 10 sec, Manual with a Canon Rebel T3 and Canon 20mm lens on a tripod, and I always shoot RAW.

If there is too much light, the shutter will not stay open long enough, and the water will not be as smooth.

I shot this one in the morning, but it was already too light, so you can see the difference in the water. 

The settings I used here were f/22, ISO 100, and the shutter speed was much faster at 1/4 sec.  It really makes a difference, doesn’t it?

After the below zero temps last night and single digits all day, I finally ventured out again tonight to see how much of it was frozen over. Pretty different from yesterday!

This is another spot farther down the creek. 

The following two were taken with the Canon 50mm lens, and the settings were:

f/22, ISO 100 and .8 sec shutter.

Canon 50mm lens, f/18, .8 sec shutter

The creek was not the only thing that was frozen. Despite our best efforts, our water pipes were already frozen by about 3:30 am. We put a space heater in the crawl space, but we still had no water at 9:30 a.m. Finally, my husband decided to turn the heater around towards the tank and well filter and within 15 minutes, we had water. Thankfully, it didn’t cause any damage and we are thankful the power has not gone out as our heat pump is the only source of heat. 

Our kids have been out of school all week and will not go again tomorrow, so I think we’re making up for our lack of snow and cold during Christmas. I always enjoy when they’re home:-)

Stay warm and safe wherever you are!

I’ll be joining:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday

8 Comments

  1. Blondie's Journal
    February 20, 2015 / 4:51 am

    Beautiful pics, Anita! Still, the pipes are a terrible thing to deal with. We have had to use space heaters in our crawl space and I've found it frightening. We have temps now of -9. I've been out and about today from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00..dressing warm in layers is the Midwest way! 🙂

    Love and warm wishes coming your way! 🙂

    Jane x

  2. Dewena
    February 20, 2015 / 2:28 pm

    I showed your stunning pictures to my husband, my cameraman. I just cannot convince himself to take a tripod outside but I think your pictures will do the job!

    My husband also said to tell you that he has 7 60 w. light bulbs in the crawl space under our house near he pipes to bathrooms and kitchens. We have switches in the house that we turn them on during really cold weather. We have a 1920 farmhouse and these old pipes have held up so far through 0 degrees this past week.

    Y'all stay safe!

    • Anita Diaz
      February 20, 2015 / 2:48 pm

      Dewena that is a great idea…and having a switch would be awesome! Thanks for the tip!!!

  3. Leslie's Garden
    February 20, 2015 / 5:28 pm

    How beautiful! I would love to have a creek on my property, a life long dream! Thank you for braving the cold to get those beautiful photos! We are about 60 miles south of winter weather and school closings. We hope to at least get one snow day!

  4. Southern & Style
    February 20, 2015 / 7:44 pm

    That is absolutely gorgeous, your home is beautiful but so is the area surrounding it!

    xoxo, SS

    The Southern Stylista

  5. Cindy Lou
    February 21, 2015 / 3:51 am

    Beautiful! Thanks for the pics! Just some of a Gods Handywork! Take care,Cindy

  6. Shirley@Housepitality Designs
    February 24, 2015 / 3:43 am

    Gorgeous, gorgeous photos Anita…the creek that runs along the course that can be seen from our house froze for the first time in the 10 years we have been here….but nothing, nothing like the beauty of yours…Not crazy about winter, but the snow is so beautiful…

  7. Terri
    February 24, 2015 / 8:02 pm

    Just beautiful!!! So glad you were able to solve the pipe issue!!