Here’s the truth to these classic New England scenes. They aren’t ever truly perfect. Photography in winter, like any season, is finding the best conditions possible, and making them work for the scene.

When you arrive at your nearly perfect scene, the challenge becomes not screwing it up while scouting it. It’s different than in summer, in summer you can walk almost anywhere without leaving much of a trace. Winter records your every move. Move into a scene too fast, want to move back, your shot has a trace of you in it. It’s no longer pristine. No longer perfect.

I tend to work a winter scene in large arcs. Finding every distant angle for a shot before exploring in closer. I make sure that everyone else in my party is done with a scene before moving in, just as a courtesy. I creep inwards methodically, exploring any opportunity for a composition. Winter shooting takes patience. There is no eraser. And when I’m done, all to often, so is the perfect scene. Winter’s beauty is fleeting…

And thus I present this morning’s scene in three acts. The wide scouting arc. The scene. The aftermath.

Scouting the Scene on the Riverbank...

The Scene...Hoar Frost on the Lamprey River

The Aftermath...