About the Image(s)

We had a wet snow storm followed by sleet, the result of which was a caking of the landscape in Central Wisconsin. By now the lakes are frozen over and the backroads are slick. But I ventured forth on a morning driving east-west roadways hoping to catch some illuminated trees in the forested areas. As a result, I spotted a strong sunbeam illuminating this tree about 10 feet off the roadway, on which I setup my tripod and shot with a 24-200 zoom at 56mm. I shot at ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second with an exposure bias of -1 step, aperture priority, and my white balance was set to flash to minimize the blue in the snow. The final image was cropped to set the illuminated tree on the right 1/3 line. I used some painting in Topaz Studio to fluff up the snow and then added a vignette. I didn't favor a b&w rendition (my bias due to my newspaper background and having to run b&w most of the time).