Most, including myself, prefer to take pictures on warm and sunny days. We do this because it’s convenient, more comfortable. In a manner, we’re conditioned to do so. For example, photo magazines are replete with images of happy smiling faces having ‘fun in the sun’. So, we’re forgiven for defaulting to this mode. However, there are opportunities for a worthwhile image in all kinds of weather, even when it’s cold and miserable. Seeking that ‘catch of the day’ in poor weather can yield an image that the fair weather photographers are missing. The effort may be rewarded with a shot that nobody else has. I wish I could tell you this was my discovery but that’s not true. I learned this from professional photographers whose work I greatly admire.
Now, while most are huddling indoors on those cold, dreary, foggy days I’m happily outside with camera in hand. The scenes are very different as background clutter is usually obscured from sight. Only essential elements are visible leaving the possibility for that wonderful visual state which the master, Freeman Patterson labelled as ‘dynamic simplicity’. Simplicity: a wonderful tonic for a world that can be unnecessarily complicated.
