Folklore says mermaids were natural beings that had magical and prophetic powers.
I don’t think that Jo and her friend Trey Gludovatz (the ever willing to suffer in the cold model) were thinking about magical and prophetic powers when they decided to venture out into the frozen Chase Falls canyon’s minus nine-degree weather.
Nevertheless, with camera equipment, costumes and chain cleats on their boots Jo and Trey excitedly trudged down into Chase Falls for an hour or so of photography.
Jo was carrying her Nikon D3s, an 80-200mm and a 35mm. Jo has newer lenses than that old 80-200, but that old 80-200mm is an inexpensive lens and would not be a great loss if it got dropped in the snow or cold water. The D3s won’t take deep water dunking, but Nikon claims it is water-resistant so it will withstand a short splash or quick dip.
Trey was bundled up warm in spite of the cold and was prepared to remove clothes to change into a mostly bare mermaid costume.
Jo told me the day was perfectly overcast and was like shooting with large soft boxes in the studio.
The plan was for mermaid costumed Trey to pose in front of the waterfall while Jo shot using long exposures. Jo had also brought a small tripod for those. But the creek, the falls and the usual pond at the foot of the falls were completely frozen over.
Just for photo information I asked Jo what her camera settings were: 500 ISO, 1/250 and above shutter speed and most of the time an F/2.8 aperture.
I asked if there were any major problems other than Trey freezing to death or being stuck to some icy rock. Jo quipped, “I was hoping Trey could take the cold a little longer.” However, she said the major problems were being afraid to break through the ice and the camera’s viewfinder fogging up.
Photographers are a creative lot. I’ll give Jo credit for a great idea and let’s not forget good friends like Trey that are willing to persevere and sometimes even suffer all kinds of conditions so those creative photographers can create their photographic vision.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
