And the snow came...again

  Well, the forecasts were right. Along with strong winds we have had an overnight fall of snow which has found us blocked in. No chance of driving anywhere today so it was a case of walking around the local vicinity. Mind you, it did look rather different with the snow banked up againt the walls and filling the lanes. The spindrift swirled around any obstacle forming neat shapes on the leeward side.

Sleightholme Lane.

Beyond this point there are three dwellings, no chance of them driving along here today. The lane was completely filled in for the next 500m. The form of the snow was quite graceful in shape.

The Winter Wall.

 This wall leads towards West Plantation. To get here we had to cross fields where the snow had been almost blown clear. As a consequence of the wind the banks of snow reached many wall tops forming deep drifts. It was dramatic and picturesque but a harsh environment. Soon it was back to the house and the warmth.

Local wandering in the snow.

 I'm just so busy in the studio at this time thgat today I only ventured out locally with the dogs. As ever, the camera was to hand and my eye was on the lookout for anything like a decent shot. As you can see, the snow hasn't even thawed slightly, if anything we had another dusting overnight.
 Now I admit, not every trip out will result in a brilliant photograph but if you don't practise the looking for that special shot then I believe you will never improve your work.
 Here's the two shots that I came back with.

Retired for Winter.

 I pass by this old machine regularly on my walks, most times it doesn't warrant a second look but today my attention was drawn to the contrast between the white snow and thew black barn wall. The contrasting patterns of the corrugated iron and the machine added to the shot.

Roots.

 In West Plantation there is a great mixture of trees, from very old Scots Pines to wonderful mature Beech trees like this one. The blown snow gave a form to the roots and the colour of the lichen on the trunk really enhanced the frame. It was only when I got home and downloaded the shot that I noticed that fallen branch on the right. We had some discussion on my Facebook page as to whether the branch was a good or bad inclusion in the shot....the branch stays.

A Little bit Abstract

 With the bleakness of the current spell of weather I had to be a bit inventive with a subject for a reasonable photograph today. I only ventured out from the studio a short distance and I recalled the old hedgerow in a nearby field which I had passed by just a few days ago.
 The dogs were happy enough to run through the fields of fresh snow whilst I made my way to the line of trees. I had to be careful to approach the subject from a distance so that the foreground snow remained undisturbed. The object of the exercise was to produce a very stark image in black and white and todays conditions seemed to be almost perfect. Here is the result.

Treeline.

The image has had very little editing done to it. Converting to black and white was the main task which rendered the foreground completely white. The only other real work was to remove the top of a distant telegraph pole inbetween two if the trees. I'm rather pleased with the result.