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I nearly got frostbitten – literally! — while trying to capture the sunrise in the my mother’s treasured old hurricane lamp. It was -20F, and I had to lie in the snow, waiting for that instant.
It lasted … a few seconds … and then … it was over.
After all that suffering, I was suddenly stricken by the realization that carrying the now-frozen lamp back into the warm house would put at terrible risk of breaking …. my departed mother’s hundred-year-old lamp!
Oh, sure! A rational person would have just PhotoShopped something. But NO! I wanted my vision to be authentic …. yet …. eventually conceded to add the foreground grass. I was not about to go back out and try it again.
(Maybe come summer. ;p)
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I nearly got frostbitten – literally! — while trying to capture the sunrise in the my mother’s treasured old hurricane lamp. It was -20F, and I had to lie in the snow, waiting for that instant.
It lasted … a few seconds … and then … it was over.
After all that suffering, I was suddenly stricken by the realization that carrying the now-frozen lamp back into the warm house would put at terrible risk of breaking …. my departed mother’s hundred-year-old lamp!
Oh, sure! A rational person would have just PhotoShopped something. But NO! I wanted my vision to be authentic …. yet …. eventually conceded to add the foreground grass. I was not about to go back out and try it again.
(Maybe come summer. ;p)
Canon 350D EOS
Canon 18/55mm
JASC Paintshop Pro x7 and PhotoImpact x3
Views: 899 (2010.NOV.05)
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Great Basin Life exists … between … high desert expanses and majestic mountain wilderness.
Daily, I watch the winds of change sweeping away what remains of our western culture and heritage, and the land that has produced them.
My mission is to preserve as much as I can, of that which will soon vanish, through my photography.
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Comments
Great story and capture…..frostbite is no fun…but well worth the risk here..!
You know, once I started worrying about that glass, my hands were hardly even cold anymore.
Thanks for the comment, Vanessa!
– Arla M. Ruggles
You are welcome. Frostbite is bad news!(it is -15 here now) so take care!
It’s an older image — we are well into the 40’s today. YaY!!
– Arla M. Ruggles
great picture and story
lovely job:)
Thank you, Tina!
– Arla M. Ruggles
Congratulations…a lovely image :)
Thanks so much, Clare!
I’m glad you like it.
– Arla M. Ruggles
I hope you thought it all worthwhile, I sure do from this side!! (easy for me to say – no frostbite here) It’s beautiful!!! I’ve always loved these hurricane lamps, this one is very pretty with the colored glass on the bottom. :-)
Thanks, Appel!!
The glass is colored by age and sunlight. My mother found it among the remains of a wooden wagon out in the desert, more than 50 years ago. It was pale purple then, and the color has continued to deepen over the years.
As far as my family is concerned, this lamp is priceless. ;-)
– Arla M. Ruggles
Oh! This is exciting!!
Thank you, Isa — and Live Love Dream!
– Arla M. Ruggles
Arla, I am breathless looking at this image. The sensibility to set the scene as you do and the patience to wait for the moment of light most registered in the glass of your mother is beauty defined.
Thanks, Mary Ann – that means so much coming from you!
– Arla M. Ruggles
Visionary….my friend.
Thanks, Susan!
– Arla M. Ruggles
Definatley Excellent………………OVER THE TOP!
Thanks so much, Dave!
I’m glad you like it.
– Arla M. Ruggles
Brilliant idea, nice description, excellent result!
Thanks so much, my friend!
– Arla M. Ruggles