This winter marks our second in Maine, and I can’t help but think that it feels vastly colder than the first. I can’t really prove that it is, but that's how it feels. When we moved here from the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 2023, we were mentally bracing ourselves for the brutal Maine winters we’d been hearing about. Maybe it’s a result of our expectations that the first winter wasn't really that bad. Sure, there were several snowstorms, and once we got 24 inches of snow in 24 hours (that was our only true snowbound situation), but I remember that there were several sunny afternoons when the temperature got up around 40 degrees fahrenheit, which made taking a walk actually pleasant. This past month the daytime high is hovering around freezing and it just feels noticeably different.
All that to say, I’m still enjoying living in a place that has such distinct and glorious seasons! Snow makes for some beautiful photos and I love to jump out of bed before the city plow has come by and before any of the animals have disturbed the soft blanket of snow so I can capture nature's work. The secret is, I took all of these photos from inside the house because it's way too cold to get out there at 5 am. Don’t tell anybody.
When photographing at sunrise (or sunset for that matter), there's a sweet spot of time when the light is just perfect. It doesn’t last long so you have to be ready. When the sun is rising but not visible above the horizon, the sky gets all the glory, but once the first ray of light peeks through the trees and there's just a tiny amount of light coming through, that’s when you can capture things like frozen pine needles and branches. I typically do a few rounds of the same angles throughout the morning and then later I can compare the light quality. I keep my camera by my desk so I can grab it quickly when I see the light changing outside. It's truly a winter wonderland.
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