SNOWPOCALYPSE (part 1...?)

Well, it finally happened, we finally got snow down here! Perhaps it was karma after my failed snow search last time I went out picturing - I couldn't climb to the snow level, so now the snow level descended to me! It snowed for a while yesterday morning, enough to make for some nice pictures. I was also fortunate enough to take them before the air warmed up in the early afternoon and melted some of of the snow on the trees (this makes things a bit less pretty). Upon review, some of my pictures actually need more contrast, but this is an easy problem to fix in postprocessing. Some of my pictures also weren't as sharp as I would have liked them. There were a few times when I had to clean water off of the lens surface, and the loss of sharpness could have been due to residue from that.

First, this one from the rosemary plant in our yard:

I walked to Hamlin Park a bit later. One of the things I tried to do was take pictures of snowy cedar branches - from behind. In addition to the usual challenge of getting things to hold still, I had the additional problem of getting inside a cedar tree and using my camera/tripod without bumping the branches. I was not always successful, but here are my better ones:

This one especially needs more contrast. This will, in turn, bring out the green of the branches. An easy fix in Lightroom, thankfully.

There is a little grove of cottonwood trees at Hamlin, and I liked the way the colors of their trunks stood out in the snow:

The rest (no good stories with these, but worth posting):

The forecasters are saying snow showers will pick up this afternoon and tonight. Hopefully this will mean more opportunities for snow photography, probably tomorrow. Stay warm, everyone!