man & nature # 95 ~ rain, rain, go away ...
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 08:56AM 
Mobilgas ~ Clifford Gordon 1921 • click to embiggenWe didn't get the amount of snow I was hoping for on Wednesday. The storm dumped about 9-10 inches in our area which, as the storm swept through, was on the very northern fringe of the rather massive storm system.
Nevertheless, the storm did provide a nice fresh snow cover to what was becoming a crusty and dirty snow-covered landscape. The only thing lacking for making some really good winter pictures is some decent directional light - basically, direct harsh sunlight.
My saying that may come as a shock to some after reading my recent it's-not-about-the-light entry but it should be understood that I never said that as a very general rule of thumb certain types of light are better suited for certain types of subjects. For me that includes my preference for picturing snowy subjects in harsh directional light.
That preference stems from 2 picture-making considerations; 1) the contrasty light brings out shape and detail in what otherwise would be a rather amorphous blob of flat featureless fields of white, and, 2) most winter days in these here parts are overcast and dull, light-wise so, on those occasions when it gets all sunny and bright, my picture making fancy gets a kick in the butt and out I go.
That said, I have lots of winter pictures made on dull overcast days because, simply stated, if I didn't picture on those kind of days, I wouldn't have a lot of opportunity to picture at all. The truth of the matter is that, since I am most concerned in my picture making with capturing a real sense of place, winter pictures made on dull overcast days really are the most real.
On the other hand, that sense of place runs contradictory to the sense of place which the various tourism groups for which I make pictures would like the traveling public to believe exists - the idea that - pick a season, any season - it's always a bright sunny day here. A notion that negates the reality of so much of the truly awesome, majestic, stunningly beautiful and constantly variable weather and, yes, the awesome, majestic, stunningly beautiful, and constantly variable types of light that most often accompany that weather.
Not that I have any trouble understanding or operating within the confines of conventional tourism marketing principles which were describe so accurately by singer/songwriter Paul Simon:
Was a sunny day
Not a cloud was in the sky
Not a negative word was heard
From the people passing by
twas a sunny day
All the birdies in the trees
And the radios singing song
All the favorite melodies
Now, it must be said that I do not have any problem with people adopting that outlook for purpose of vacationing. It is only when they adopt it as a philosophy for life - or as their sole philosophy for picture making - that I think things go horribly wrong.
Reader Comments (1)
I think we got around 15 or 16 inches at my house. Then it was gloriously sunny all day yesterday. Actually, as I look out my window here at work, I see patches of blue sky. I too love the sunny days for winter picturing. It brings out those blues nicely as well as the textures.