Chris Kayler Photography

I just got back from another awesome backpacking trip to West Virginia. My friend Mauricio and I snowshoed up a forest road to the top of Dolly Sods. Little did I know, it would turn out to be the most physically demanding trip I had ever taken. While only 5 miles each way, it was 5 miles uphill in 3 - 5 feet of fresh powder. After 6 and a half hours, we finally made it to just below treeline as the last of bits of daylight faded away. To the sounds of gusting winds several hundred feet higher, we pitched our tarps and tents and easily fell asleep for the night. Upon waking up in the morning, we made the short trip to the very top, where we were greeted by sustained 40mph winds and an otherworldly environment coated in ice. Needless to say, it made the whole exhausting trip worthwhile!

While I didn’t take any photos this trip, I did take this video with my iPod. It’s a little hard to make out, but in the end I’m actually leaning very far forward and being help up by the wind. I hope you enjoy it and can experience a bit of what I was able to … without the -1F wind chill temperature!

Dolly Sods Winter Backpacking Trip, Bear Rocks Nature Preserve, Dolly Sods North, West Virginia from Chris Kayler on Vimeo.

Moving back to my Upstate New York trip, here is an image of some cool ice formations found on the surface of Oneida Lake. They didn’t look too special from afar, but when “zoomed in” with the lens, these unique patterns took on a whole new appeal.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Here is another one from my morning trip to the feeders at Bull Run Mountain Nature Preserve. This one, as with the Northern Cardinal before it, was shot with a 500 f/4. I really liked the ease of getting a clean, snowy, gray background when using this lens, and the slight bit of falling snow just added to the overall winter feel.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

I went out the day before “the big storm” here in Northern Virginia to photograph some feeder birds. Will light snow falling, and a borrowed 500 f/4 super-telephoto lens in hand, I was happy when this brightly colored female Northern Cardinal landed on my perch. I need to get a larger lens of my own - bird photography is so much easier with it!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Here’s another one from my trip to Upstate New York. This image is a closeup look at a large pile of ice that had accumulated on the shore of the lake due to the wind. With the mild temperatures New York had been getting, they then began to melt into rounded shapes, only to refreeze during the night. I quite liked the smooth curves and abstract nature of it all.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

Just got back a few days ago from a weeklong trip to Upstate New York to photograph the local areas and hang out with family and my friend (who I brought with me) Alex Mody. We mostly shot feeder birds and ice, but overall it was a very productive and fun trip.

Here is one of many images of the common but beautiful Black-capped Chickadee I managed to obtain while up there.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com