Winter Landscapes

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Ben
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Autumn has almost passed and were into the long dark nights of winter. What do you guys go out and photograph in the depths of winter when there's no leaves or colour? Especially on damp mild days with no snow or ice.
 
I find February the most boring month for landscape photography, especially if there is no snow.
 
I find February the most boring month for landscape photography, especially if there is no snow.

November must be right up there too? One of the most dreary months of the year. The colours of Autumn pretty much gone, lots of cloudy, rainy days, gets dark at 4pm ... At least in Dec/Jan you're more likely to get some misty/frosty mornings as the temps drop even further.
 
Yes, you have to laugh sometimes when landscape photographers tell you that the light is so much better in winter.........
If you get it, it is.
Lower sun tends to give you some nicer light that lasts longer.

Winter can be hard, it's a good time to focus on coastal work, evergreen woodland is always available. Depends what you have near you I guess. If you're near mountains, they can always look good.
You've also got the benefit of late sunrises. My annual Snowdonia trip is always in January. Wind or rain there is something to photograph there.
 
I hate winter - I find deep snow hides the features of the landscape which I'm not sure I like. I also don't like walking in it, driving in it and looking at it. Other people do so I head out a few times to bag something to flog but as a season it's one I have no affinity with. Plus the word "snow" brings out all the photographers all tripping over themselves taking the same pictures just because the ground happens to be white. It's pretty but very kitsch. The bare brown trees, yucky earhty brown of the moorland does nothing for me.

I might do the odd seascape but I tend to find I go into hibernation for the season.
 
If you get it, it is.
Lower sun tends to give you some nicer light that lasts longer.

It can - but summer the first 90 mins and last 90 mins of the day are lovely and you get these lovely deep shadows. The haze can be more of an issue - certainly winter brings clearer air which is a plus but I don't know - these warm sunny evenings and balmy mornings just stirr my soul.
 
I hate winter - I find deep snow hides the features of the landscape which I'm not sure I like. I also don't like walking in it, driving in it and looking at it. Other people do so I head out a few times to bag something to flog but as a season it's one I have no affinity with. Plus the word "snow" brings out all the photographers all tripping over themselves taking the same pictures just because the ground happens to be white. It's pretty but very kitsch. The bare brown trees, yucky earhty brown of the moorland does nothing for me.

I might do the odd seascape but I tend to find I go into hibernation for the season.
I'm the opposite, I tend to hibernate in the summer. Everything is green, the days are very long, it's hazy quite often and the sun is bright so quickly in the mornings you quickly find it too much. That's why I started shooting the odd bit of street this summer I think, just to keep me ticking over. June to August this year I went out for landscapes only 5 times (all sunsets). I've done more than that in the past 10 days lol.
 
I'm the opposite, I tend to hibernate in the summer. Everything is green, the days are very long, it's hazy quite often and the sun is bright so quickly in the mornings you quickly find it too much. That's why I started shooting the odd bit of street this summer I think, just to keep me ticking over. June to August this year I went out for landscapes only 5 times (all sunsets). I've done more than that in the past 10 days lol.

LOL polar opposites - I love the greens but I notice not many others do.

I head out more times to take pictures in May-July than I do in the rest of the entire year (bar September when I travel abroad).
 
I hate winter - I find deep snow hides the features of the landscape which I'm not sure I like. I also don't like walking in it, driving in it and looking at it. Other people do so I head out a few times to bag something to flog but as a season it's one I have no affinity with. Plus the word "snow" brings out all the photographers all tripping over themselves taking the same pictures just because the ground happens to be white. It's pretty but very kitsch. The bare brown trees, yucky earhty brown of the moorland does nothing for me.

I might do the odd seascape but I tend to find I go into hibernation for the season.


I find myself rushing off on a good day with snow on the ground but it's as difficult to make a good image under snow, if not more so, than the rest of the year.

If only we could actually hibernate. I would..........:D
 
LOL polar opposites - I love the greens but I notice not many others do.

I head out more times to take pictures in May-July than I do in the rest of the entire year (bar September when I travel abroad).
I'd say September - November I'm at my most active. This autumn has been great so far with frost. Although this time last year I was shooting peak autumn colour and frost, but this year it's now raining as the trees are stunning
 
I find myself rushing off on a good day with snow on the ground but it's as difficult to make a good image under snow, if not more so, than the rest of the year.

