Just around Thanksgiving in 2019, I visited Utah to experience some early winter landscapes. I wasn’t looking for anything specific – my desire then was to enjoy being out there. I went galavanting around the state with a friend from Salt Lake City.
We are both shoot-from-the-hip photographers: we don’t spend hours planning for a sunrise or a sunset. Maybe because I was a reporter for most of my life, I instinctively know what’s important when I see it. Not surprisingly, we spent much time crisscrossing the vast regions around Salt Lake City, including the Salt Flats. On one of our drives, we were caught in a snowstorm in Antelope Islands.
The snowstorm was intense, and it very quickly blanketed the entire region. As the storm passed, the sky and the clouds had this wonderful marriage of dark skies lit up by the reflected light from the snow. It had an otherworldly feel, and I sat there enjoying what was unfolding in front of me.
Everywhere I looked, there were all sorts of lines, shapes, and colors. White, grey, blue, and of course, even more shades of white. The roads peaked out from the under the snow. However, I marveled at the sage brushes and other foliage forcing its way out from under the fresh snow. Their golden hues stood in sharp contrast to the pristine snow.
It was a gift from mother nature – the sky, snow, and golden streaks of grass all aligned to produce one of the most beautiful winter scenes I had witnessed. Such moments of fleeting beauty and peace are why I find photography so rewarding. Very quickly, I started exploring the scene with my lens.
Unlike many photographers who need to process their images quickly, I prefer to bask in the memory of the moment. I leave my photos in the archives for months, only returning when inspiration strikes again. As I have started finding a clear voice for my images, it is now easier to revisit my photo archives and look at the old images with fresh eyes. The clarity of my visual voice allows me to find the feeling of that moment when I pressed the shutter on my camera. I like how this set of four images has come together. It perfectly highlights the whiteness of the snow, the blue grays of the distant water, the grays of the mountain, and the golden brown hues of the glasses juxtaposed against the brooding skies.
I am very excited to share the results. I hope they bring a moment of visual calm to your day!
March 14, 2023. San Francisco
I am not sure why, but I especially like i-GSKxCz3-X3.jpg. Is is this one available for purchase? I have a fairly nice Canon large format photo printer, so I would be able to print it myself if that is acceptable.
Thank you,
Roane