Greetings friends. Well, if you live along the Northeastern I-95 corridor or coastal New England, you just got absolutely crushed earlier this week!!! ❄️🌬️☃️ Further inland here, the magnitude of the storm was not nearly as intense. Here in Central/Northeast PA, we got anywhere from a dusting to maybe 3 inches in various places, maybe a little more in higher elevation, but boy did I enjoy watching the Weather Channel’s coverage of what was happening along the coast! Holy smokes! It’s been a bit since I can recall a Nor’Easter of that magnitude, especially some of the footage I saw from Massachusetts and Rhode Island (37.9 inches) - the coastal tide, the wind, the blizzard conditions, just wow!!! 🤯 I hope this finds you all safe!
I’m just writing a quickie here today because I wanted to share this thought and memory I had while I was shoveling this past Monday, February 23rd. (And also to give you a heads up for a post I plan on sharing late next week/weekend that I don’t want you to miss!) I’ll touch on that a little more again at the end of this, but back to February 23rd…
The date hit me fairly quickly as for some reason or another it has always stuck out in my mind as one I can recall off the top of my head. And then I got to thinking - boy, that was 2011, this is 2026. Fifteen years ago on this date! It doesn’t seem possible in some ways, and yet in others it feels like a lifetime ago. And in many ways, it was.
I had just recently transitioned from shooting 35mm film to working in medium-format with the Mamiya RB67 the previous Autumn. And I can vividly recall after processing this roll of 120 film how stoked I was over this image! I might also note, this is a year and two months before I would embark on my first backpacking adventure and before owning any sort of “real hiking gear.” It’s an oldie but a goodie, and I’m still proud to share with it you…
“Ice, Kissed by Fire” - Rothrock State Forest, PA (Along the Mid-State Trail)
Photographed February 23rd, 2011
Mamiya RB67 w/ 90mm lens (Normal)
F32 for 3 Seconds
Professional Fuji Velvia 50
“We had recently received a few snow, followed by ice, storms this particular Winter which left the deciduous forests of the mountains around me a magical icy wonderland. When I left my house at the foot of Pine Grove (Tussey) Mountain about an hour and a half before dawn that morning, the temperature read 0 degrees. The mile plus hike on the mountain top was invigorating to say the least! As I got set to await the Sun’s greeting, winds were whipping hard, making it feel like well into the negatives I’m sure.
But, the moment that giant fireball peaked over the horizon and lit the icy branches in front of me aglow, I felt nothing but its beautiful warmth. That ‘warm glow’ lasted only a few seconds, but wow!”
I told you it was a quickie! (For my standards anyway, lol!) I hope you enjoyed. This image isn’t yet linked up in my website store, but if you feel an undeniable attraction to it, just shoot me a line and let me know. I’ll be happy to help you out!
Ok, so I’ve mentioned a couple times now that I have some really cool news to share and show proof of now… Not only is it pretty cool, but I can also link a couple things to it that make it quite the opposite of a quickie, lol! And so I feel a weekend time post(s) will be best suited so that if you do enjoy reading these, you can kick back with a cup of coffee or tea ☕️ or perhaps a glass of bourbon or scotch 🥃😂 and enjoy! Unless you hear differently for some reason beforehand, I’m planning on Friday March 6th & Saturday March 7th to drop these…
Aside from this, I have another idea or two I want to put out there for you in the coming weeks. I have been able to get out and hike a little bit of late and I’m hoping for maybe another good outing during the cold and potentially snowy blast possible early this coming week. I’d like to compile some of my favorite images and my writings of this Winter to share with you as an Ode to this Season before the Spring Equinox hits and I’ll at least begin thinking in that direction…
In the meantime, be well friends, and be on the lookout next Friday/Saturday!😉
All my best,
Brandon