NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY enriches life.
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Nature, in and of itself, encourages patience, determination and resiliency—that’s even before taking the first shot!
Winter photography for images with great detail depicted, versus a vast landscape, challenges the photographer to master the capturing of tonal differences. Ansel Adams observed this as well. “The photographer is confronted with extremes of tonal values, and a minimum of texture.”¹
Nature Photography depicting the nuances of winter snow is perhaps easier now with digital photography and one’s ability to post process in software. I would enjoy a conversation with Adams about this. Certainly, I still prefer the mornings and evenings to bring to images the wonderful values that post processing cannot truly help. Besides extreme mid day sunlight blasting out opportunity for tonal values, mid day photography can bring on a headache in bright sunlight as it reflects upon the snow. I am sure this was an issue for the photographers in the early-mid 20th century, just as it is for us today!
Ultimately, I enjoy winter nature photography as one of my favorite seasons to shoot. I find that the season invites a great deal of photographic opportunity, for that dramatic shot which often involves snow. I like the way that nature sounds when it’s winter. It’s quieter and the air just breathes cleaner—this, coming from a Kentucky girl, who loves our wonderful parks and the adventures off the beaten trail.
I wrote a feature article for Photography World publication about the Aurora Borealis and Arctic Tundra Swans. If you are interested in reading more about winter nature photography, I invite you to enjoy the read and the gallery of images, photographed by Astrophotographer Richard S. Wright, Jr. and myself @ photographyworld.org
