I am, above all, a lover of all things warm (with the exception of ice cream and martinis). As such, getting out in the winter to take pictures is a labor of loathing. I’m not the kind of photographer who hikes 50 miles uphill miles through snow and driving wind to get that perfect picture of the south face of Mount Nobodysbeenthere. If I could put a camera turret on in my car that raises up like a periscope and allows for proper aiming, I would do it. I may have just invented something, so don’t tell anyone. Even with such a device, the problem is that my car doesn’t go the places I need it to go.
I own a Prius. I don’t have the ground clearance to get off onto snowy shoulders after the plow has been past. I’ve tried to blast through short snow banks, leaving a trail of car parts on the way. I own a Prius because I want to burn less gas, and pollute less. Otherwise, I would own a 1977 Chevy Suburban with knobby tires and a massive V8 engine that’s simple enough for me to fix on my own. Then I would tell those snow banks where to get off. Until the unlikely event in which I get such a beast, photographing winter will be a white-knuckled, slippy/slidy affair that almost never results in the pictures I want. But…
As with all things in this great, wide world, there are exceptions.
©2017 Gary L. Quay
These are the oft photographed Rowena Loops on the Historic Columbia River Highway. I managed to catch them wit a little “dragon’s breath” on the hill. This is 4 pictures merged into one.
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR
©2014 Gary L. Quay
I took this picture on my way home from The Dalles as February 2014’s Snowmageddon was melting. It’s the first picture I took with the camera I picked up in Breezeway Antiques in The Dalles a few days earlier. I found a mostly pristine 1954 Speed Graphic 4×5 camera with two good lenses (in sticky shutters). There was a 127mm Kodak Ektar, and a 90mm Schneider Angulon with the camera in a press kit case with all of the original equipment still present.
I took a chance and souped this with a developer that I never used before. I used David Vestal’s Divided D76. The negative looked a bit flat coming out of the fixer, but this is the uncorrected scan. Not bad.
Camera: Speed Graphic 4×5.
Lens: 90mm Schneider Angulon.
Film: Kodak T-Max 400 developed in Divided D76.
©2006 Gary L. Quay
I would have hoped for a wider angle lens, but the 150mm was all I had for large format at the time. I came away with this slice out of the midsection of the falls, which showed off the ice nicely.
Camera: Linhof Technica
Lens: 150mm Linhof
Film: Ilford FP4+ developed in Clayton F76+ and printed on Kentmere VC Select FB
Coat: Columbia Sportsware with a sweatshirt underneath.
Gloves: U.S. Army issue, 1982
Teeth: Chattering.
©2017 Gary L. Quay
I captured this with the Deardorff in December 2017. We had a brief snow storm in November, and I went to the Point to get some pictures. I hadn’t had the Deardorff out for a while, so it was good to fire it uip again.
Camera: Deardorff 8×10 with a 5×7 back.
Lens: 165mm Schenider Super Angulon
Film: Ilford FP4+ developed in Kodak D76
To give you an idea of what the deardorff looks like, here’s a picture of me using it near Sisters, Oregon in 2013.
This is me with the Deardorff 8×10 camera at Ruthton Point in 2016. The lens is a 240mm Nikkor. I am pulling out the dark slide from the film holder just before taking the picture. Unfortunately, I had trouble with the film for the 8×10 pictures I took there (mysterious lines in the emulsion), so I can’t show them. The 5×7’s I took that day were just fine.
©2017 Gary L. Quay
This was my first picture of 2017. I had the Hasselblad there as well. It was snowing like it was 1968 again. It was a real winter for a change.
Camera: Nikon D300.
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR
©2017 Gary L. Quay
I keep waiting in vain for a train at this spot. This time, I caught the moon instead.
Camera: Nikin D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikpon VR
©2018 Gary L. Quay
A winter orchard near Parkdale, Oregon. Luckily, the shoulder was clear, and I could pull over. I used the fence to steady my camera, and took this picture.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vinatge 35mm Nikkor
Further Musings
Picture taking during any season is challenging. You do your best to compose properly, and to make sure that you have the right depth of field, and that the focus is right, only to be completely underwhelmed by the results. Put film into the equation, and you open up a whole different range of ways to ruin a picture. Believe me, I’ve done it. The effort it takes to get winter pictures makes the images even more precious.
The Pacific Northwest, at least in the areas west of the Cascade Mountains, aren’t known for copious amounts of snowfall. During the few yearly snow events that arise, being out with a camera can be difficult with a normal passenger car. Snow Zone signs make me think twice about proceeding. Snow more than a few inches deep makes me turn around and go back the way I came. I’m not at the age where digging a car out of the snow holds any appeal. Sure, Im a good driver. I grew up in PA, driving in the worst of conditions while the undercarriage of my car slowly rotted out from the road salt. I drove a rusty pickup with bald tires from State College to Lebanon PA in an ice storm in 1990, passing the 4-wheel drive vehicles (and one particularly egregious BMW) stuck along side of the road the whole way. To be a safe driver is to not tempt fate. I would not attempt that drive today.
Does this aversion to cold, and adventurous driving cost me pictures? Yes. Lots of them. Does that concern me? Yes. Does it make my want to buy a 1977 Chevy Suburban? Yes. Will I do that? The future is always uncertain.
Thanks for looking!
Leave a comment if you like what you see. I hope to get the site up for selling prints soon.
–Gary L. Quay
