beaudodson
EF5
September 1, 2007
Winter Storm Chase Season Begins...Canada/United States
Fall is almost here and that means that Winter Storm Chase Season will soon begin! I am already looking forward to an active season. Current plans are to photograph New England Snowstorms, during January and February - see "Upcoming Events Section" of my blog. I will be staging in Boston for what will hopefully be an eventful season. I am also hoping to photograph a Northern or Central Plains blizzard. I will be in Quebec City to photograph the Ice Hotel during the Winter Carnival, which will be held in February. Something new this year will be live blogging - onto my new site. I am also planning on using video for the first time.
So let's ALL HOPE FOR AN AMAZING (and early) WINTER AHEAD! Let the games begin!
Some highlights from the last couple of years.
My journal entry from December 28, 2006.
I parked my car, got out, and looked around. I was in awe at the size of the wet snowflakes falling from above. They reminded me of one of Walt Disney's creations...a tapestry come to life. A world of make believe. But this wasn't make believe...this was real. The air was full of silence. The only sounds filtering through this quiet mountain town was the hushed sound of snowflakes hitting the ground - a testimony to just how large the flakes were. I could hear myself breathing...wisps of "fog" streaming into the air as I exhaled into the cold. Occasionally the winter silence would be broken by a branch snapping under the weight of the heavy snow. Was I actually standing here...all alone - in the midst of one of the most beautiful winter landscapes I have ever experienced?
The trees appeared to have been decorated by an invisible hand. Garlands of white, laced each drooping branch. It was as if the town had been decorated for the holiday season. Beautiful mounds of white could be seen sliding down the windshields of the vehicles parked alongside the roadway. Attesting to how wet the snow was. I laughed as I looked around and thought "this is what the world would look like if a gigantic shaving cream can exploded."
The crunching of the snow, under my boots, rekindled memories from my childhood. Those cold winter nights walking to my grandmothers house on the family farm. The winter landscape illuminated only by the moonlit cirrus sky and grandmothers porch light...casting a golden glow across the snow to light my path along the way. Crunch...crunch...crunch - I would hurry along - coyotes howling from the back fields. In my mind I always imagined them closer than they actually were. I would hurry into her house...removing my coat, scarf, and gloves I headed straight for her wood stove - full of burning logs that we had cut earlier in the year. I would warm my hands from the rising heat. Meanwhile, grandmother would grab the pop-corn popper - a metal pan with a long handle. The lid would slide open and we would pour in the popcorn...in a matter of minutes popping noises filled the little room in the middle of her house.
It seems like those memories were from just yesterday...but they were many years ago. Now here I am in Boulder, Colorado. Standing in the midst of another winter storm. I remind myself, as I often do, that life is short. Winters are even shorter. Enjoy the moment...and so I do.
Brrr a cold wind smacks me in the face. I looked around once again. The scene before me was one straight out of Charles Dickens Tale. Heavy wet snow blanketed me. I stood there for a few more moments, I was lost in a daydream. Mesmerized by the snow. I almost forgot to push the shutter button. After all that is why I came to Boulder. To photograph this snowstorm. This one moment in time.
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Paducah, Kentucky - Ohio Valley Blizzard 2004
Boulder, Colorado 2006
Peoria, Illinois - Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Winter Storm 2006
Boulder, Colorado - Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Near Blizzard 2006
Colorado Snowstorms 2006
Boulder, Colorado Wet Snow Event 2006
Denver Post - December 2006
Evergreen, Colorado Winter Storm 2006
More photographs, of my recent chases, can be viewed here on my photography site.
You can also read analysis of recent events at this location.
Winter Storm Chase Season Begins...Canada/United States
Fall is almost here and that means that Winter Storm Chase Season will soon begin! I am already looking forward to an active season. Current plans are to photograph New England Snowstorms, during January and February - see "Upcoming Events Section" of my blog. I will be staging in Boston for what will hopefully be an eventful season. I am also hoping to photograph a Northern or Central Plains blizzard. I will be in Quebec City to photograph the Ice Hotel during the Winter Carnival, which will be held in February. Something new this year will be live blogging - onto my new site. I am also planning on using video for the first time.
So let's ALL HOPE FOR AN AMAZING (and early) WINTER AHEAD! Let the games begin!
Some highlights from the last couple of years.
My journal entry from December 28, 2006.
I parked my car, got out, and looked around. I was in awe at the size of the wet snowflakes falling from above. They reminded me of one of Walt Disney's creations...a tapestry come to life. A world of make believe. But this wasn't make believe...this was real. The air was full of silence. The only sounds filtering through this quiet mountain town was the hushed sound of snowflakes hitting the ground - a testimony to just how large the flakes were. I could hear myself breathing...wisps of "fog" streaming into the air as I exhaled into the cold. Occasionally the winter silence would be broken by a branch snapping under the weight of the heavy snow. Was I actually standing here...all alone - in the midst of one of the most beautiful winter landscapes I have ever experienced?
The trees appeared to have been decorated by an invisible hand. Garlands of white, laced each drooping branch. It was as if the town had been decorated for the holiday season. Beautiful mounds of white could be seen sliding down the windshields of the vehicles parked alongside the roadway. Attesting to how wet the snow was. I laughed as I looked around and thought "this is what the world would look like if a gigantic shaving cream can exploded."
The crunching of the snow, under my boots, rekindled memories from my childhood. Those cold winter nights walking to my grandmothers house on the family farm. The winter landscape illuminated only by the moonlit cirrus sky and grandmothers porch light...casting a golden glow across the snow to light my path along the way. Crunch...crunch...crunch - I would hurry along - coyotes howling from the back fields. In my mind I always imagined them closer than they actually were. I would hurry into her house...removing my coat, scarf, and gloves I headed straight for her wood stove - full of burning logs that we had cut earlier in the year. I would warm my hands from the rising heat. Meanwhile, grandmother would grab the pop-corn popper - a metal pan with a long handle. The lid would slide open and we would pour in the popcorn...in a matter of minutes popping noises filled the little room in the middle of her house.
It seems like those memories were from just yesterday...but they were many years ago. Now here I am in Boulder, Colorado. Standing in the midst of another winter storm. I remind myself, as I often do, that life is short. Winters are even shorter. Enjoy the moment...and so I do.
Brrr a cold wind smacks me in the face. I looked around once again. The scene before me was one straight out of Charles Dickens Tale. Heavy wet snow blanketed me. I stood there for a few more moments, I was lost in a daydream. Mesmerized by the snow. I almost forgot to push the shutter button. After all that is why I came to Boulder. To photograph this snowstorm. This one moment in time.
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Boston, Massachusetts - Nor'easter 2003
Paducah, Kentucky - Ohio Valley Blizzard 2004
Boulder, Colorado 2006
Peoria, Illinois - Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Winter Storm 2006
Boulder, Colorado - Winter Storm 2006
Peoria, Illinois Near Blizzard 2006
Colorado Snowstorms 2006
Boulder, Colorado Wet Snow Event 2006
Denver Post - December 2006
Evergreen, Colorado Winter Storm 2006
More photographs, of my recent chases, can be viewed here on my photography site.
You can also read analysis of recent events at this location.