it was a cold one but this one was just a premonition of what was going to come a week later and stay with us for about two weeks. my destination was savanna portage state park. there was no agenda for what images to make. to be honest, outside of where i decide to go, i often have no preconceived vision in mind. all i knew was that it was my first time shooting landscapes with my new fujifilm x-t3. i had done some cityscapes the weekend before; now it was time to test it out in the "wild".
i pulled into the state park around 6:45 pm. i was all alone. i made my way down the road toward lake shumway where it ends in a round-a-bout. i checked the temp on my gauge. it was a measly minus 7 degrees. we minnesotans eat that for breakfast. with my winter clothing and base layers, i was toasty warm except for my face. fortunately there was no wind; only the still cold.
for the next few hours, i reveled in the quietness and expanse of my surroundings. with no one around, there was no need to hurry or be aware of social distancing or anything that fought for my attention. all my focus and energy was directed toward enjoying the pristine world of snow, landscape, sky and stars. all the world was a stage and i was the sole actor.
the snow was fresh and deep. this first image found me at least knee deep in snow. i love how this scene has the snow mimicking the stars. it's as if the twinkling stars in the sky and the glistening snow covering the land are competing. "look at me!" "no, look at me!" it is hard to portray that as a singular moment in time as this image is but i feel that you can get the idea. throughout the snow and especially in the shadows of the trees, you can see the twinkles. both sky and land, on this night, offered up a brilliant display of their "jewels".
as i was leaving the state park, i saw the big dipper and pulled over to the side of the road. i just stood there for a bit and enjoyed the view. i made this image of myself looking up at the big dipper, headlamp glowing in the night as it was a dark night indeed.
finally, i wrapped up my performance and thanked the world for being such a great audience to photograph that night. i started the long drive back, tired but elated at the time i had in a winter wonderland.
i hope you were able to sense the excitement of that night that i experienced. i'd love to hear any comments/questions/feedbacks regarding this blog and the images that you may have. if it triggered something else, maybe a memory of a special day or night you had at some point, share that here! i read all comments and respond to every one of them.
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i'll be back soon with more "images from a quiet world"!