Collateral Damage - Niagara Falls in winter

[Manfred M]

Here are some shots to complement the ones I posted yesterday of the waterfalls at Niagara Falls.

These shots are taken around the Falls and demonstrate the impact of the (relatively) warm mist from the falls hitting nearby objects (man-made and natural) that are colder than the air temperature. A thick layer of ice gets deposited on these over the winter. According to the locals, this winter has been especially cold, with no mid-winter thaw (yet) to melt some of this ice.


This shot is across the street from the falls and the tree branches have been covered in a layer of ice. The observation tower (Skylon Tower) is far enough away to be out of range of the ice accretion.





The rail separating visitors from the Niagara River has a heavy coating of ice and snow.





A detailed shot of the railing.





Trees and bushes growing along side the river bank have a thick coating of ice.





A bush growing on the river's edge just before the edge of the Horseshoe / Canadian Falls has a thick coating of ice. Some of the ice has spalled off, revealing the branch underneath the ice.





A lamp post has an interesting collection of ice. The strong winds have ensured that the icicles have grown on an angle.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[FootLoose]

Nature is an accomplished artist, and you have captured her(?) work well, Manfred.

[Mike Buckley]

Really nice, Manfred! I especially like the first and last one. Consider converting the first one to monochrome. I like the contrast of the blue sky and ice in the last one; though they do happen often simultaneously, the blue sky conjures up the idea of warmth and of course the ice conjures up the exact opposite.

[Barbara Ponder]

They are all good images but the 1st one is just beautiful!

[Manfred M]

Really nice, Manfred! I especially like the first and last one. Consider converting the first one to monochrome. I like the contrast of the blue sky and ice in the last one; though they do happen often simultaneously, the blue sky conjures up the idea of warmth and of course the ice conjures up the exact opposite.

I personally don't think this works as well as a B&W. I generally make the decision on colour vs monochrome when I take the shot; and in this case I wanted to contrast the ice covered trees that were already rather monochrome with the colours of the Skylon Tower. Anyways, here is a B&W view.



As always, we make compositional choices and often these choices are quite personal.

[Mike Buckley]

I personally don't think this works as well as a B&W. I generally make the decision on colour vs monochrome when I take the shot;

Whatever choices I have in mind when I capture the image, it's rare that I like a dramatically different choice later on. In that context, I would expect it to be difficult for you to make a monochrome version that appeals to you when you envisioned it in color from the beginning. At least, that kind of change of mind is very difficult for me.

I agree that your color version is preferable to your monochrome version. However, I still believe a monochrome version can be equally as good if not better. Just my thinking.

[JamesScott86]

My goodness - stunning images.

[Manfred M]

Whatever choices I have in mind when I capture the image, it's rare that I like a dramatically different choice later on. In that context, I would expect it to be difficult for you to make a monochrome version that appeals to you when you envisioned it in color from the beginning. At least, that kind of change of mind is very difficult for me.

I agree that your color version is preferable to your monochrome version. However, I still believe a monochrome version can be equally as good if not better. Just my thinking.

I quite agree with you Mike; I tend to compose a shot with a certain look in mind, and colour / monochrome is definitely part of my thought process when I plan a shot. My default tends to be colour, and I will go to monochrome for very specific compositional reasons; usually because I am trying to simplify the shot.

The only time I find that I can usually flip either way will be in portraits; these are often equally effective as either B&W or colour shots. As for the B&W conversion here, I'll have to confess, I just rattled through the Nik Silver Efex presets and picked the onw that worked best for me. I normally take a lot more care when I do a conversion.

As for these series of shots, just like the ones I posted yesterday (they were all taken in less than an hour apart), I decided to go colour because the scene were so monochrome. Overcast day, except for one shot, in a snow and water setting meant that the whole environment was already quite monochrome, so I wanted to play with the little tiny bit of colour that was there. There is just a hint of colour in all of the shots and only the lamp post shows a bit of blue sky (that lasted all of two or three minutes).

I could have just as easily decided to go monochrome for the series, but then I would have missed those tiny bits of colour.

[Nicks Pics]

Very neat, I noticed these icy trees in the falls images you posted, ice can be a striking subject.

[Kris V]

Totally awesome pictures!

[NorthernFocus]

Had to wait to get home to view these, Manfred. Not sure what photo host you use but for some reason I can't see photos that some people post through the network that I use during the day. I know the network blocks sites that host video in order to avoid using up too much bandwidth.

At any rate, these are great. Thermodynamics on display. When we moved north, each time I'd see things like this I had to stop and reason out the physics involved. Sometimes it seems a curse rather than simply enjoying the visuals.

[Manfred M]

Dan - all the images I post here are on Flickr.

I hadn't seen the Falls in mid-winter since I was in my early teens. I had an aunt that lived in Niagara Falls, NY and we would be down to see her a few times a year, but that stopped when they moved to Tennessee.

But you are right, the physics involve in the formation of the ice structures is quite interesting; warm moist air hitting cold solid surface = winter wonderland; or to get technical, basic heat transfer and phase change stuff.

[NorthernFocus]

That explains it, Manfred. Flickr is one of the sites blocked by our network.

I'm currently working full time on studying the behavior of water/ice droplets/particles in crude oil pipelines. It is a lot more complicated than one would think.

[Mike Buckley]

CNN cutely announced tonight that due to freezing temperatures Niagara Falls is no longer falling.

[Manfred M]

I'm currently working full time on studying the behavior of water/ice droplets/particles in crude oil pipelines. It is a lot more complicated than one would think.

Actually that sounds quite interesting. I suspect that small size and low quantities are probably not an issue, but erosion could probably be caused in bends and in pumps would be an issue. I'm pretty sure a large chunk of ice hitting a pump impeller is not at all desirable.