First Real Snow Day of the Year!

by | Feb 14, 2020 | Pic of the Month | 3 comments

Very soon after trying to shoot for the “Pure” assignment in the very un-pure looking surroundings that February was giving us at that time . . . it snowed!

So I re-arranged things on my calendar and went out again hoping for some better shots.

And I was kinda surprised.

Just because it was snowing wasn’t making things look pure all of a sudden! It certainly was better, and things were much more picturesque, but I don’t know if anything I took actually looked “pure”. I think it’s because it was cloudy and there was no direct light. Perhaps the impression of purity would be better illustrated with “clear blue skies” to complement perfectly white snow, but it never cleared up so I just had fun shooting anyway.

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I think my favorite shot was this one of this gravel road, below, that led into Dog Run. I really like how the two tracks were even, clear, and distinct.

When I was there before, the road didn’t attract my attention. But now it did! I’m always amazed at how various elements can completely transform a location.

Here’s the original, unedited shot:

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Even at a +1 exposure bias, I’m amazed how dark it still looks!

When I sat down to edit it, I didn’t feel it needed much tweaking. Sometimes I’ll edit snow pictures to have a very cool temperature, but I didn’t like how it made this picture look fake, the time of day not being near blue hour and the distance of the trees being so close.

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Sometimes I’ll edit in B&W when there’s not much natural color, but I didn’t feel there was a strong enough of a subject and B&W just made the road blend into the trees.

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So I just did my normal tweaking.

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I felt the road was too much in the center, so I felt like I needed to crop off the right a bit. Don’t you feel the same way? Of course, I cropped it such that the tree on the right was either completely left in or completely cropped out. I decided on a complete crop out.

cropped

And that left me with this month’s background wallpaper!

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First Snow

Dog Run Lake, Salem, West Virginia

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Now, there’s one little detail that annoys me every time I look at the final photo. Is there a tiny obvious something in the photo that your eye almost goes to immediately?

How about that stick laying in the road? It’s the only thing that disrupts the beautiful shape of the road! Of all the millions of sticks in the picture, that one really does stick out.

And now that you see it, you’ll never un-see it. Smile

But I have intentionally left it in there. There’s a lot of analogies with it. Maybe it will be a good reminder to anyone who looks at the picture now to remember that little details in life really do matter. Go spend some extra time with someone or Someone you love this Valentine’s Day. Titus 2:11-14.

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3 Comments

  1. ANA

    HI JAMES ¿HOW ARE YOU? QUE HERMOSA NEVADA, AMO EL INVIERNO, DONDE VIVO EN BUENOS AIRES, LOS INVIERNOS NO SON TAN FRIOS COMO ME GUSTARIA, NUNCA NIEVA Y EL VERANO ES MUY CALUROSO COMO LO ESTAMOS PASANDO AHORA. QUERIA PREGUNTARLE SI ¿USTED SABE ALGO DE LA FAMILIA NEELY? SE QUE SON SUS AMIGOS, PERO HACE TIEMPO QUE NO PUBLICAN EN SU BLOG Y SIEMPRE LEO SUS PUBLICACIONES, TAMBIEN SE QUE SUS 3 HIJAS ESTAN SIENDO CORTEJADAS POR 2 HERMANOS WILKES Y OTRO JOVEN DE UNA FAMILIA CONOCIDA, ¿YA ALGUNA DE LAS CHICAS NEELY CONTRAJO MATRIMONIO? ESPERO QUE PUEDA INFORMARME. LO FELICITO POR SU NUEVO SOBRINO ANDRES, ES BELLISIMO EL PEQUEÑO. LEO SU BLOG FAMILIAR DESDE HACE MUCHISIMO TIEMPO, ME GUSTARIA QUE PUBLIQUEN MAS SEGUIDO, ¿COMO ESTA LA SALUD DE SU PADRE? SE QUE TENIA CANCER, DIOS QUIERA QUE SE RECUPERE DE ESTA ENFERMEDAD. LO SALUDO CON LA PAZ DE JESUCRISTO, ME ENCANTAN SUS FOTOS, SOBRE TODO LOS PAISAJES NEVADOS, LAS MONTAÑAS, LOS PINOS Y BOSQUES. BENDICIONES¡¡¡¡

    Reply
  2. James Staddon

    Good to hear from you again, Ana! You know, I am very grateful to live in a place where there are 4 noticeable seasons. It’s a blessing easily taken for granted!

    Yes, the Neelys are doing well, though their lives have been very full. Their three daughters got married all on the same day at the end of February! First time I’ve helped to shoot a triple wedding. 🙂 Hoping to post pictures from that event after the photos are edited. It’ll take a while. 🙂

    Dad’s doing well. Thank you for asking. Things are under control from our perspective. And of course, all things are under God’s control. Do you have a blog that you write for?

    Reply
  3. ANA

    GRACIAS JAMES POR CONTESTAR, ME ALEGRA SABER QUE LA SALUD DE SU PADRE ESTA MEJOR, GRACIAS A DIOS POR SU FIDELIDAD. ESTARE ESPERANDO LAS FOTOS DE LAS 3 BODAS, ME IMAGINO CUANTO TRABAJO TUVO USTED. QUE DIOS LOS GUARDE EN ESTOS DIAS DIFICILES QUE ESTAMOS VIVIENDO. TENGO UN BLOG FAMILIAR, ESPERO QUE PASE POR AHI, AUNQUE ESTA DIRIGIDO A LAS HERMANAS CRISTIANAS. BENDICIONES Y QUE DIOS NOS GUARDE A TODOS DE ESTA PANDEMIA.

    Reply

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