A rare event in my neck of the woods
Snow is not a regular occurrence where I live. Over the last decade we could count about 5 days with snow in a winter. The rest of the season was mainly grey, dull and wet.
When we do have some snow though, and it is even accompanied by sunshine, I try to go out and make the best of it.
And this season we already had quite a few wintery days with snow, hoar frost, icy conditions, and sunshine with a bright blue sky.
Snow covered and basked in sunlight even plain fields look beautiful
A few days ago it was snowing through the best part of the night and then in the morning, the sky cleared and the sun made an appearance. And the landscape that is usually just plain farm fields was transformed into a beautiful sight. That was motivation enough for me to go out and see what I could photograph.
The conditions kept changing significantly over a period of a few hours
It was fascinating to watch the scenery when the sun made it through the early morning haze and created a layer of ground fog over the fields. That disappeared within 20 minutes, though, and what was left were snow covered trees, a white expanse covering the otherwise empty fields and a bright blue sky.
And then, another hour or so later, the clouds came back and the landscape transformed again.
While the sun was out
‘Real’ landscape photographers often say there are no decent photographs to be made when the sun is out. Yet, the winter sun is different. It is low enough in the sky and even in the middle of the day tends to create a warmer light.
In those conditions, which I usually like much better than fog, mist and all those really moody conditions that admittedly make more expressive landscape photographs, I just take a different approach to photography and look for the details and harsh shadows that are otherwise considered the problem. And then these are the kind of things I find.
Others are out too
Of course, I am not the only one enjoying a nice winter day.
It didn’t last very long
No, it didn’t last more than about 10 days before it started to get warmer and the snow melted again. But it was beautiful and very enjoyable while it lasted. I am curious now if that was the entire winter here, or whether we get some more over the next few weeks.
