This photo was taken in Toronto on a cold February day in 1985. The billboard reads, “Spain: Set your spirit free. Say Si.” In the winter months Canadians are attracted by the lure of warmer weather. It seems that most folks head to Florida, or the Caribbean, but Spain sounds good, also! How does that song go? Catalonia dreaming, on such a winter’s day.
One of my favourite photographers here on social media is from Catalonia, Spain. His name is Llorenç Rosanes Mulet and he lives in the town of Alcarràs. Check out his amazing work on Instagram. His social landscape photos often have beautiful warm light and the tones he achieves in his black and white photos is sublime. There is so much humanity in his work. I hope to meet him someday. Big shout out to my buddy Llorenç!
It’s winter in Canada–a good time to post a selection of snow photos. It a wonderful sight to see the landscape transformed by a blanket of fresh fallen snow. In the following poem Emily Dickinson makes mention of the snow sifting down, making an even face of mountain and plain.
Taking snow photos is a good way to connect with the season, and enjoy the absolutely unique qualities of winter. On windy days, photographing snow is a good way to photograph the elusive wind. There are amazing shadows cast on sunny days, and an abundance of soft textures. I like to go out around twilight time when the snow is coming down. It’s a good opportunity to use a flash to freeze the snowflakes.
Snow by Emily Dickinson
It sifts from leaden sieves, It powders all the wood, It fills with alabaster wool The wrinkles of the road.
It makes an even face Of mountain and of plain, — Unbroken forehead from the east Unto the east again.
It reaches to the fence, It wraps it, rail by rail, Till it is lost in fleeces; It flings a crystal veil
On stump and stack and stem, — The summer’s empty room, Acres of seams where harvests were, Recordless, but for them.
It ruffles wrists of posts, As ankles of a queen, — Then stills its artisans like ghosts, Denying they have been.
Unusual weather conditions often create interesting photos. Today I had to make an 80 km drive to Halifax, and took the opportunity to get some storm photos. I didn’t spend much time out in the elements–most of the photos were taken in the car–but got a chance to walk on the streets in the snow and freezing rain. It’s a challenge keeping the camera protected then quickly pulling it out and getting the shot.
I’ll keep taking storm photos in the blowing rain and snow. It keeps me in touch with the seasons and the passage of time.
It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, a time of decreased daylight. Some people get the winter blues and use a SAD lamp to alleviate Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am one of them. Others pick up their cameras to capture the beautiful blue light of winter. I am also one of them. You see, there is an upside to the winter blues.
In the winter months, the sun’s angle is lower and this affects the spectrum of light. The light has to travel through more of the atmosphere, directing more blue light to our eyes.
So, if the impulse strikes you, pick up your camera and turn those blues around.
Photographing Snow Is Really Photographing Wind (Day 22 of 31)
There are different ways to photograph snow. One of the most interesting is when it’s blowing. When fine granules are blowing across a road or roof, or over the ground, it’s one of the few ways you can see the shape of the wind.
Smoke and clouds give us ways to “see” wind sometimes, as do sandstorms. But smoke and clouds move somewhat differently from the way snow does. (I imagine sand blows around more the way snow does, but I have never seen a sandstorm.)
The phenomenon I’m talking about is one illustrators use, as well as photographers. You see it in, for example, children’s picture books about snowfalls: the snow curling and eddying, blown about by the wind.
In eastern Canada, where I live, it’s not time yet for the first snowfall of the season. That’s not the case in parts of the country that deal with a lot more of it than we do here; the North is already seeing snow on the ground. For the rest of the country, it’s partly something to be dreaded and partly just a simple fact of life. Doing whatever we can to enjoy it more—like getting out to photograph it—makes the long winter more bearable.
(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)
