Winter is here. The days are shorter, the temperature is getting lower, the frost is coming…and maybe some snow too (doubtful in this part of the country, but we hold out hope!). For me, above all else, winter screams Mood. And I love a bit of mood, even if sometimes it can feel like staying at home in bed would be the better option.
I do enjoy photography in challenging conditions. Well, when I say challenging, I mean in the East Kent sense. Wind, rain, freezing (-ish) temperatures…it can make for hard work, but it can also make for great opportunities. Dark clouds, big waves, ice cold rain…all can help make for really moody, atmospheric images.
Of course, I often feel like I’ve made a big mistake when I go out in those conditions. Why on earth didn’t I stay home, make a cup of tea and chill at home? But then sometimes you get home after a trip, fire up Lightroom and see why it was worth getting out there (let’s face it, it’s always worth getting out there…you just need to force yourself sometimes). And then there’s the other added bonus…you usually find you are the only person who was daft enough to get up and out with a bag full of camera gear to take some shots.
We’ve all been there. We head to a popular location, excited about the potential for sunrise, only to find another four or five photographers already on the scene. DAMMIT. WHY COULDN’T I HAVE THIS BEACH ALL TO MYSELF? It’s hard not to full into that trap of entitlement. Of believing that beach is really your beach, your scene and features your composition. It’s nothing of the sort, of course. You don’t own it. (Although some photographers do seem to believe that they do own a scene…see my previous post.)
Now I don’t think by any stretch I have nailed photography in challenging, wintery conditions. But it doesn’t matter. I feel like nothing really hones your skills like battling against wind, rain and freezing fingers just to get a shot on some beach somewhere. You have to work fast, you have to concentrate, you have to keep your gear as protected as possible (I often forget the last big, even despite having rain protective covers and microfibre cloths in my bag) and you have to keep an eye on those conditions in case they take a turn for the worst. Often times to me, shooting in those conditions feels like a workout. Short of breath, cold and wet…carrying a big camera bag on top of all that can really test your stamina. And again, that’s when your mind drifts back to “what if I stayed in bed?”.
But the drama. That DRAMA. And 99% of the time you know you were the only person who captured those dark clouds rolling in, the rain pouring down, the mighty waves crashing down onto the shore. I feel it. I feel the need to get out there and get those shots. Sure, autumn is beautiful. Spring is a much welcome splash of colour and promise of warmer (and longer) days ahead, but winter? Give me those big coats, woolly hats, cold hands, wind whipped face, soaked to the skin, short of breath, dramatic, dark and wintery days. Give me those challenging conditions that make you question why you even do this. And then realise the answer is right there in front of you. That is why you do this.
