Snow
I seem to be in the minority, but I really enjoy the snow! The past few years have been quite a disappointment in that department, but Mother Nature seems to be anxious to make up for it in 2021. We have already had far more snow than all of 2020 and, I believe, 2019 combined. Do not quote me on that but it might not be an unreasonable guess. If anyone knows the total snowfall for Monmouth County in each of the last few years, let me know in the comments below.
When pressed, I will tell people that winter is my third favorite season however, it finishes a strong second as far as excitement for photography and inspiration. Yes, it is very difficult to work up the courage to go outside in sub-freezing weather with frozen water falling from the sky, but I find myself drawn to it. Full disclosure – I much prefer the dry, white puffy snow than a wet snow but I will take what I can get.
The images shown here were all created in January and February of 2021 and there will be more to come. As I sit writing this, we have a fresh snowfall with more predicted for next week. They, also, have all been taken in my yard or in the woods just outside my yard; thus, they could be considered part of my “Backyard Boredom” project. You can read more about that project
here and
here.
The pine sapling is about two feet beyond my property in the woods belonging to Shark River Park. The two versions were made just two days apart – one during a very wet snowfall and the other a day after the storm. They are from slightly different perspectives, as you can see from the background, but both show off the graceful curvature of the trunk.
The holly tree was what drew me outside that day, I did not see the pine until I was already out photographing it. This was made after the first storm. We have quite a bit of holly growing around here; I have two large trees in my back yard, a small one just outside my bedroom window and countless trees in the woods. I do not recall seeing this little one before, so I do not know how long it has been there. The background was a bit busy, so I decided to use my widest aperture for shallow depth of field and over-expose a stop or two for a high-key image.
Looking out my back door one day I saw this clump of dead maple trees hanging from one of the trees. They made such a stark contrast with the dark trees and white snow I grabbed the camera and headed out. I had to bump up the ISO to 400 because I was handholding and did not want to worry about camera-shake.
The last image is a small evergreen tree in my side yard. This was made during the same storm as the snow-covered sapling I lead off with. This image was a bit more challenging because to the immediate right of this tree is a chain link fence and the background is very busy due to the park woods. I wanted to use a slow shutter to show the falling snow, while blurring the background as much as possible. The compromise was f/8 which was enough to keep the entire tree in focus yet lend sufficient blur to the background. I am particularly happy with the motion of the falling snow.
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Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the images.
Technical information:
- Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i (crop sensor - 1.6 factor)
- Lenses:
- Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
- Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III
- Tripod: MeFOTO Roadtrip Classic
- Vello White Balance Card Set (Medium)
- Unless otherwise stated - all images - ISO 100
- All focal lengths are as-recorded - the full-frame equivalent is in parentheses.
- Focus and exposure were done manually*. The shutter was tripped with a wired remote.
* - I set the focus and exposure manually but that in no way means you have to do that. I was playing with exposures and it is easier to do so in "M". I typically use "aperture-priority" when I am out.
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