A day like today I usually make a point of sleeping in as late as possible. Today however, I set my alarm for before sunrise.

Winter isn’t my favoruite season, but it is quickly becoming one of my favourite seasons to photograph. Today I wanted to head to a few places before the sun was high in the sky. The first stop was just outside of town at Springwater Provincial Park – they have a small outdoor zoo with some interest animals. They were just waking up when I arrived, and this guy was quite vocal when I came into sight:

I admit it – I edited this one a little. I put the trees in the background, to make it a bit more natural looking than what looked like a dog house and a chain-link fence. It was tricky shooting through the fence in the foreground to get it to disappear! I think the shot turned out great. I went around and visited more of the animals, the deer were quite affectionate but unfortunately not very photogenic (they wouldn’t stay away from the fence, making it very hard to remove it from the picture). It was a great little walk and not a soul in sight at 8am.

Next stop was Milligan’s Pond. This is a small pond/creek area in Barrie that has flowing water in the winter, and as such attracts a lot of ducks. While I might have traveled here for the birds, I was more interested in the hoarfrost at the water’s edge:

The frost forms in areas of high humidity (the edge of a pond or creek is perfect for this) and melts quite quickly in the morning after the sun’s light hits it. I’m glad I got here just as the sun was poking through the trees, and lighting up certain patches of frost. The frost wasn’t just on the ground, but in the trees too:

Something I never noticed before – the dead needles don’t attract the frost. I wonder why! There are so many wonderful things to see on a winter morning. I was home with all of these photos before I normally even wake up. It has been a great day so far.