Many people consider snow a complicating factor in their life. But not if you are a naturalist. And certainly not if you are a photographer. A healthy, blanketing snowstorm wipes the landscape clean, leaving the world fresh and free of distractions. For the photographer, brushy foreground is often eliminated, leaving compositions simple. For the naturalist, visible tracks can be accurately aged within a small margin, allowing one to place the movement of wildlife - and nature - much more easily. Most literally, the world becomes much more "black and white" - with evidence of patterns, textures, and contrast which otherwise become lost in the melee of color.
On the other hand, snow itself is quite complicated. It is commonly said that every snowflake is unique - and once you start looking, it is incredible how different they actually are. In fact, the snowflake can tell you a story about it's history - what temperature the crystal formed, as well as an idea of the water vapor supersaturation at the time. The sectored plate crystal shown above likely formed at about -15 degrees C with a supersaturation of about 0.2 g/m3! And as you can see, it collided with another crystal at some point, which fused to it. I've found that a single snowstorm can produce a very large array of crystals at different points in time - or sometimes, even simultaneously! Spend a few hours just looking at snow, and you will be fascinated. Start to photograph the crystals, and you'll be totally hooked! If you'd like to take the deep dive - check out this field guide to snowflakes and identify what you have seen: http://www.snowcrystals.com/science/contents/FieldGuide.pdf
Patterns in ice, as well as in the foliage surrounding the edges of the body of water, become more visible - and beautiful.
Even things you've been walking past since summer suddenly take on increased simplicity, as well as complexity.
Winter can make strange bedfellows when sharing resources - although this isn't totally without conflict, as the raised crest and flared tail indicate!
Finding those treasured winterberries might be a little easier in a world draped with white, however.
OK - Sorry! I didn't mean to imply that surviving in the white season was easy, or simplified!
But the patterns! The intricate and incredible patterns of Mother Nature which totally elude us, until the environment is simplified, and the color palette reduced.........
Or amplified!
Don't let the complication of life by the weather over rule the beauty the simplification that same season can bring, if you only let yourself look - and enjoy.
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