Behind The Camera - Letchworth In Winter
I took winter photos.
Given my last blog post (Why I Hate Winter Photography) it would seem necessary that I stepped outside of my comfort zone and pursued a more picturesque scene for winter shots. Enough complaining, enough excuses, time for me to actually participate in one of my more expensive hobbies. As you know, winter in Western New York gives incredible opportunities to capture its natural beauty in these frozen temps.
It was cold.
Single digits to be exact. It didn't start there, to be fair. I left the house at a balmy 11 degrees. However, the funny thing about mornings is, the temperature tends to continue decreasing even after the sun rises. The sun has always equated to me as warmth. Not that morning.
That morning equated to most appendages deciding they didn't want to remain attached to the core central infrastructure. Which is problematic for many reasons, least of all was my ability to continue taking pretty pictures. Toes were throbbing, fingers lost feeling, face was frozen… I can't think of any more alliterations, you get the picture.
It was early.
Sunrise was to be 06:52, that's 6:52AM for those unable to read military time. I wanted to be at the location by 06:30, or 6:30… never mind. It was about a 30 minute drive to the spot, which means an early start to my Saturday. Fortunately, I married an early riser. I had a fresh vanilla latte in a Yeti before I bolted out the door.
Being an early start means I had the road to myself. Which was beneficial given how excited I was to get set up. The moon was bright, stars were shining, and freshly fallen show glittered the ground and tips of the trees. The snow was amazing for photos, just not great for driving. Back country roads and not a snow plow in sight. It was a … fun drive. I’m thankful for AWD.
It was beautiful.
The location is one I've been to before, but never in winter, never in the morning, and never with a wide angle lens. A lot of firsts for me. Did I forget to mention I hadn't taken sunrise photos in over a year?
The sun came up nowhere near where I wanted or expected. However, after blinding myself by staring directly at this massive ball of ignited gasses, I managed to walk away with a few pictures I was proud of. I'm sure my camera sensor thanks me for it.
Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing about the location, timing, or results of that morning. It isn't often I like my photos, but I enjoyed this experience and hope to continue getting outside my comfort zone to capture more beauties like these.
