Snowliage

Usually, it’s one season or another. I can be photographing in the fall, winter, spring, or summer.

But when I’m very lucky, two adjacent seasons collide. And when they do, the transitions are oftentimes visually compelling.

When fall and winter merge, California landscape photographer Michael Castaneda calls it “snowliage.” The combination of fresh snow and colorful fall foliage is a photographer’s delight.

The Shot

I just returned from a fall photography trip to Alaska. While we didn’t expect snow, it’s always a possibility in the far North.

Our first few days were bleak with overcast skies and intermittent rain. On September 11, while driving to Talkeetna, the rain occasionally turned to snow.

As we drove, we were looking for repeating layers of trees separated by the snow. Finally, enough layers appeared on a short stretch of the highway with suitable foreground trees mixed with fall colors.

We piled out of our vehicle to quickly photograph the scene. Selecting a slow shutter speed caused the snow to streak, an effect that seemed to bring life to the snowstorm. And the snow perfectly complimented the fall colors. It was the best of both seasons.

Just as quickly as the layers appeared, they disappeared when heavier snow caused distant layers to disappear. And when the snow lessened, we lost the separation between the layers.

I’ll be taking the next two weeks off, so the next Friday Photo will be October 18.

Thanks for looking,

Chuck Derus Zenfolio | Chuck Derus