Our Sledding Hill and the Blues, Greys, and Whites of Winter

Yesterday morning as I drove by our sledding hill, I decided that I really should take a picture of it one of these days; later in the morning I decided that there was no better time than the present!

The sun was still mostly behind the eastern mountain when I got started, and then all at once it popped out…just in time to be covered up by a cloud.

I took advantage of that one minute of sunlight though, and captured the sunlight playing in the snow.


We haven't gone sledding there for a bit; we need to remedy that! In the spring, when the snow melts and runs down from the mountains, the valleys of this area will be covered in water. My kids have gone and waded in that water in the spring. Many kids who have 4 wheelers love to drive up and over these hills come summertime. This area is all-purpose, year long fun!

Because I have two pictures that are relatively the same except one has the minute-long-sunlight, I thought I'd show them both to you to show how lighting makes all the difference.

This one was with the sun behind the mountain/cloud:


And this one had the sunlight:




The picture without the sunlight looks okay, but the one with the sunlight makes the scene look more playful and sets the stage for the mood I was looking for in shooting our sledding hill. Also, if you look closer, you'll notice that the second pic that has the sunlight also looks more 3-d than the other one, since light areas and shadowed areas add depth.

And this was another view from the same area. I love the greys, blues, and whites of winter. I like the moodiness of winter, and especially the moodiness of the mountains in winter. So for this picture, since I'm trying to convey that moodiness to my viewers, the lack of happy sunshine is a good thing.I've wanted to capture that mood on film for awhile now. I plan to make this one into a print. I'll let you know how that turns out. :)



The lighting that you choose for your picture will change the mood a ton, whether you want your picture to show the happy, sunlit hills that you and your kids play on, or the moody, gloomy mountains on a grey winter's day.

Make it a great day! ;)