I’m standing on an edge ready to give way underneath me.  I shouldn’t be out there but I feel I have to be.  There’s just no other way to get what I want to other than being out there too far.  Safety is just a few steps away but I won’t do it.  I hear the calls to return to that safe zone but I pay them no heed.  After all, no risk, no reward.  I’m out on thin ice.

This was the scene of my last landscape photo shoot out in the mountains.  We traveled to Devil’s Creek Reservoir looking for some scenic lake photography during the winter.  It’s one of few places which still have snow thanks to this current thaw.

The reservoir is full and iced over.  I can tell that people have been sledding on the surface fairly recently (ice fishing is popular there) but I don’t dare try my weight on the icy surface.  I don’t want to fall in.  However, I do want to get really close to get the right landscape photograph.  This is why I was so close to the edge.  I must be careful just in case the ice is thin.

The thick snow was still slick enough to send me sliding down into the depths of the frozen lake if I took the wrong step.  I was very careful where I put my feet while holding my camera and aiming for a shot.  It’s in those moments of distraction where carelessness can cost anyone.  I didn’t want to pay that price that day so I was paying attention to my feet too.

I had difficulty finding the right shot while I was there.  It wasn’t easy finding a great backdrop with an interesting foreground with all that snow.  It buried all the rocks which I could have used.  Then I noticed these patterns on the ice in front of me.  I knew that I had something there.

The mountain in the distance and the singular visible fixture of the dam kept drawing my attention.  I was grateful that there were interesting patterns on the ice in front of the dam and the mountain.  Those are what made this shot for me.