As many know we had blizzard in New York City this week. Since these conditions are about as good as it gets to capture Snow Monkeys and Snow Leopards playing in the snow I decided to make the trek from New Jersey to the Central Park Zoo. As I approached the Zoo I was very happy since there was plenty of snow already fallen and large flakes where now coming down strong. Sadly, the city decided to close the zoo. Although extremely angry and disappointed, it took me 2 ½ hours to get there, I simply walked around the Central Park with my camera as the weather got worse and was able to capture some good snow landscapes.
For shooting the park I used my Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 on my D300 with a protective filter and hood. To best capture to cold feel of this winter blizzard I set my white balance to Sunlight. Sunlight WB setting does not correct for light color and thus records the true color, which is not necessarily what our brains auto white balance sees. Under these conditions there is a light blue cast and blue allows the viewer to see and feel cold which is critical to communicate these extreme conditions.
For those that know the area I started out walking down Poets Walk where I was able to shoot several snowy statues of famous poets, including Shakespeare, and even the statue of Balto, the famous sled dog that relayed antitoxins 660 miles across Arctic blizzards from Nenana to Nome in the winter of 1925 – the route is now known as the Iditerod. As the snow picked up I walked to Bethesday Fountain area, around the lake and back past the fields nears Tavern on the Green. My camera got soaked and snow constantly fell inside my lens hood and needed to be periodically removed but you have to expect that in a blizzard. Although I was not able to shoot my intended subjects the trip was productive and even fun. You can see some of pictures of Central Park in the Snow in this gallery.
For shooting the park I used my Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 on my D300 with a protective filter and hood. To best capture to cold feel of this winter blizzard I set my white balance to Sunlight. Sunlight WB setting does not correct for light color and thus records the true color, which is not necessarily what our brains auto white balance sees. Under these conditions there is a light blue cast and blue allows the viewer to see and feel cold which is critical to communicate these extreme conditions.
For those that know the area I started out walking down Poets Walk where I was able to shoot several snowy statues of famous poets, including Shakespeare, and even the statue of Balto, the famous sled dog that relayed antitoxins 660 miles across Arctic blizzards from Nenana to Nome in the winter of 1925 – the route is now known as the Iditerod. As the snow picked up I walked to Bethesday Fountain area, around the lake and back past the fields nears Tavern on the Green. My camera got soaked and snow constantly fell inside my lens hood and needed to be periodically removed but you have to expect that in a blizzard. Although I was not able to shoot my intended subjects the trip was productive and even fun. You can see some of pictures of Central Park in the Snow in this gallery.
