Winter Photography
Sunrise panoramic stitch of four images. Mount Timpanogos and Utah Lake.
I’ve mentioned this before in previous posts, probably almost any time I’ve written in winter; this is not my best season for photography. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a warm weather kind of guy. But I live in Utah and that carries with it some measure of frosty weather. It’s difficult to balance appropriate dress for the climate with the functionality of managing photographic equipment in the outdoors. I hate operating the controls on my camera with stiff and numb fingers. I purchased a great pair of Vallerret gloves this season that allows the fingertips of my index fingers and thumbs to pop out. My fingers stay warm, but it still adds bulk to work around and I invariably still need to put my hand in my pocket to retrieve something and the glove is still bothersome. Also, photography is not necessarily an active sport. Setting my camera on a tripod and waiting for the light to emerge doesn’t always keep my circulation flowing. It’s cold standing on the edge of a frozen lake before sunrise when it is 16°f, even when I’m wearing 4 layers of high-tech insulated clothing.
Winter sunrise from the shore of Utah Lake
There are advantages however to this time of the year and they will likely continue pulling my lazy butt out of bed long before sunrise on a February morning. Often, landscapes are simpler under a blanket of white snow. An otherwise chaotic scene is rendered cleaner with less distractions. There is less competition in a brilliantly colored sunrise sky when played against a landscape of white snow or ice-covered lake. The warm colors of sunrise and sunset also contrast with the cool tones of winter in a pleasing manner. If nothing else, those warm tones somehow in turn warm my shivering bones.
Late afternoon along the Provo River between storms.
This past week, I managed to be out for several sunsets and sunrises, and each turned out rewarding experiences. Saturday morning, I was tempted to visit the Bonneville Salt Flats, but instead opted for a nearby shoot across Utah Lake. I wasn’t disappointed in our local landscape. There is so much beauty in our valleys and mountains. The best aspect of shooting at this time of year is the convenience that sunrises and sunsets occur at reasonable times of the day. I often arise at 3:00am in the summer to catch a sunrise, but then, I only have to dress in shorts and a tee-shirt. There are always tradeoffs.
Fire and ice along the shore of Utah Lake.
While I was photographing the image of fire and Ice, I began hearing odd and eery noises in the lake. I detected that the ice was beginning to shift and burp. Within about 15 minutes, the ice buckled up and created this mass of ice plates.
Perhaps my favorite image of the day. The sun lifted above the mountains on the southern end of the lake first and lit a band of mist rising from the lake. The reflection of the clouds in the ice and water was fascinating.