A So-Called Winter
Without doubt this is the strangest winter I’ve ever experienced. After barely escaping a brown Christmas, with a blanket of snow falling only a few days prior, the weirdness has extended well into the new year, with most days seeing temperatures 10-15 degrees above normal. We joke here that Winnipeg sees 6-8 months of winter each year, but this year it’s more like 6 months of spring, but without the precipitation.
I mention this to give a little context to the shots presented here. Instead of a clean and simplified landscape, all the detritus of last year is visible, but without the promise of growth.
Still, there’s beauty to be found, and hopefully a little humour.
Sunsets have been lovely. These two were taken about 20 minutes apart:
The next morning was a frosty one. The first image is a multi-shot panorama, I was taken in by the natural gradient of tones in the sky, from warm to cool:
The clouds then drifted over the sun, providing a very flat light, but this plays well with the spruce trees: they soak light like a sponge, but the frost on the outer limbs and needles highlights the texture and form of their branches:
It’s also just interesting to me how differently they catch the frost compared to the deciduous (ash?) tree in front of them.
A few weeks later, while enjoying a winter cabin with my sisters, we were treated to another frosty morning. Though I was later than I’d wanted to be, I still managed to catch the “belt of Venus” before the magenta faded fully:
The tricky part when the conditions suddenly ripen is scrambling for a composition when you’re in completely the wrong spot! I ran around like a headless chicken for about 5 minutes before I found a reasonable framing.
This little cabin is located right next to Pinawa Dam Provincial Park, and as such it is named “The Dam Cabin” :)
I continued on to the damn Dam, and was amused by two sets of trails. The first was made by humans:
…and the second by much smaller creatures:
I’ve never been at the dam at sunrise, so this was a treat:
The above three are in black and white because the compositions are about shape and lines, and colour can become a distraction.
I’ll close out with this rusty car. It’s smack in the middle of Assiniboine Forest, (apparently) one of the largest urban forests in North America, even hosts a few coyotes. It has a lot of hidden treats, including a few rusty car-carcasses. I’ve tried shooting this car many times while walking past it, and never been satisfied. So this time I decided to spend as long as I felt I needed, and I’m finally somewhat pleased with the result:
“Beautiful” it ain’t :) but I’m hoping it prompts some questions (probably along the lines of “wtf?”) or suggests a story. Personally I’m always tickled by the “3”, because it reminds me of Herbie the Love Bug movies from the 60’s, but that’s a cultural reference likely lost on most.
Anyway, ending off on a slightly prettier note, I caught these deer as I emerged from a trail crossing a road:
I like the pose, they look unusually sleek and well-fed, probably because of the milder weather. I also appreciated that they seemed alert, but relaxed. Usually my deer interactions are more like this:
And with that I too will run off, probably to pray for a massive couple of snowstorms to round out this season and return us to some sense of normalcy.
Cheers and take care!
