Why I Hate Winter Photography
Taking photos during the winter is unpleasant.
Some people look through my gallery and quickly note the lack of winter-like shots. This is by no means a mistake. You aren't seeing them because they don’t exist. While Western NY hosts some incredible views during these shorter months, the willingness and motivation to get out and capture these sites is minimal at best.
For one thing, it is near impossible to dress appropriately. Photography, unfortunately, requires the use of your individual fingers. Gloves don’t exist to give proper finger dexterity along with warmth. You either have one or the other. Whoever invents the gloves that keep fingers warm while allowing full ability to manipulate a camera's buttons will make millions.
Secondly, the days are shorter. As one who works full time NOT taking photos, your window to capture perfect lighting is right between when you leave for work and when you arrive home. You leave for work, it's dark. You go home, it's dark. You look out your window between meetings, it’s like a Thomas Kinkade painting outside.
With a meager sixty on average sunny days in this part of the world, it is unlikely you will capture interesting lighting for months at a time. The struggle is very real.
Would you like some cheese with that whine?
It may sound like I’m complaining and that’s primarily because I am. I do not like winter month photography for several reasons, those listed above to name a few. However, the reality is you will never see the brightest of blue skies, the cleanest of snow fall, and clearest of starry nights apart from these freezing temperatures. So the conflict arises; to stay home bundled in blankets playing a video game or accept the cold in hopes of capturing something beautiful.
I’ve gotten really good at video games.
With anxiety, the former is very easily justified. I mean, easy enough to justify by not having photos in my portfolio of fresh snowfall on evergreens, one of my favorite types of photos. No hikes were trekked, no waterfalls climbed, just layers of missed opportunities looking out my window at bright magenta sunsets and crystal like ground cover.
Yes, it is cold in the winter. I woke up the other morning to a temperature of one degree fahrenheit. Just one, one lonely little degree. Yes, the light is limited. Though, after December 21st the days get progressively longer. This fact alone keeps me from moving South every February. Yes, the weather isn’t always the best. Welcome to NY. However, these are all excuses. Excuses with partial truth to them, but excuses nonetheless.
My excuses are fueled by my anxieties.
People often ask me, what are you anxious about? That is a hard question to answer. The answer changes. One day I could be extremely anxious about large crowds, the next day I’m at a Buffalo Bills game. It seems to migrate from one topic to another, and trying to hone in on one leads to feeling better about that area only to start feeling nervous about another. By no means would I admit that this is the core of my anxieties, but I do believe it is a major contributor…
I’m afraid of failure.
I’m afraid of letting those I care about down. Letting them down enough that they no longer see me for who I am. Failing them to the point that they lose hope. Consistently coming up short. Never being good enough. Failure.
These are strikingly hard words to write, even now as I feel I am further along in my recovery than ever before. Diving deep into my excuses, asking myself why. Why wouldn’t I drive out to that park to take photos when it's cold? Well for one thing, what if I don’t see a nice area for photos? What if I do see it and I’m unable to capture it how I wanted? What if I do capture it how I wanted and nobody ends up liking it? Was it a complete waste of time? Do people think less of my ability as a photographer because I took a mediocre series of photos?
You can see that my motivation for photography has morphed into this idea that my worth and ability somehow is now dependent on others approval. I know that’s not true.
Here are shots of my latest trip to Honeoye Falls. Enjoy.
