Frosty...

[Blue_In_AK]

This isn't much - I just liked the diagonal perspective.

[GOPFighter]

1. That looks like hoar frost to me!

Hoar frost sticks to everthing and looks great against a blue sky. Hey, wait a minute. People I know who live in Alaska tell me it's always overcast, yet you post a lot of pics with stunning skies. Do you have the magical touch? (When I pick up my camera it usually starts to rain...!) :+

[Blue_In_AK]

2. It's actually a combination of hoar frost and snow...

...and it's getting thicker by the minute. It looks great. Actually, we've had lots and lots of clouds this winter, but every once in a while the sun breaks out, and I just have to go out and take some shots, even boring ones. I spent a couple of hours day before yesterday out tromping around in the snow, thought I was getting some great shots and then realized when I got home that I had the white balance still set on "tungsten" from when I did my macro shot. Everything was blue as could be. There's just too much to remember...

Example... :banghead: Maybe F.Gordon will love this one...

[GOPFighter]

6. Yeah, that's definately an F. Gordon shot

...but I like it too. In fact I REALLY like it. If you hadn't told me the white balalnce was off I would have accepted it as an early morning shot.

I know what you mean about the settings. I always manually stop down 0.7 f-stops for my night shots. Woe is me the next day when I forget to change it back.

[F.Gordon]

9. Slobbering

:9

Must be frustrating for you this time of year. Only 12 minutes of sunlight ;-) and temperatures like 100 below. I know you're itching to spend more time outside.

[Blue_In_AK]

11. I KNEW you'd like it. :-) n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. The frost charges?

Man. It must be _cold_ up there.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. That's h-o-a-r

;) But, yes, it is cold -- 9 degrees right now, but expected to get to 0 to -10 overnight. My photography jaunts are "snappy" when it's like this. The sad thing is, whenever it's clear in the winter, it's extremely chilly, and even though I can bundle up and stay warm, I can't manipulate a camera with ski gloves on. As soon as it warms up enough to be outside with no gloves, the clouds roll in. I'm more than ready for spring.

[ConsAreLiars]

5. Pick up some "glove liners."

These are made of fairly thin fabric designed to insulate and it is easy to use the camera controls while wearing them. For more extended winter photography, there are heavy gloves (rubber-type material) with the tips of the forefinger and thumb slit so they can be flipped open and let you more easily feel what you are doing, especially when wearing polypro-type glove liners so the exposed digits do not immediately become numb.

Probably a good investment, given your location and the opportunities for winter photography.

See this discussion http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00APvw&tag= for more ideas.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. and they protect from disease

and unwanted pregnancy too!

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Thanks for the link, Cons...

HullBoss did buy me some lighter-weight gloves to wear inside my heavier ones, but they really don't seem to help a whole lot. Maybe they're not made of the right material. It seems like maybe this is something I'm just going to have to suffer with, at least for the time being. As long as the wind's not blowing, it's not TOO bad.

[alkaline9]

8. Very Nice! What a beautiful sky too...

Makes me wanna come visit :-) We just don't get enough snow here. I could photograph snow covered trees all day long!

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Have you ever been up here?

Really, I think everyone owes it to themselves to make at least one trip to Alaska. It's not like anywhere else in the US. My personal favorite months are May and September -- May, because it's usually warm and clear and the mosquitoes aren't yet out in full force, and September because it's usually warm and clear and the mosquitoes are basically gone (as well as the swarms of tourists).