I guess many of us are glad we (talking about those of us in Westchester County, NY and thereabouts) haven’t had a lot of snow so far this winter. I’ve got mixed feelings on that – don’t care for the shoveling and driving – but miss the photo opportunities that snow presents. So early last month after a one to two inch coating visited us, I went for a hike in that nearby Adirondack-like property I told you about in a previous blog

It was late afternoon, a frigid and blustery day, one that gives real palpable meaning to the phrase bone-chilling cold. The sky had that bluish grey cast that often portends of snow but the whipping wind occasionally would clear a patch near the west horizon and the sun would break through just for a minute or two, changing the whole personality of the woods to a warmer tone of yellow and gold. The wind stopped.

That’s when I captured the first image above. Some call this time of day the Golden Hour, where textures and shadows combine for drama. When you figure out you are not photographing a subject but light itself. George Eastman is said to have exhorted photographers to “embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. That’s when you’ll know the key to photography."

And just as quickly, the light was gone, like someone had pulled down a shade on the woods. The gunmetal grey sky returned. I shivered and literally smelled the snow. A moment later the squall came from out of nowhere and I started clicking away with a slower shutter to capture some movement in the snow. As the storm lost some of its intensity, not to be outdone meteorologically, the sun made a final appearance, resulting in this capture of fading light in a squall. And I had just enough time to slip on a softening filter to add a little “romance" to this image below.