Shooting

Hunting and photography have many things in common, not least of which is the proverbial story about the one that got away.

In regard to our recent storm, that really was the case for me. I work for a police department, albeit the non-sworn (no gun) side of things. Nevertheless, storm or no storm, I'm expected to show up for work. So, on Wednesday I sat out the best of the storm (from a photographer's point of view) in a room without a window. By the time I got home it was too late to shoot.

On Thursday I got up early to take Linda to work and forgot to grab the camera. As a result another one got away. As we drove east we suddenly saw the most magnificent rainbow encircling the sun. The intense colors of the bands curved in toward each other as they reached the horizon completing a full 220 degrees. It faded and disappeared in minutes

After I dropped Linda off I went back to the house to get the camera. I stuck an extra battery in an inside pocket to keep it warm (it was 10 degrees below!) and headed out to shoot the garden first. Those pictures ended up in Friday's post.

After running an errand I drove back to the auto dealership that I had seen earlier. I was almost too late. Many of the cars in the lot had been cleared of snow already. Luckily, the row nearest the road was still nestled under its snowy cover. In photographic terms, the staff all out brushing snow made for a more interesting sequence. Those are the shots I posted yesterday.

Today's post includes an assortment of other shots I took during a full day of Christmas shopping, errand running, and providing cab service for Linda so she wouldn't have to worry about finding a plowed place to park.

After leaving the car lot I made a detour into the Universtiy of Wisconsin's Arboretum. The Jackson Oak, deceased for some time now, still made an excellent subject with its snow covered limbs against the forest background.

The oak stands right at the edge of the prairie which looked threateningly cold despite the bright sun.

Even though everything appears to be covered with snow, I kept being nagged by the thought that the day before, before the wind had done its worst, it had been a much whiter place.

One charming exception was this group of crab apple trees that look as if they have burst into bloom quite prematurely. In this case the wind probably helped to produce the illusion.

The dense pattern of berries, snow, and limbs in this shot are really nice. It's the abstract painter in me. I think it's important to be aware of the biases we all have, both in order to make the most of them, but also to move beyond them when the subject calls for it. Taking a good picture is so often a matter of breaking out of our habits.

From the Arboretum I went hunting for snowmen. I drove the neighborhoods I thought would have kids. But instead of snowmen I found the ugly side of the storm - broken branches everywhere. In this case the residents had to shovel a detour around the fallen tree to get to the street. When I showed Linda this shot she went and got the local paper and showed me what the professional photographer had done with the same subject. It was a shot of a letter carrier ducking under the trunk of this fallen tree as he made his rounds. I wonder if the photographere had to wait very long for that opportunity.

I know I waited for quite a while to get a shot of this crew in action, but they just sat there in their truck. I finally got out and took a couple of pictures. As I was driving away an empty city truck arrived, and I realized that that was what they were waiting for. I decided not to go back, to press on.

 

As I turned onto Monroe street to pick Linda up from work I saw my first snowmen in two yards, side by side. They weren't great, but I was running out of time. I took this shot of the better of the two.

And then, a block away I saw more snow personages in an apartment building courtyard. I thought this one was especially charming for its dance-like posture. (Or maybe it was just trying to fall down.)

Finally, on the other side of the complex was this big guy - maybe the biggest snowman I've ever seen. I felt my mission had been a success.

 
Linda and I decided to walk to a local bistro for a late lunch/early dinner. We sat near the kitchen with its warmth and wonderful smells. While I was sitting there I snapped this shot with my pocket camera. It wasn't until later when I downloaded the pictures that I saw this detail...

The bartender entertaining his customer with a hand rabbit! Sometimes we get the shot and don't even know it.

On On the way home I swung by Elver park to to get some pictures of the kids on the sledding hill. The family approaching in the foreground told me that it was so cold the sleds were just sticking to the snow. I took a closer shot of the kids with big smiles and the reddest cheeks - but it was badly out of focus. Another one that got away.

With one last image of the sun setting over the empty skating rink I decided it was time to go home to a drink and a warm fire. 

Comments

[Lisa at Greenbow]

Fine images of all the snow you got in your area. I just hate to get caught out without a camera. It seems there is always a shot I wish I could try to capture. I know a lot of the birding photographers complain about the one that got away.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

No doubt the bird and the photo both!

[Pam/Digging]

So many great shots get away from us all the time. It was an interesting post to read about your missed shots on this snowy day, Mark, but also to see some good ones that you got. I think that bistro picture is my fave--so inviting on such a cold day.

[Julie Siegel]

Such a generous post about process. Sometimes I feel that the ones that get away are the images we recall most strongly since they are imprinted, not digitally, but in our hearts or minds. Anyway, with digital, we are overwhelmed with images and I am underwhelmed by editing: not you of course.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

We are good about editing our photos for the posts; but editing out the bad pix and labeling the keepers in the computer is still our downfall. Maybe this winter!

[Nicola]

Stunning snow pictures. The area you live in seems very beautiful.