I was at the surf line with the Z 9 / 800AFS photographing the American Avocets in the surf and the Black Skimmers feeding right in front of us. To the east we saw the nasty storm that had formed up and was coming our way. The light had gotten real sour, the birds moving away so I started to search with my eyes for the light if there was any. As I spun I had done a complete 180 when I saw behind us, behind the truck, off in the dunes this lone cross. Behind it, a light under menacing clouds. At first I shook off the thought of going for a photo. I was here for critters and I knew that giving them a few moments, they would be back. But the light was in a different direction. I didn’t want to make the walk, get another camera dirty but the light, it ate away at me. After a few minutes I headed for the light. I grabbed the Z 30 / Z16-50 out of the truck and headed over the dune. I no sooner than crossed the small rise when I saw a cloud of bugs come up to greet me. The light was pulling at me so I made the click. That’s when I noticed I was covered, covered with mosquitoes. I ran back to the safety of the beach wiping them off. Then I looked at the photo, one of the finest landscapes I’ve made in a long time. As I madly scratch the tens of bites on my legs and hands this morning, I know I need to make some mental changes towards some photos. The cause your find ’em in the darnedest places!

When to use B&W, that’s a great question that is asked so often. In the most technical sense, you need a clean black and a clean white as the starting point to a successful B&W print. The print only comes from time in the field with a camera. In this pursuit, the white is the harder of the two to find. But not in winter as much as snow in the right region abounds. We often though want to bring “warmth” to the winter scene. The juxtaposition easily works within the bounds of the viewfinder. This mean typically a color versus a B&W photo. On the other hand the drama and romance that B&W brings to a snowed covered landscape can tell a more powerful story. This brings us back to the question, when to shoot B&W? I’m so confused … not really but then I live in snow country and I think that’s the key. Not living in snow but rather your emotional response to snow, snow covered landscape, cold and telling its story visually. The one time I know I’ll go B&W is when the drama in the sky screams snow storm coming! The white of the snow against that landscape is power and that power comes out dramatically in B&W. But with all of this said, it still begs the question, B&W a natural for snow?

Yellowstone in winter is spectacular, and the new North Entrance road provides grand perches to take it all in! I just love the new road (the old road is at the bottom of the image) and they built some pullouts with me in mind it would seem. The storm was just on its way out when we pulled over bringing more drama to an already perfect location. It’s just wow, the view is grand!