WINTER’S GRACE

THE HUSHED SOLITUDE OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN SNOW

I love to photograph nature during the winter. Emotionally, the quiet and stillness are calming and meditative to me. Here in the Yosemite area, the tourist traffic slows down and the atmosphere is less frenetic. Over the years, I have made more Yosemite images during winter than any other season.

Visually, so many aspects appeal to me about the winter landscape. The bare branches of winter trees attract me to their strong lines and challenge me to compose images with dynamic graphic designs.

When snow covers the ground, it absorbs sounds and obscures many distractions, making landscapes more simple and sublime. When the sun strikes the snow, especially at low angles, shadows and textures come alive. Rocks found along a river are transformed into sculpture.

Black Oaks in Winter | El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite National Park, California | 1994

The cold weather gives us another bonus of the season when ice forms an endless variety of patterns and designs on the often-quiet waters of winter. Exploring the frozen edges of rivers and ponds for magic designs in ice is a favorite winter activity of mine.

When we photograph broad scenes in the winter, the images can benefit from the lines formed by bare trees that provide more graphic interest. If there is snow on the landscape, then the brighter snow sets off interesting shapes, which again creates an opportunity for a stronger graphic design in landscape compositions. Yes, colors are more muted in winter, but I’ve always liked to create images with subtle or monochromatic color, so this is more of an advantage than a disadvantage for me.

The highlight of winter photography for me is when I manage to get out to photograph freshly fallen snow, especially before the snow is tracked up or melted off the trees by the sun. This freshness conveys a sense of the purity and wildness of nature. I made the photograph of snow forms shown on page 124, Snow Formations on Rocks, along the Merced River after a snowstorm in Yosemite Valley. Using a 35mm film camera and a telephoto lens, I was able to isolate the highlighted shapes of the snow from surrounding distractions. I must confess that I made this image in 1979. I find it so rewarding to still enjoy some of my efforts from so long ago.

I also made the photograph Black Oaks in Winter in Yosemite Valley after a snowstorm. I used my 4x5 camera to capture the wonderful patterns formed by these trees. I first photographed this set of trees forty years ago, and now they have become old friends whom I’ve watched throughout so many seasons. I especially love their winter shapes, standing bare against the cold. I have often felt that nature’s beauty is seen at its finest in winter’s elemental grace.

Giant Sequoias | Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California | 2007