All About the Snow

This week I was planning to do more images of the library and archives where I work. I figured the students would be back, so there would be a nice contrast to last week’s pictures, in which there were few students. I did a few of library images. But the ominous warnings about the storm coming on Thursday and overnight into Friday, and then the reality of the storm and the lake effect snow, changed my plans.

Some of the images are at work, some at home. Some with my iPhone, some with a proper camera. Some seem pretty and pastoral, in the way you can enjoy snow and cold from inside a warm home. Some convey chaos, as when you’re caught in the storm. They’re all about the snow. This first image does a bit of both, the snow contrasting prettily with some nice colors, but the dominance of the snow in the image conveying just how much snow there has been. (A light lake effect snow is still falling.)

The next image conveys the weight of the snow–literally, on the branches of a coniferous tree–and the threat of destruction.

Here’s one where it’s so pretty. But look at the size of the flakes falling. They’re formidable.

Even cloudy days, with pea soup skies blotting out the sun, can look beautiful and inviting when you focus on the snow.

With a slightly different angle, and different processing of the image, and the same phenomenon looks forlorn and cold.

I took most of these images through windows, with the lights off. Here are three that frame snow storm and buildings together, giving them equal weight. One is cold and dreary, the other two pastoral and peaceful.

I like the first one for the symmetry and the way the cupboards frame the seemingly calm outdoor scene, plus the clutter on the counter. It’s also the cover image for this blog post, of course. But here you can see it uncropped and can click on it to see a larger version.

The next image just feels cold to me. A porch that is nice to sit on during the spring, summer, and fall, providing shade on a hot day or cover on one during a gentle, much needed rain, just seemed abandoned at the moment.

The shed in the third image sits prettily amid some trees and shrubs.

Next week I expect to be back in the library and archives, photographing the architecture, furniture, and the people who study and work there. I’m hoping for some weather just a bit colder than freezing, so I can enjoy a trip to Lake Michigan to photograph ice piling up along the lake shore, break walls, and lighthouses that characterize it.

For the moment though, this wish is for me and for you. Stay warm, and stay safe!