If only we could actually hibernate. I would..........:D
Most people seem to get so excited by snow they forget what actually makes a good image. I work out places local to me that I know will work when it's snowy. Then it's just a case of shooting it if and when the snow arrives. This year was hard as it was that weird blowy snow.
 
If only we could actually hibernate. I would..........:D

Or fly ourselves - April in the southern hemisphere means Autumn colours - and November-March high summer. I'd love it. I am terrified of aircraft otherwise a stint in NZ, Patagonia about now would be awesome. If I had wings that what I would do - as it is I go into semi hibernation.

In all seriousness I need to "stock" up on Glasgow cityscapes - I sell these quite well and they bring in a decent bit of money. I will probably do more of this over the winter as the "blue hours" aren't at knifey/junkie/street robber o'clock.
 
Or fly ourselves - April in the southern hemisphere means Autumn colours - and November-March high summer. I'd love it. I am terrified of aircraft otherwise a stint in NZ, Patagonia about now would be awesome. If I had wings that what I would do - as it is I go into semi hibernation.

In all seriousness I need to "stock" up on Glasgow cityscapes - I sell these quite well and they bring in a decent bit of money. I will probably do more of this over the winter as the "blue hours" aren't at knifey/junkie/street robber o'clock.
Put your fears aside and get on a plane, what's the worse that can happen? (don't answer that). You'd be able to photograph the world within a few hours.
 
Meh, safer than any other form of transport..
Except it isn't. In a plane crash you are almost certainly dead - that is not the case with driving. Never mind the physics off it (going 600mph 5 miles in the sky in a pressurized tin can where it's -40c outside and there's several tons of explosive liquid just feet away). Not for me. It's fundamentally highly unsafe and the reason pilots are so rigorously trained and planes are so over engineered and the checks so rigorous on the ground is because it is such a fundamentally flawed and dangerous way to travel.

What's life without a little risk?
What good is life if you are blown up at the age of 33. I have no wish to die. I like being alive :D
Sit down, have a whiskey and go to sleep.

No amount of drugs work when flying. I hate it with all my heart.
 
Not sure I have, photographically speaking, a favourite season (though hay fever makes the summer a chore except for beaches and hill tops); I just enjoy the challenge of seeing the changing landscape and trying to do it photographic justice. That said, I've noticed that I seem to take more photos in May than in any other month. On flying: it must be one of the most inhuman ways to travel, treated like cattle from airport carpark through check-in, security and boarding, only to be vibrated and unable to walk around for hours in the air. All horrid. And it is f###ing the environment. So no bad thing to avoid.
 
Not sure I have, photographically speaking, a favourite season (though hay fever makes the summer a chore except for beaches and hill tops); I just enjoy the challenge of seeing the changing landscape and trying to do it photographic justice. That said, I've noticed that I seem to take more photos in May than in any other month. On flying: it must be one of the most inhuman ways to travel, treated like cattle from airport carpark through check-in, security and boarding, only to be vibrated and unable to walk around for hours in the air. All horrid. And it is f###ing the environment. So no bad thing to avoid.

May is a particularly nice month and my favourite for Glencoe. It's that wonderful vibrant time of year where everything comes back to life - the tree's grow their leaves back, the grasses finally turn green on the hills. It sure is a nice month to be alive in.

Agree totally with your comments on flying - but I drive when I could fly so I will emit more CO2 in my choice because the scheduled flight exists - but roughly per person per mile a flight is no more or less efficient than a car. CO2 isn't a cause dear to my heart - I know it is to you though.
 
May is a particularly nice month and my favourite for Glencoe. It's that wonderful vibrant time of year where everything comes back to life - the tree's grow their leaves back, the grasses finally turn green on the hills. It sure is a nice month to be alive in.

Agree totally with your comments on flying - but I drive when I could fly so I will emit more CO2 in my choice because the scheduled flight exists - but roughly per person per mile a flight is no more or less efficient than a car. CO2 isn't a cause dear to my heart - I know it is to you though.


Going a bit off topic here, but it is possible to do a carbon emissions calculation online although I don't know how accurate it is. It takes into account the mpg of your vehicle.

