“It is by acts and not by ideas that people live.”

• Anatole France

So the weather is cold and I promise when I say this, that I Love it when it is warm out. I do not complain in the heat! I tend to go out and do more as it warms up, like really warm.  So in Illinois we had like all 4 seasons in just a few days and because of the torrential downpour we had, we end up with these silvery ice pools in the snow. I only had a few minutes of this before the light changed. This is why you have to know your equipment. You need to understand what happens when you shoot into the the sun and how it makes a difference in the photograph as a result. Meaning set the camera one way and it will under expose the foreground give you a perfect exposure of the sun and clouds around it. Set the exposure the other way and it will expose the foreground well and over expose the sun and clouds. The right exposure in the software or “darkroom” and it all works out.

I am going to have to start traveling out a little farther and preparing a little more. Of course this cold weather is not going to end anytime soon and I have taken more snow photos this year than in all my previous years I think. It is hard to get outside shots with people in this weather. I did convince some friends of mine to trudge through the snow on Valentines aka “schmoopy” day.  They were in their pajamas when I called them to do lovers in the moonlight for me. The muse is a strange thing. I have struggled some days trying to figure out what to take and some days it just comes easy.

I am longing for flowers and green grass and trees that look alive. There is something about the color of light this time of year though, golden and at times full of color. I have seen sunrises or sunsets so brilliant and colorful change to gray in mere minutes with no time to get to a location and capture it. The point is I think is to get better prepared and to hope soon I can get out with some people and some nice scenery. Enjoy!