In Winter, This Photographer Switches Gears And ...

I have recently started doing sketches of some of my photographs... I have never been a good drawer but for some reason I have really been feeling the need to try it and I have done ok in the limited times I have tried.

On a side note winter is my second season to photograph in besides fall because it is cold so there are less people out and about o get in the way

I'm going to be out photographing winter landscapes and Christmas decorations around the city. But then again, I've never been very good at painting or drawing.

I do much less outdoor location painting during winter, if any at all, though I've been a bit lazy this year and didn't do a whole lot even during spring/summer/fall. I did gather plenty of reference material though. Good luck on getting back into painting.

I have always jumped around with mediums. Here I share digital paintings...my newest favorite medium...but I love many others. I love to draw, carpel tunnel keeps me from doing as much as I would like, painting with any kind of paint, sometimes I like to work with papier mache, ink, and other more craftier projects.

One winter I lived on top of a mountain and running out of art supplies I slid into town and bought up all their dried beans...I did a bunch of mosaics on mahogany plywood that looked really great until they sprouted worms and moths in the spring.

LOL Val. Thanks for sharing - that was great.

John I wish I could say all the things I just had to try were a success but they were not...that was only the tip of the ice berg :)

I am looking forward to enjoy your painting!

i don't go out much to shoot photos in my area when its winter, so i rely on things i shot over the summer if i do my stuff. or i tackle the thousands of black and whites i've been downloading. i have enough stuff to do for years right now.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Guess I have a different opinion. Winter, unto itself, offers a unique beauty. The skies are inherently crisper and clearer, void of the humidity of summer. The bare trees offer a drama unseen in any other season. Combine them with a dramatic sky and you have a very moody piece. Yes, much more uncomfortable and harder to get out there compared to summer shirt-sleeve shooting. Still - analyze the scene and shoot it for the mood and season it is and you can produce some nice stuff. I don't - can't - paint, so I'm out there trekking around like in all other seasons.

Winter pics:

I am with Dan.

I get much more shooting done in winter than summer for the reasons he mentioned and another big one for me, no crowds.

Plus, my paintings look like something from a kindergarten art class.

I try to switch my outdoor pics of people to still life in my home studio. But still life really isn't that exciting for me. If anything during the winter months, I review my old images, edit them, put them on Flickr, SmugMug, here if they have a chance to sell....I also make videos of my still images and put the vids on YouTube and Facebook. One of my vids has over 1,000 views on YouTube (which is a minor miracle for me).

@JC
"no crowds"

Yep. Should have mentioned it. Lack of crowds is actually one of the premier motivators for off-season shooting. I'm (partially) with Mike Savad who previously said he doesn't like people. I like people. I just don't want them around when shooting.