Golden Hour over Spring Valley Wildlife Area No. 2

The Story:       Near Spring Valley, Ohio lies the 842-acre Spring Valley Wildlife Area. Near the southern edge of the park resides an 80-acre lake and surrounding marsh.  Several years ago, park managers cut down trees along the lake’s perimeter creating better fish habitats.  Today, a few remnants from these trees still reach above the water’s surface making for this colorful waterscape composition.

The Rest of the Story:  The fallen shoreline trees have served as an interesting composition since about 2018.  As the varying storms and winters pass, the twigs and branches decay and fall into the lake.  In the first year, the many trees made for an untidy composition, but five years later, only a few branches remain above the water’s surface, making for simpler compositions.   During this sunrise, a thick layer of clouds moved over the area, leaving only a thin sliver of clear skies over the eastern horizon.  As the morning twilight gave way to dimly lit skies, the sun began to illuminate the cloud deck from underneath, generating rich colors.   The lack of moving air during this weather transition allowed the lake’s surface to take on a mirror-like finish creating this pleasing scene.   I’ve shared this print in two places on my webpage:  Spring Valley Wildlife Area Art Prints and Twilight Waterscapes Art Prints.

Sublocation:   Spring Valley Wildlife Area

City, State:      Spring Valley, Ohio

Year:                2022

Accolades:     One of 98 prints juried into the 2023 Middletown Arts Center Annual Photography & Digital Art Exhibition (Still Life).  The juror lauded the print with an Honorable Mention!

A room demonstration generated through Pictorem using my image titled: Golden Hour over Spring Valley Wildlife Area No. 2. The image is rendered as a framed giclee canvas print.