Patuxent Research Refuge During A Winters Walk

This particular view across Cash Lake, in the Patuxent Research Refuge, has been challenging me for quite a while now. Standing at this point I could see the depth of the view and the different textures but the shots I took looked flat and bland. On New Year’s Eve, a winter walk around the refuge brought things nicely into focus.

Photography Lessons – A Winter Walk Times the Shot

Living nearby we often visit the refuge for family walks and I usually bring my camera with me. This particular image was taken on New Year’s Eve when I visited the Patuxent Research Refuge with my young son. It was cold but very clear. I have stood at this edge of Cash Lake many times. I knew there was a decent photograph to be captured but I could never capture the depth of the view because the foliage in the background trees melded with the green of the pines in the foreground. The view always came out flattened. It was only in taking this image in the winter when the background trees had lost all their leaves that I finally found the depth I was looking for. It goes to show that timing is really important in photography and that it’s worth revisiting the same places at different times of the year.

Patuxent Research Refuge

The Patuxent Research Refuge lies just outside Washington DC, near Greenbelt. Established to research and protect US habitats and wildlife the refuge manages a number of different sites that represent different types of habitat. As well as being a working research site Patuxent Refuge acts as an educational center with great interactive exhibits.

Image Details

This image, taken at the Patuxent Research Refuge, was created from an HDR composite of five images taken at 0.7 step intervals on a Sony A7R and a 50mm lens.