One of the pluses to photographing in the snow is it allows you to see things in a much different way. My primary photographic influence is color – the hues, the saturations, the play of one color off another. But when the landscape is covered in snow I find my eyes “see” differently. The abstract becomes much more visual for me. I was especially caught by this scene. Here was a light post by the side of a street. The street had tire tracks in the snow creating the horizontal patterns. The light pole was the vertical cross-pattern to the tire tracks. But then there was this wonderful swirl and curve that was created by the blowing snow all around the base of the light post. All the visuals seemed to play off each other in what would normally be a rather nondescript scene.
snow
Winter’s arrival
Winter has arrived, in all her glory. It started snowing during the night and has continued all day. From a dusting, to a few inches, to piles, it’s still continuing to fall and grace our landscape. I ventured out this morning when we had about three to four inches. The landscape was beautiful with the snow outlining the trees and structures. Everything was graced in a beautiful white coat. I went to the horticulture garden on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. In the spring and summer it’s filled with the bright and bold colors of flowers, blooming shrubs, and vegetables. There are small tables and chairs that invite people to stop and linger and to enjoy the surroundings. Today I had the garden to myself, however the tables and chairs still seemed to be calling for people to pause and marvel at the beauty in the garden. Although not the summer colors, I was pleased to find the red berries and twigs, the golds of the grasses, the greens in the shrubs, and the dark textures of the trees – all a welcome contrast to the white coating of snow.
Early winter moonset
Our weather has been cooler since Thanksgiving when we had a bit of snowfall. The consistent cold temps have allowed ice to form on our lakes and ponds. With the promise of a crisp and clear morning I headed to the nearby golf course, not knowing what to expect. What I found was a beautiful dawn with pink skies, a full moon that was slowly making its journey to the horizon line, a frozen pond without snow cover that provided a beautiful soft reflection to the trees, and a wonderful stillness and peace that prevailed in the early hours. The warning signs for “Thin Ice” have already been placed, and some of the ducks and geese are being forced to larger lakes as they search for open water. Slowly we are moving into winter.
Morning snowfall
As with most of the country, this past week has brought a potpourri of weather. We had warm enough temperatures one day to prompt rain (and a lot of it — the most we’ve had in one day since last July). But the temperature dropped that night, the rain turned to sleet and the puddles turned to ice. At some time it turned over to snow, coating the ice-covered trees and streets. In the morning I ventured to the golf course at Como Park. The precipitation had once again changed over to a stinging sleet that was only sharpened by the brisk winds. It was ironically peaceful being the only person out at that time of the morning. The ice and snow had freshened and renewed our wintry landscape once again, dashing any hopes that spring was imminent. But the beauty and the simplicity of the scenery was abundant. Even this fence that was once upright and surrounding the green took on its own sense of rhythm, pattern, and repetition coated in snow. I wandered and photographed for a while until I could hear the wind starting to break off the ice-coated branches of the trees, and erring on the side of caution it seemed the appropriate time to head home.
Late winter reflections
Our winter has been unusual by normal Minnesota standards. The snow drought has continued with warmer temperatures, but just when we thought spring was being ushered in on southerly winds we got a snowfall of three inches. Now that’s not a huge snowfall, but this year it amounts to one of our larger ones. Since the air temperatures are much warmer, any snow that does come is likely to melt rather quickly. And so it was with this snow. As I was driving home the other night I entered our alley and was greeted by this scene. I don’t normally think of alleys are being prime photographic opportunities, but I was caught off guard this day. The power poles created a wonderful repetition in the standing water, and the reflection of the colors of the sky created a meandering curve down the length of the alley.
lindastaatsphoto.com 