I always find winter scenes so calming. The snow blankets the landscape, simplifying much of it down to shapes. All the little distractions competing for attention tend to quiet down and let other things shine through. And sometimes, when the light strikes the snow at the right angle, the snowflakes almost seem to twinkle. On this particular morning, the sun had already risen and was partly obstructed by clouds, creating this really soft, directional light. It only lasted for a few minutes before becoming too harsh, but in that moment the light was perfect – pulling together so many little things I love in winter photography. All of these things make winter photography special to me.
With that said, behind the calming scenes can sometimes be a real pain. Getting to some of these spots relied on snowshoeing over fairly deep snow. I’ve snowshoed plenty of times in plenty of places before, but I had a heck of a time here. I was punching solid 4ft holes in the snow and climbing my way out of it. More than once I’d tripped knees first (aka “full scorpion”) into a hole and had to take off my camera bag in order to get out. Awkwardly. Very awkwardly. I know both Scott and Eric (who joined me on this trip) got a real kick out of my excellent snowshoeing technique. I guess I’ve put on some weight!
Anyway, it’s all worth it for scenes like this one.