Two faces of winter
There are plenty of people who don’t like winter, but I certainly do not count myself among them. As a matter of fact, proper winter weather makes me feel more connected to nature, because it forces me to think more about all of its elements affecting my body. Hikes take more planning and preparation, since cold air and freezing water tend to be unforgiving if you underestimate them. Low temperatures, short days and general lack of light make even photography fairly difficult. However, once you overcome these challenges, the results could be pretty awesome. And although there are many beautiful things about winter, in this post I would like to show the two of its faces, which I like the most as a photographer.
“Mystic woods”
As a guy living in a city I know, that inversion might make the air awful to breath and the grey overcast sky serves as a gateway for depression. However, that is not all. In fact, weather like this might also create spectacular photographic conditions. For example, it can wrap the woods in a dense fog in which everything looks soft, mysterious or even a bit sinister. Another cool thing about this kind of weather is, that unlike regular fog, it usually lasts all day long. Therefore you don’t need to get up too early in the morning to catch it.
In December I took advantage of such a weather and set off to explore woods near small village called Kuklov. It lies within the landscape park Blanský les, which covers many beautiful and still almost wild places. Just couple hundred metres from the village you can find the ruin of an old castle Kuklov (or Kugelweid in German) from 14th century. Well, as it is with many of these very old ruins, there is not much to show, that there really used to be a mighty fortress. But you can still find some clues of its former presence scattered around. The most pronounced piece of evidence I could see was a line of stones - the foundation of former wall.
But mostly the whole place was taken over by nature, which provides a perfect opportunity to wander around. And that is why I spent couple of hours strolling aimlessly in the woods, which looked almost absent of any life. From photographic stand point, the misty woods just look great and even otherwise a fairly dull scene can become outstanding just by adding some fog.
“Frozen hell”
On the other side of imaginary spectrum, there is what we could call the frozen hell. Chilling air with almost crunchy feeling in mouth and slowly cracking ice laying still on water surface. What a bliss! And the pictures look almost always so crisp! On the other hand, the white snow and usually super bright sky can pose some challenges with proper exposure. So it is usually worth it to wait for the golden or blue hour. However, if the sky is overcast, it doesn’t really matter.
I had the opportunity to experience these conditions together with my wife on Olšina nature trail around the highest situated pond in Czechia, which is used for fish farming. The pond is almost on the border of military district Boletice and is surrounded by unspoiled woods.
The 7 km long and rather easy trail around the pond is well maintained and marked. You can even find there some cool things to play , such as this chain operated pontoon. Let me tell you, that using it the get on the nearby can be pretty thrilling, when you carry expensive camera and the water is freezing cold.
And what is your favorite “face of winter” to photograph? Let me know in the comments.
