My Favourite Image Yet.

Stone Cold

I shot this image last week during the midst of a snowstorm in the UK. It was the most snow we had seen for over a decade, and despite the cold, I jumped at the opportunity to get outside with my camera.

I've been a photographer almost a quarter of my life, having said that - this was the first time I had ever been out to shoot in such extreme weather conditions. I was up to my knees in show, in a field miles from civilisation in a rural part of Devon.

In my opinion, of the greatest things about landscape & nature photography is that it gives you the ability to get away from the digital noise of modern life; to reconnect with nature. To get away from the soup of electromagnetism all around us and reconnect with that natural frequency of the Earth. It is quite therapeutic. This, however, took it to the extreme - almost the exact opposite, in fact. The juxtaposition on my usual workflow was crazy!

I had never experienced such adrenaline from landscape photography.

Usually when I shoot I sit there basking in the golden sunlight in the early hours of the morning or evening, however, when you are faced with the task of shooting in a blizzard, the whole concept of relaxing and taking in your surroundings ceases to exist, as you battle the elements of wind and snow - trying not to freeze to death whilst keeping your lens clean! My feet were soaking wet and numb, snow was nearly blinding me. There were miniature tornadoes spinning around the field, whipping up the powder as I was framing, re-adjusting and getting my settings and focus just right. It was a challenge to say the least.

Having said that, it was a fantastic change for me, as I mentioned I usually adopt a much more slowed-down shooting style, where I am able to enjoy the scenery, and I think this change in my workflow is one of the reasons I love this image so much. It really inspires me to just get out and shoot in any weather conditions, because the results can be very surprising. This image is my best example that you do not need to work in 'golden hour' to produce great imagery.

Settings & Gear Used:

Thank you for taking the time to read about my frozen adventure! Please do follow for more content as I will be posting much more frequently as we approach Spring/Summer.

Happy Sunday everybody :)

-Alex Sydenham