We have a wonderful view of a wooded ravine in our backyard.  Every season has its special treat.  Last week we experienced a fairly heavy snowstorm and I just happened to be at home.  I took numerous images throughout the storm of our backyard: changing lenses, setting up some for HDR, some using manual exposure, and often trying different vantage points.  Here is one example taken during the storm:

What attracted me to the above image was the triangles suggested by the tree trunks and the small branches with about an inch of snow added to the effect.  This is right outside my living room and I look at this view daily.  I have to admit that I have never viewed this type of pattern before....truly a rare view.

I loved how the snow clung to the upper part of the small branches while the snow was falling and what unique patterns it was making.  I also knew that this would only last for a short period of time so I continued to take photos focusing in on the snow upon the small branches.  

The next image is a view from my dining room.  I rarely look that way, but today was special.  The light, the snow, and the tiny branches all worked together to form some very interesting and ephemeral patterns.  It didn't take long for the wind to start blowing and the exquisite patterns were gone.

Later that evening, I even stylized some of my images while I was playing around with filters.  The next image takes the above image and then uses the simplify filter in Topaz to create this effect.

A couple of days after the storm, I became intrigued with the whiteness and the purity of the snow.  The snow on top of the small branches was blown away and much of the snow on the evergreens was gone as well.  I decided to explore the color, white.  What could white look like while using my manual exposure settings, watching the histogram carefully, and using my new 24 to 70, f 2.8.

The first example was taken in the afternoon on a cold day, with lots of sun and blue skies.  I zeroed in on just capturing the snow and the pattern of one set of footprints.

PAD Feb 2 Snow using manual mode and 24 to 70 11 lens I can feel the coldness of the snow when I look at this picture.  The snow looks so perfect that It actually sends a shiver through me when I view the image in the warmth of my home.  It looks like perfect snow.  It's so satisfying when the resulting image matches with your intent of self-expression.

This image has absolutely no post processing. It's taken as is with manual exposure, a selected autofocus point off-center, and my 24 to 70 lens.  Manual exposure was set to +1 and the histogram when viewed was biased to the right.  I wanted to capture my vision without using any post-processing, kind of a throw back to the days of colored film.

Another image that I captured was the snow on the descending steps of our deck.  The lighting was later in the afternoon and there was a bit of a twinkle in the snow, almost like microscopic prisms.  Although the color of the prisms didn't emerge in the photo, the snow took on a more "flaky" affect especially in the foreground.  Again, this image had no post-processing.  It was shown "as is"

PAD Feb 2 Snow off of steps using manual and 24 to 70 11 It was fun to take various kinds of photos during the snowstorm and of the pristine snow a few days afterwards.  As I took various images in a variety of ways, one of my key learnings was to also include some manual exposure shots.  In manual exposure, I was concentrating on getting the purest whites possible without blowing out any highlights.