-12 Degree F

[PRSearls]

We are having near record cold temperatures here. It was -19 degrees F (-28C) this morning. I snapped this out my back door this afternoon around 4 PM. The air temperature was -12 degrees F (-24C) with a wind chill of -36 degrees F (-38C). We have about 15 inches (38 cm) of snowpack with drifts on top of that. We are looking forward to a warmup starting tomorrow evening.

Paul S

[Shadowman]

Nice, hopefully it won't warm up too much or else you'll have a nice lake to photograph.

[IzzieK]

That is a beautiful scene...and I was complaining of -2 here next door to you...
Should be ashamed of my myself...

[Brownbear]

Gorgeous image. Everything about it!

[NorthernFocus]

Once you get below zero F, the sensation of cold become logrithmic. -20 is twice as bad as -10. -30 twice as bad as -20. When it gets to -50, it's cold even in Alaska

The good new is that when it just gets back to zero it's going to feel like spring

[deetheturk]

Nice image Paul.

[travis4567]

Nice photo Paul. It's a balmy +5 degrees here in Jersey.

[Downrigger]

Nice light nicely captured in the sky and on the snow - the frigid northern air masses seem to me to have a unique sunset/sunrise light at the peak of their high pressure domes. Sometimes the transition from warmer tones near the horizon to the deep blues and purples of the early morning or evening sky seems an impossible leap across the spectrum.

[teokf]

for a guy who is living in a heated oven condition, any snow would be welcome 8)
if I am to shoot this, I would have less ground and more sky

[tbob]

Nice job getting the reflected warm glow on the snow that emphasizes the snow texture as well. Really well exposed.

I am surprised you didn't go out there in your shorts and t shirt to shoot some more angles and compositions of the sun coming through the trees and the pattern of light and shadow on the drifts. You would have had at least five minutes. How are the neighbours to know they have a photographer in the vicinity if you don't do something queer and deranged once in a while?

[rtbaum]

-19.............hmmmm...........that was the high temp for my neighborhood

[Donald]

Nice job getting the reflected warm glow on the snow that emphasizes the snow texture as well. Really well exposed.

That's the crux of it for me.

Just wanted to add my words of compliment on an excellent image. Great commercial potential?

[IzzieK]

Trevor and Dan...thanks for the good laugh. I haven't laughed as good today until I read both your posts.

[jamn4ex]

Nice shot. -19 ouch! Welcome to Northern Illinois, come for the culture... stay because your car wont start.

[NorthernFocus]

...the frigid northern air masses seem to me to have a unique sunset/sunrise light at the peak of their high pressure domes. Sometimes the transition from warmer tones near the horizon to the deep blues and purples of the early morning or evening sky seems an impossible leap across the spectrum.

When you get far enough away from population centers for the "haze layer" to dissipate, the pink and purple colors run all the way down to the horizon. The red/orange tones come more from the sulfur compounds and particulates in the air close to the surface. In interior AK you rarely see a really orange sunrise/sunset like further south. Also why alpenglo appears pink on high mountain peaks.

[PRSearls]

Thank you all for the comments. It actually got above zero today and is forecast to reach freezing by this weekend. I guess I'll be washing the car on the driveway!

For exposure, I took a reading off the brightest snow in the scene with a spot meter and opened up 2-1/3 stops. This pushed the exposure to the right but not enough for clipping. I exported two versions of the scene from Lightroom, one adjusted for the snow and the second for the sky. I combined them in Photoshop to get the final image.

I have five, 16x24 matted and framed images hanging on my kitchen wall. My wife wants them changed with each season. I think this will become one of those five next winter.

Paul S