In light my recent experiment of modifying an existing lens into a macro lens, I was eager to get outside and take it for a test drive. On Super Bowl Sunday I made a point to get outside before settling onto couch, becoming a barnacle of blankets. My destination was Beaver Brook in Hollis, New Hampshire. It is a land trust that is open year round for various activities including hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. I went there in search of ice that was not buried under three feet of snow. The brook itself was mostly covered, but I did find a stream with exposed ice to photograph.
Voyager no. 1
Voyager no. 2
Voyager no. 3
Voyager no. 4
I blame my recent obsession with science fiction films and books for the titles for these images. When I brought them into Photoshop, I felt that they looked like something from an alien world. In reality, they are ice crystals on the surface of a frozen stream. The lens allowed me to get super close to the forms, blurring the background. To me, the shallow depth of field removed some spacial context of the shape and made their scale subjective. This is where my brain arrived at “What if these were giant ice crystals in space or on the surface of a frozen planet?”. With those thoughts floating around I decided to name the images after the Voyager space craft.