Photo of the Week – March 8, 2019

Well, winter seems perfectly content to stick around for a while longer yet. Since I’m not aware of anything I can do to influence that, I’m trying to make the best of it. Last weekend, I looked out the window and there were huge fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky, so I decided to run out to our family prairie and see if I could photograph a grassland scene with those big flakes. I grabbed my coveralls, and about 20 minutes later drove through the gate of our prairie. I spotted a scene that looked worth photographing and snapped a few shots of it.

As I started looking for the next scene to photograph, the snow suddenly stopped. It seemed dumb to just turn around and head home again, so I stuck around and tried to make something out of the flat light and snow-covered prairie. Under overcast skies, snow tends to look as dull as the light, devoid of texture or shadow. That can make photography tricky, but I decided to just lean into that flat light and treat it like a studio photographer’s white portrait backdrop. I mean, as long as I was standing in 8 inches of snow and 5 degree temperatures, I might as well have a little fun… Here are some of my attempts to make the best of that situation.

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About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land management and restoration work and then share those lessons with other landowners – both private and public. In addition, Chris works to raise awareness about the importance of prairies and their conservation through his writing, photography, and presentations to various groups. Chris is also the author of "The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States", published by the University of Iowa Press. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska with his wife Kim and their children.

8 thoughts on “Photo of the Week – March 8, 2019

  1. Oh Yes, winter snows and the Northwest Wisconsin Sand Barrens also gives us those same beautiful winter contrasts. Beautiful indeed, thanks!

  2. Chris,
    I just subscribed to your website a couple weeks ago (Don’t remember right off hand where I found it.). Your photos show that there is much beauty right here in flyover country. I need to get out into it myself. Thanks.

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