Well not exactly as advertised, however it seemed like a fitting title for this capture.
I took a drive over to this location yesterday, just to se how the rapids would look with snow & ice surrounding them, here's what I found.
In this first scene, those are actually Choke Cherries that made for good overhead fill-in prop.




Although a little "hot" looking, I didn't want to crop out any of the distant background out of either scenes. The morning sun created the overly bright look on the snow covered background, which IMO doesn't really take anything away from the main subject. Any comments would be welcomed here!

That looks like such a beautiful spot Stu. I like the second shot the best I am not sure but my guess is that there is more color and not as hot.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Second photo gets my vote. Did you have to use ND filters to slow down the shutter speed on such a bright scene?

Thanks gents! No filters were applied here.

Very nice, what kind of shutter speed do you use on these kinda shots?

Yeah these are really tough scenes for any camera. Your camera metered for the darker foreground which really did blow out all the whites where the sun was shining. A multiple shot blend or HDR is really the only option to keep everything within proper exposure.

I really hate to see the detail in the whites get lost, they can add so much to a scene like this. Hope that feedback helps Stu.

It's almost as tough shooting white geese. The shots from mid day, showed the same problem, where the sun would hit the goose directly. Lost detail on snow geese = deleted files.

If I'm honest guys (and I always am), when shooting this style of image I use the Tv setting on the camera. In time (when Ibecome more technically skilled)I will learn to shoot these scenes using manual settings. I did try some bracketing in these frames. However it's clear that bracketing has no effect controlling thigns such as brightly lit backgrounds.

In the mean time, I have to off this thread in order to post some updates on these big girls that are now potroling the Red in search of dinner!
In just over two and half hours today we managed two of these hawgs just over ten pounds a piece!

First off Stu you don't need to admit or deny how you got any shot! You are out taking photos in many different situations and learning what the capabilities of your camera are.

That is an important step in getting more comfortable in the features of you camera. As you get more comfortable you can start experimenting more. You are well on your way to doing just that!

You did mention any comments would be welcome, please if I overstepped my boundaries with my comment I do apologize.

Now on to the important stuff and that is that piggy Greenback! You guys must be VERY happy with this run of fish! Is your winter better than the fall run?

Nice eye! I miss fishing the Red. 3 biggest of my life came from the Red.

Please Dan, no hard feeling's trust me! I look at this incredible site and the talented people who share their idea's on the site!

Oh ya....it's definately GREENBACK time!