Snow in most of Arkansas is relatively uncommon. Sure, we usually get at least one light powdering each winter, and I mean very light and very short lived. So, when I heard weather forecasters were predicting a significant amount of snow for my area, I was pretty excited about all the photographic possibilities a few inches of snow would provide and devised a mental list of nearby places I could drive to in order to get some pictures.
The snow began to fall late Sunday night. By the time I got up on Monday morning, we already had close to six inches on the ground with no end in sight. Using my better judgement, I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to be out on the road. So much for that idea. To paraphrase Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke, my plan did not survive first contact with the snow.
As it turned out, though, all was not lost. Walking by our back door, I noticed, through the window, one of the trees in my backyard. The limbs have beautiful twists and curves, and I have always liked their graphic design. I have tried to photograph this tree numerous times, but I’ve had little success because the tree always seemed to blend into the background.
But, the falling snow softened the background and caused it to appear to recede. The lighting also provided a good degree of contrast between the subject tree and its background and the evergreen tree on the right side of the frame. All of these factors worked together to draw attention to the shapes and lines of the twisting branches, and I thought I would finally be able to create a photograph I’d had in mind for several years.
I was only outside for about ten minutes. But, in that little bit of time, the cold became unbearable. My hands quickly grew stiff and numb, my tripod felt like it was itself made of ice, and I finally decided it was time to go back inside. I was only able to get a half dozen shots of the scene, but this was my favorite.