Under Your Feet: Abstract Winter Macro Photography

Hello all! I hope this post finds you well. Like I discussed in this post last year, winter nature photography can be difficult. I mean, who really wants to go outside when it's cold, right? Well, I hope to convince you that there are lots of great reasons to try macro photography in the winter.

Searching for Patterns

Snow and ice add interesting detail to nature. However, instead of always choosing to compose a typical winter landscape blanketed in snow, try focusing in on abstract patterns created by this strange precipitation.

The photo above is of an oak tree, frosted with snow. By zooming in on familiar objects, foreign and unusual topographies are revealed. This, of course, is the quest of the macro photographer - but you don't need a macro lens to achieve this. This photo above was taken with a standard kit lens, for example.

Ice Worship

I prefer ice to snow for winter macros. While snow covers detail, ice often accentuates it, creating strange bubbles and patterns on top of boring objects.

The way the ice emphasized the outlines of these twigs turns an utterly unremarkable composition into an intriguing image. 

Similarly here. The gravel peeking up above the ice layer adds another element of depth to the pattern.

Here, the contrast of the green grass with the icy winter feel of the rest of the photograph provides visual interest.

The theme with these winter ice macros is looking down. That is, I walked outside, looked around at my apartment complex in the ice, and then looked at my feet. I realized that I was standing on beautiful macro subjects that I had almost passed by, because I almost didn't look.

So, grab your camera, get outside, and don't forget to look at your feet every once in a while.

What's your favorite winter photography tip? Let me know in the comments!

Want to see more tips? Check back every Friday for a new post. Click here to follow me on Tumblr and here to follow me on Bloglovin! Don't forget you can also use the nifty sidebar to subscribe via email or RSS feed

Winter Blues

Winter is not always kind to the nature photographer. Either the frigid north winds hound us, bringing ice, snow, and difficulties to our craft, or we find ourselves alone, cameras without subjects. Living in the south, it is the latter problem I suffer from. Once spring fades, insects die or hibernate, flowers wither, birds fly south, and mammals seek shelter in their burrows. In short, all of my favorite subjects suddenly turn up missing. So what's a photographer to do?

There are overall three keys to a good photograph: good subject, good composition, and good lighting. In the winter, if you do not have access to dramatic snowscapes, it can be difficult to find a "good" subject. After all, who really wants to take photos of dead leaves? To give some visual CPR to your lifeless subjects, dramatic lighting and sharp compositions are essential.

In both of these examples, dramatic backlighting perks up static images of dead leaves.

Mood is another consideration. Winter swathes everything in a subdued, nearly monochromatic palette. A good photograph might exploit this tone to create evocative works, expressing peace, loneliness, or beauty.

Placed against grayscale backgrounds, even "dull" colors, such as the brown in the above photograph, suddenly become vivid in comparison. The empty seed pod above almost glows with life in relation to the bland background. Again, composition is pivotal here in ensuring the photograph creates impact. The branch leads the viewer's eye upward toward the lone splotch of color in the frame. As a result, movement is created, and even a photograph of a dead plant becomes eye-catching.

Want more tips on composition? Check out my post here for some brief pointers!

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So what do you think? Is it worth it to brave the cold for photographs or is winter better spent hibernating? Let me know in the comments!