Photos of the Transition Between Fall and Winter

I love this time of year when everything is transitioning from fall to winter. It's one of those times of year that we don't get outside, because usually we think of the weather as dreadful. But if you stay inside, you won't witness one of nature’s great feats, which is the changing of water from liquid to solid, from flowing to static.

It's seldom that we get to see liquids turn to solids in front of our eyes, but on cold mornings I've watched ice crystals form and open water turn to slush.

How amazing is it to be able to witness such things?

Take as an example, the above shot of a river that is half brown slush, part white snow and part open water. Later in the winter, this will be a solid sheet of ice. Now, we get to witness the tannins in the water turning slush golden brown. That contrast is unique to the transition from fall to winter. Earlier in the year, it is just flowing water. Later in the year, the slush disappears to be replaced with a solid sheet of ice covered with white snow. In spring, the slush doesn’t come back. This is the time to see it!

This is also the time of year when the snow that does fall is sticky. It’s sticky enough to create snowpeople. In many cases, adults will create these just as often as kids. It’s like the early snow brings out the child in us.

It’s that child in us that is important. Because if we approach the world without any preconceived notions or knowledge, we never know what we might discover and then photograph.

Viewing the world through a child’s lens may allow you to notice all the crazy ice formations along the side of a waterfall instead of just looking at the entire waterfall. Maybe you’ll wonder how they were formed.

This time of year is also the time of easy sunrises and sunsets. The sun comes up late and sets before dinner. If the water isn’t frozen near where you live, it’s also the time of year when in the morning the water steams. This steam makes for dreamy seascape photos.

Don’t forget to head away from the water in areas with fresh snow that sticks to trees. When the sun hits that snow, the snow turns golden and in photos makes the sun feel warm. No other photos can make the sun feel as warm as those photos with sticky, fresh snow.

Even on overcast days, the early winter snow spruces up the place.

And the textures and colors found in fresh ice. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like waking up to a car covered in frost, or frosty windows or puddles frozen over night. You never know what you are going to find when you approach the fresh ice with the eyes of a child.

Take the following three photos as examples. The first is a red leaf caught in fresh black ice. The next are patterns that froze into a puddle and the last is the rainbow colors of ice birefringence.

You won’t see these subjects nor will you be able to photograph them unless you embrace the transition time of fall to winter. Everything always changes and during this time, you can witness those changes as they happen. Get outside and play in the early winter like a child playing in fresh snow.

Don’t let the time get away.

Until next time

I hope you enjoyed this issue. Before I let you go here’s some shameless self promo.

With winter on its way, consider heading up to the north shore of Lake Superior during the best time of year…WINTER. My Winter Photography Workshop still has a few spaces. During this workshop, you’ll learn about filters, composition, staying warm in winter and how to use your camera to best capture stunning sunrises and sunsets over Lake Superior. The next photo is a photo of one of the sunrises that we had last year.

Also, pick up my 2024 Northern Landscape Calendar at Lulu. Here’s what a customer recently wrote me about this year’s calendar, “I have been ordering your calendars thru Lulu for the past couple of years.  We just received the 2024 calendar and both of us separately said "WOW" when we were leafing through it.  You really hit it out of the ball park this year!”

I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’ll see you again in two weeks. After that, I’m heading back to Death Valley before settling in for a winter of photography along Lake Superior. There’s no other place I’d rather be in winter than photographing Lake Superior.