Photo of the Week, Rider On The Storm

In January 2024, Portland, Oregon experienced a record cold winter storm. At my house, our outdoor thermometer showed temperatures as low as 13°F, and the news reported wind chills below zero. While I have experienced colder weather before, such as in Alaska during winter, this was abnormally rare for our city. By the time the thaw was finished from this historic winter storm, close to 500,000 homes and businesses had lost power at different points. Not to mention the number of homes and businesses damaged from frozen and bursting pipes. We didn't escape fully unscathed, though our situation was mild compared to many others.

In my continuing quest to create a portfolio of work I refer to as "Close to Home," this was an opportunity to capture some photos that were unique to our area and may not occur again anytime soon. One area I wanted to visit was a large urban wetland space called Oaks Bottom, in winter, is filled with water up to several feet deep. Though not very deep, we don't typically have enough cold weather to freeze the top of the landscape to hold more than a wandering duck or squirrel. Humans wouldn't dare take a chance. Normally, I am on the cautious side when it comes to ice-covered water, but seeing others out there and knowing the area as well as the current conditions, I felt the risk was pretty low.

Before I made the short hike to walk, or more appropriately slide across the icy landscape, I took in the view from above. Just as I arrived, I noticed only a handful of people across the landscape, from the ice skater to the person trying to kite sled with the wind. The view that I quickly honed in on when I saw it was of this mountain biker carefully making his way across the ice and snow drifts. As someone who has had their fat tire bike, with studded tires, slip out from under them due to strong winds while winter in riding in Alaska, I know it's not always an easy ride.

The cyclist adds great scale to this piece, and I love the nicely spaced out drifts of snow between the interesting patterns in the ice. When this was taken, it was mostly cloudy and the light fairly flat. The color photo, while okay, doesn't have the same impact as this black and white one. With spring flowers in full bloom at home, this is nothing but a memory, a memory I am thankful I was able to create with my camera on a cold winter's day. I suggest clicking on the photo to view large in order to see the subtle patterns in the the ice.

Technical Details:

• Single frame handheld
• Canon R5
• Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm
• ISO 400
• f/9.0 and 1/320

Worth noting is of the few photos I took before the bike went out of view, I chose this one because of where the biker is located compared to the other frames. The biker is riding past several snow drifts which helps for standing out more than being in a dark portion. I chose to put the bike in the top as I feel that works better with the flow of the eye. The bottom would work fine too yet I avoid placing it in the center which I feel doesn't work well for this scene.