A few years ago I did a round trip to northern Scotland in my camper van - about 1300 miles.

My carbon emissions in the van were roughly equivalent to a return fligfht from the UK to the Med.

I've only flown once in the last ten years, mainly because of the carbon emissions involved. If I go to the Continent I choose locations that can easily be reached by train, and I usually hire a small car when I get there.
 
I've only flown once in the last ten years, mainly because of the carbon emissions involved. If I go to the Continent I choose locations that can easily be reached by train, and I usually hire a small car when I get there.

I thought, wrong, you might have taken the camper.

Rail would work well for me but lugging all the gear about platform to platform, delays etc just make the car the goer from the off.

Back on topic - my car is also hopeless in the snow - another reason to avoid winter shooting for me. No image, is worth a car accident endangering yourself and others.
 
I took the camper to north/central france on one trip but all the other recent trips have been train/hire car. The biggest pain is changing stations in Paris; some d***heads pinched my phone on the metro. That was a hassle but it would been far worse if it had been my wallet or passport.

But on the whole French trains are pretty good unless they are on strike!

Ditto about winter roads. Chances are if there's some decent snow around I won't be able to get the van down to the main road! :(
 
I've done a (very) crude CO2 costing of landscape photography; it's on my website. Used DeFRA figures for costs of transport. I'm very concerned about climate change, habitat loss and species loss - apart from anything else, I have grandchildren. None of this is winter-specific though!
 
I've done a (very) crude CO2 costing of landscape photography; it's on my website. Used DeFRA figures for costs of transport. I'm very concerned about climate change, habitat loss and species loss - apart from anything else, I have grandchildren. None of this is winter-specific though!


i'll have a look at that - thanks!
 
Went out into the woods today. The Autumn colour is pretty much gone and were into that no man's land before the cold where its just mild and wet.

Think I might try a bit more night street stuff.
 
Autumn has almost passed and were into the long dark nights of winter. What do you guys go out and photograph in the depths of winter when there's no leaves or colour? Especially on damp mild days with no snow or ice.
One year I set myself a target of only shooting scenes over the winter that included water, so mostly coast but the occasional river/lake. Worked reasonably well, other than the fact I hate the cold so it's a challenge to go out.
 
One year I set myself a target of only shooting scenes over the winter that included water, so mostly coast but the occasional river/lake. Worked reasonably well, other than the fact I hate the cold so it's a challenge to go out.

Me too - the cold is such a hassle. Yeah you can wear warm clothing but I prefer light clothing not hats, big jackets etc.

I cannot stand the cold but I do like the clarity that comes with it.
 
Fog and frost make interesting landscapes, especially when the sun rises.
 
On flat days the coast is a pretty good place to go, otherwise I usually wait for frost, mist or snow, which normally happens when due at work!
 
I've done a (very) crude CO2 costing of landscape photography; it's on my website. Used DeFRA figures for costs of transport. I'm very concerned about climate change, habitat loss and species loss - apart from anything else, I have grandchildren. None of this is winter-specific though!


This is off-topic, but I'm very impressed with your analysis, John. Not only the actual carbon emissions and other environmental side-effects of being a photographer, but the hypocrisy of those photographers who claim to want to save the planet but then go on to play their part in wrecking it! We must all realise deep down that our activities are not envronment-friendly but so many people seem to manage to set all that aside. As you have shown, it is quite clear that air travel is the biggest contributor to environmental degradation that photographers really could do without.

I suppose this is really a discussion for another thread........
 
it is quite clear that air travel is the biggest contributor to environmental degradation that photographers really could do without.
Depends, how would many of them purchase their new gear year on year, surely they wouldnt be expected to visit their local dealer and pay full price? :LOL:
 
So far this winter in Lancashire there hasn't been any snow or any ice or anything like decent winter weather. Just lots of wind and rain. All very boring.

There isn't even any snow on the top of helvellyn or scafell. Lots of brown and mud,
 
So far this winter in Lancashire there hasn't been any snow or any ice or anything like decent winter weather. Just lots of wind and rain. All very boring.

There isn't even any snow on the top of helvellyn or scafell. Lots of brown and mud,

British winters are on the whole vile. I hate them with all my being. One month closer to next summer since I last posted in this thread. That’s something...
 
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