Winter light is tricky to work with, especially after a heavy snowfall. The sun sets around 4:45 PM at the moment, and by six O'clock, it’s already dark. Given that the ground is covered with a white blanket of snow, then this creates an interesting effect with the diffused light through the environment. These varying light conditions pose a challenge when taking photographs, particularly at night.
The reflected city light from the snow creates a twilight world
Shrubs & Snow is the name of my new indie folk band.
We finally got some snow the other day, so I took the opportunity to go out for a photo shoot. The results were nothing less of disastrous. I deleted most of the images that I took because the light was very poor, and I did not use the right settings and set-up to capture it properly.
The thing about winter photography is that it’s damn cold. Your fingers quickly grow numb, pain sets in on their tips, and if you’re not careful, you can lose them outright to frostbite. So, the last thing you want to do is be standing out there in the cold fiddling with knobs, dials, and cold pieces of metal. Warm comfort is everything. Every limb and piece of skin needs to be protected from exposure. Otherwise, you quickly lose interest in shooting photos and self-preservation mode kicks into high gear. There is an art, science, and madness to winter photography that I have yet to truly explore.
The alchemy of snow
I was delighted to see residents come out to play. We don't get many snow days, but when it does come, we take full advantage. People were sliding down the small hill in bursts of joy. Woohoooo! I took many pictures of the action, but the photographs turned out very bad, so you're just going to have to trust me that it was very cool. Weeee!
A snowy field
Making a snowman is mandatory within city limits
I like how the sky takes on a mysterious glow with steel-blue shadows reminiscent of polar environments. I think that this is created because the snow reflects the city light on the clouds. If it wasn't for the snow, these photographs would be pitch black.
Dude chilling with his dog
Familiar environments turn into magical realms. The white tree on top of that building is an actual evergreen tree. Not sure if it's a spruce or pine or something else. It was completely covered in snow. I was thinking that the additional snow added a lot of weight on that side of the building. I'm sure the engineers who implemented this idea were aware of that, but that would make me nervous if I lived there. The last thing I want as a news headline is, Downtown Man in Tenth Floor Condo Dies When a Pine Tree Falls on Top of Him. 😆
Balls season never ends around here
Stop right there! It's the police!
Images by 