A few weeks ago, when I was in The Netherlands, I was told that in winter everybody can take good pictures. Winter is not quite here yet, but it already has a foot in the doorway. Yesterday I decided to go out, the weather looked foggy and gloomy. By the time I arrived at my chosen destination, the fog had made place for an intermittent drizzle, mixed with some snow.
You’d say that those are not the best conditions for photography. But… you already know that you have to take pictures, come rain or shine. Ok, here was neither, but I still needed to take some pictures.
I have blogged already many times about the cold, the ice and the snow, so I am going to try to lean a little less in that direction this winter. Starting today. Anyway, it was not cold, around zero C (32F) so that was nothing to write home about.
Moody or gloomy?
Last night it was snowing a little, just enough to give the ground a little dusting, most of the grass is still sticking through. Also enough to get the cars slipping and sliding in the streets. Fun to watch, not fun to drive.
In need of some more light
Birds Hill Park was my destination, a place well known to people in Winnipeg as well as to people reading this blog regularly. I think the picture above could have benefited from some flash I didn’t have with me. Or, to be honest, I didn’t think about that flash until I came home and looked at this picture on my monitors. Next time…
Classic winter horizon shot
The snow had this Hollywood-like quality, from a Hollywood type of climate, too. It looked more like some kind of foam made to look like snow, clinging to everything and finally dripping on the ground. Like I said, the temperature was around zero and rising a bit. From far away, still nice to shoot, not so fun to walk in. My feet were soaked through my shoes.
Grilling shelter
The once busy shelters for barbecuing were now empty and cold. No use in going there, shooting them from far away is way more interesting. The colour of the grass poking through the snow makes the picture come alive a little, even if that grass is long dead 
.
Tall and proud
In a few weeks, all this will be coated in an even white coat, a few feet high and hardly as photogenic. By then, the deer and the coyotes will leave deep tracks in the snow. For now they can still hide without being tracked down. Hunting is forbidden in Birds Hill Park, but there are rumours of a pair of wolves living and hunting here. How far away this is from the truth, I don’t know. I haven’t heard any wolves howl.
Summer kitchen in a winter coat
The Kudlovich Homestead is still in the same place, of course. Although there seem to have been some minor alterations to the summer kitchen. Now you can go in and have a look. Not that there is much to see, just a few metal remnants of some farming equipment. The chicken coop just outside the building looks like the chickens got enraged and escaped (Chicken Run, anyone?).
The path to nowhere
On my way back to the car I shot this last picture, kind of interesting with the path disappearing near the horizon. If the pictures of this post look a bit dark, then that is what it was: dark and gloomy. Definitely not a day for walking around and thinking happy thoughts.
Good thing I was only taking pictures, eh?
Until next time…