Before leaving Swallow Falls State Park, I took a hike along Muddy Creek hoping to take some photographs that would represent the coldness of the morning and found the ice formations that build up near the flowing water to be a good illustration.  

Below is a closeup of the ice along the edges of the running water (you just have to be careful in knowing that you are standing on snow covered ground vs. snow covered stream when you take a photograph!).

Swallow Falls State Park in MD has an old growth forest that includes tall hemlocks.  I tried snowshoeing for the first time, which allows you to get through the deep snow fairly easily and as our guide said, ‘bushwhack a trail’.  The forest was very quiet with just the sound of rushing water as we neared a stream.  The tree limbs held huge gobs of snow, creating a wonderful winter scene.

This area had about 20″-24″ inches of snow on the ground, blanketing everything. The photo above is near Upper Swallow Falls with the waters of the Youghiogheny River still flowing.

Looking up river from the falls, the sky which was overcast for about 90% of the time I was there, showed some blue as the sun began to set.  However, within minutes the cloud cover reappeared covering the entire sky.

I was invited to spend the last two days with my sister’s family in the northwestern part of Maryland at Herrington Manor State Park.  Just 4 miles from Herrington Manor is Swallow Falls State Park, where I took this photograph of Muddy Creek Falls, one of the largest in the state of Maryland at 53 feet tall.  The water was still flowing but a good 80% of the falls was frozen with the ice forming its own multi-colored cascade.

It seems just about everyone has an interest in photography these days, and an interest in learning how to take better photographs. A number of very talented nature photographers have created instructional eBooks that can be downloaded on your computer at very reasonable cost.  Below are links to some eBooks that I have found to be excellent references on improving photographic skills.

Ian Plant has created a series of e-books on landscape and wildlife photography that take a set of photographs and provide the ‘recipe’ for how each shot was achieved. You can check them out at this link:  Ian Plant eBooks (if you purchase an eBook from this site, Ian will throw a couple bucks my way :))

Joe Rossbach currently has two eBooks available that are instructional guides on composition and creating autumn images.  You can find out more information on these guides at this link: Joe Rossbach eBooks

Guy Tal has written an excellent eBook called Creative Landscape Photography with extensive text on creative control and the toolset of a photographer.  You can see Guy’s eBook at this link: Guy Tal eBook

All of these eBooks are outstanding and very worth the minimal cost.