I decided to start my Christmas vacation a day early. It’s a good thing I did, because it SNOWED! And there I was with a new lens that needed breaking in…
SNOW DAY!
Tag: Snow
Snow Bird
Birds love me so much, that they even leave snow replicas of themselves for me to find. Ha! That being said, I dedicate this post to my bird-loving friend David who, until recently, has had trouble capturing live subjects.
Fun with Nikon
Bitterly cold winds blew through Whatcom County a couple of days ago…but no snow. Meteorologists promised, and for a while some flurries got my hopes up…but there was no snow. I had been hoping to take pictures with my new Nikon D90.
30 minutes south in Skagit County, however, so much snow fell that a stretch of the freeway was closed after dozens of people abandoned their cars, and snow plows couldn’t get through to clear the roads. Fellow co-workers in the area spent hours digging themselves out, and schools were closed. David got some great snow pictures. But, not me. Not up in poor old Whatcom County.
Today I finally made it down to Skagit County, and there was still plenty of snow. (Yay!) Ironically, it was the icicles that caught the attention of my camera on its first photo walk and not the snow. You can see by the shape of the icicles that Skagit County must have had its share of cold winds. I loved the formations!
Outside
Without even looking outside, I knew it was snowing. Every post on Facebook was announcing it. Of course, I had my nose in the books trying to figure out graphing. This wasn’t working well with my phone close by…which has internet access…which kept tempting me to check Facebook.
So, I moved my phone to another room and then did some laundry and the dishes so I wouldn’t be distracted by clutter. This seemed to help my concentration, and I got into an incredible zone where I was able to finish the homework.
There wasn’t a good opportunity for photography today. But, I wanted to put forth some effort for my blog, so I stepped out the front door and took a picture of the first thing with snow on it I saw. So here you go.
I’ve been a little slow to respond to comments on my blog lately and haven’t been the most faithful in checking those I follow. Don’t worry – I’m still very interested in what everyone is doing and saying. I just haven’t been able to get to it as often as I’d like. It’ll be different once I get into a routine with the classes and all the homework.
Rock Face Icicles
How’s this for textures? Having spent a couple of hours in the snow, and suffering from numb fingers, I almost missed the cascading icicles on the moss-covered rock face on the way back to the car. What’s five more minutes in the cold anyway? This ended up being my favorite shot from the Sunday photo walk.
Frosted Pine
“Deep roots are not reached by frost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Shuksan
Sure, the rich summer meadows and rainbow spectrum of wildflowers may be a bit more exciting in a landscape shot, but there’s something calming to me about Mount Shuksan in the dead of winter. Walking through compact snow that muffled each crunch of my boots, finding beautiful frozen objects with each turn, I quickly forgot it was below freezing. The fact that I had been cold didn’t even register until I was hit with the sting of warming fingers back in the car. I just love this time of year!
Cold Details
The first photo walk of the year was with Andy, and we traveled up Mount Baker Highway for some pictures of snow and ice. It’s bare and dry in Bellingham, but an hour up the road it’s still a winter wonderland, and it will be for some time.
It is really difficult to take a decent picture of snow-covered things! Without much contrast, the camera doesn’t pick up the small details your eye sees. So, I tried to find what color was available. This small, ice colored branch is one example. More to come this week!
Invincible Summer
”In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” ~ Albert Camus
Snow Caps
This is just my quirky sense of humor coming out, but the snowfall on these little weeds, flowers, and leaves almost looks like hats.
The first, a Tyrolean hat from the Alps; the second, a Russian Ushanka; the third, a simple men’s flat cap. What do you see?
First Snow!
I was sitting by the fire last night, editing photos to use in my Harris Avenue Cafe display next month, when Jess walked into the living room exclaiming “Oh my God!”
Apparently I had been so focused on my editing that I didn’t see the blizzard happening out the window behind me. This gives me a couple of reasons to be thankful.
First of all, we were blessed with snow on a day I don’t have to work. Secondly, I got to practice taking pictures with the Canon with the added challenge of reflected light off the snow. I think we’ll definitely need a lot more snow for me to get this figured out…maybe some trips us the mountain…for the sake of learning, of course.
Jolene's Life in Focus 