As a New England landscape photographer, one finds themselves doing a lot of waiting on Mother Nature. In spring we wait for the end of mud season and the return of leaves that seems to take so long. In the fall we wait for the leaves to turn brilliant fall colors and then they drop and we wait for a blanket of beautiful winter snow to arrive.
“I have no use for snow” I over hear at the car dealership as I wait for my car to be inspected, oil changed and generally prepared for winter. Personally I have a lot of use for winter – skiing and photographing generally as well as my winter hobby of snow clearing.
Around Boston they have a saying that the seasons are Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Road Construction because the summer seasons typically see a flurry of construction activity filling pot holes created all winter.
Mark Twain said “If you don’t like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.” Which is kind of unfortunate because when you get a nice snow storm your really only have a short window between being able to get out safely to photograph the snow and when it starts to melt or gets hit with wintery mix of rain and sleet or something. If you want to ski in fresh, beautiful powder, the best plan is to call in sick and hit the slopes before the weather changes.
The ideal conditions are a nice dump of wet snows overnight, wet enough to cling to the trees, followed by a bright sunny day, sunny enough to melt the snow on the roads but not warm enough to melt the snow off the trees.
Then there is the challenge of finding a place to park. A four wheel drive car with good snow tires is a must. Country roads in New England are ringed with drainage ditches that will swallow your car and you have to stay out of the way of the snow plows. I find a quick tour into a farm road and a quick shot is best. Or don high snow boots and snow pants and be prepared to wade in deep into the snow to get a shot.
Don’t ask about that time I drove on to a snowmobile trail by mistake and had to bribe a local guy with a sandwich to help get me out.
New England winter photographs and artwork are available as fine art prints, framed and matted artwork, canvas prints, wood, arcylic, metal and on products such as greeting cards, tote bags, throw pillows and more! See the entire portfolio here: