Storm over Lake Champlain Chasing sunrises and sunsets in the Green Mountains of Vermont, finding covered bridges, admiring valleys filled with fog, enjoying warm sunny days on the mountain slopes and meadows with Scottish Cattle grazing around.

And then time came for a road trip beyond the beautiful mountains into the northern tip of the Great Appalachian Valley and Lake Champlain that fills it up with its waters. At first, I was not too excited about the gray all around me. The weather just seemed uninspiring. After a few miles of driving, that changed though and situations started showing up prompting me to stop the car.

Eventually, the clouds intensified into a storm force that provided me with yet another look to my photos, after enjoying clear skies at sunset, fog at sunrise, and bright sunny days.

I have to add, this trip took two tries. On the first attempt we never got past the 10-mile marker. As we were trying to be aware of the area we drove through some nearby covered bridges caught our attention and after stopping at one, two, and three, the decision was clear - no more time to get to the lake. 

Covered Gems of Vermont Just to wrap things up, I figured I'd throw that distraction in here too. So on the right, you can see one of the reasons why it took two trips to make it to Lake Champlain! Wouldn't you have stopped too?

Have fun exploring peaks and valleys on days shiny and stormy!

Frosty Horseshoe Falls It's interesting to go back once in a while and see what works and what does not. Here are the three most red and least red posts from 2012:

• 387 views: Full Moon Names - The Farmers' Almanac
• 254 views: Woodlawn Beach One of the Dirtiest in the Nation!
• 250 views: Different Tools, Different Looks
• ...
• 47 views: Warm vs. Cold, Atlantic Sunrise vs. Buffalo Winter
• 47 views: Winter Coming to Buffalo after All - Chestnut Ridge Park
• 46 views: Nature's Chaos

All of the ones at the bottom are from December, so I am not sure if that provides a fair comparison, but it is what it is.

Enjoy!

Frozen Pond in Winter

As a follow up to my previous post and the comment I made around the transition from winter to spring, here's the photographic expression of the other half of my mind saying bye to the 2012-2013 winter season. It was not as cold as some in the past but definitely more winter-like than the last one. Lake Erie never froze solid but the waters between shore and the break wall did. There was also much more snow this time around allowing for some beautiful winter scenes. It really was a beautiful season and I hope the next one turns out at least as good!

With that, feel free to check out a PDF e-book I put together last year that shows the winter glory in Western New York. I have not updated it yet with this seasons photos, however, it provides an interesting perspective on comparing winters of the past with the recent ones!

Happy spring to you all!

Equipment used:

• Nikon D600
• Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens
• Manfrotto tripod (055MF3) and head (496RC2)
• Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack
• Exposure delay mode of 2 seconds, no remote release
• Nikon Capture NX2

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