Snowflakes:
It’s finally that time of year when most places have snow! I love taking macro photos of snowflakes. To do this I put on mittens or bring out a sweater and then try to catch the snowflakes. Sometimes the snow is mostly ice, or it’s too warm and melts quickly. I find that those really delicate individual snowflakes are the best if they don’t blow away and you can get the right angle. I find that shooting in f/5-f/8 is the best aperture. That way you can see the full flake. It’s also helpful to get a dark background. I use a pine tree often, as those dark branches help to separate from the snowflake. If you have a macro lens that will work, but I don’t own a macro lens. So, I use extension tubes. This is a much cheaper option than going with a macro lens. It takes some getting used to, but I find it works well.
Urban Settings:
The trees are dead and the landscapes are stark in the winter. I find that this is the perfect time to shoot in city settings. You don’t need the tallest buildings. If your town has a square that would work too! Winter is a great time to practice street photography. Photographing in downtown Columbus, Indiana helps me to look for new textures and locations. Indianapolis has lots of interesting areas as well!
Ice:
Ice is perhaps my favorite thing to photograph. I love adding cool tones to the ice, especially in addition to warm light. Ice is very interesting, and can come in many forms. See my examples for frozen bubbles, tire tracks in ice, broken ice, leaves frozen in puddles and frost.
Indoor Portraits:
It’s too cold outside to get those beautiful backlit photos! So take it inside and practice with natural light or off camera flash.
Seasonal traditions:
This time of year, if it snows I know I will always have snowmen and hot chocolate to photograph! Christmas is during the winter, so document those lights and the tree and all the festivities. Also, by Valentines day it’s still winter. So you can incorporate those themes in to your photography as well.
Thanks for reading.