An afternoon portrait
This morning I was sitting on my favorite corner of the couch, folding clothes, and looking outside. In weekends past, I have enjoyed watching the birds come to the feeder. In the morning, usually, they come in droves; however, as I’ve not been home for nearly 4 months, no one has kept the feeder full. It sits empty most of the time, so the birds have gone on to find other sources of food.
Just this past weekend, I bought some more food, filled the feeder, and took a gander out of the window every now and again. Still no takers. Not even the squirrels come anymore (thankfully), but I know that they all will be back. All it takes is for one of them to find it! 
Blogs, too, seem to come to a crawl. I don’t know if it is a form of Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, or if it is just too cold for people’s tastes to go out and shoot, it gets dark too early, or perhaps winter’s bareness doesn’t inspire. This, of course, applies only to those areas in the Northern Hemisphere that actually have winter weather … so, you Floridians/Southern Californians are excluded!
I think that I take about the same number of photos in winter. I simply love winter light. You can photograph almost all day and still have interesting shadows that are not completely black. Also, the ‘sweet light’ lasts, it seems, until 10:00 AM and then starts again about 2:00 PM. For example, this portrait of my boss, Hobbs, was taken at 2:00 in the afternoon. I didn’t use any flashes, reflectors, or other light manipulating tools. Just a camera, a lens, and my boss!
The winter also presents opportunities not available at any other time of the year. Most of the leaves are gone, so you get glimpses into the forest that, for 3/4 of the year, are not visible. You get to see light patterns on trees that are not available at any other time of the year. Perhaps you’ll get a light dusting of snow, or spy a bird that you’ve only heard before. There are more cloudy days and, for me at least, clouds make the sky very interesting. There’s a chance to catch a bit of frost on the grass, remaining leaves, etc.
There are lots of cool opportunities to shoot in the winter, sometimes all it takes is a bit more clothing and a little imagination.
Do you photograph in the winter? If so, do you change your subjects?
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4 Responses to “As winter approaches…”
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I definitely do not take as many pictures in the winter as other seasons. Several months ago I had read that due to the angle of the sun during winter, shooting at “high noon†is not a problem. However, I live in western Pennsylvania so during the winter months we rarely get the chance to see the sun. Maybe that’s why I never noticed the difference in the angle of the sun.
To answer your question, no I do not really change my subjects (mainly landscapes) during winter. The shorter days and colder temperatures definitely limit my outdoor activities. For example, it is not possible to walk in any of the local parks during the week because it is dark when I get home from work.
I find it difficult to be inspired by the winter landscape. I mean unless there is a blanket of snow the landscape is just a forest of dead trees.
Outstanding post. The portrait of Hobbs is splendid and, indeed, he looks as though he knows that he deserves special treatment. Having no birds is a sad note, and I hope that they will soon return.
I agree about the winter light, and that goes double for winter skies. I wonder if the explanation for pulling back a bit in winter goes much deeper and is more primitive than having fewer shooting opportunities. Your examples prove your points quite elegantly.
I do know that having shorter days contributes to making me feel that I have less time. Moreover, I do suffer a bit from Seasonal Affective Disorder—nothing serious, but I notice that fewer daylight hours do get me down a bit.
for us Texans, winter is the best time of year to shoot. I remember writing about the opposite of this, the summer hibernation that I usually have because its too hot to shoot much.
I’ve noticed a lot of the blogs I read reducing the content and frequency of new content at this time of year. Could be the weather, but in the US, this Thanksgiving to Christmas and New Year period always seems a crazy whirl, that saps the time to ponder and pontificate.
@Gordon: That’s true. Two major holidays following so closely to each other. Add to that Black Friday, which is in a few days and you’ve got no time for anything! For those of you out of the US who may not be familiar with Black Friday: BF is the day when there are huge sales and is the somewhat official kickoff of the Christmas selling season. Some people actually camp out over night in the parking lots of large retailers and malls so that they can get the best deals. It’s quite insane!
Perhaps a good project for the aspiring photographer who also happens to be a night owl!