Snowlight

I can remember waking up as a child and knowing, before I got out of bed, that it had snowed during the night.  The light on the ceiling was unmistakable.  In this polar world, the light has become a constant source of wonder

Last night, when I woke in the night, I thought it was almost morning.  The room was as light as predawn. The other night, the sky was clear, and the moon was almost full.  The moonlight silvered the yard, and the stars glittered in the cold.  But something different happens when snowflakes fill the air.  The outdoor lights combine to shed an unnatural glow over the nighttime world.  The reflection is pink and ghostly.  It snowed all night, and is expected to snow all day today, and tonight as well.  The ghosts are prowling.

Taking photos of the snow is challenging.  It is hard to get a real sense of proportion.  Everything is white, and 10 foot drifts look improbably distorted.   When the sun appears, the snow crystals sparkle like Swarovski crystals, but I have not succeeded in capturing that marvel with a camera. 

The blue sky and scalloped clouds contrast sharply with the white ground in wondrously beautiful landscapes. 

In the late afternoon, the light falls in horizontal rays, and gives a buttery glow to the snow.

  It almost seems to yellow in the sunshine.  In the morning the shadows lie more vertically.  Blue shadows fall against the white.

  And sometimes, at sunset, the whole earth turns pink.  The white ground reflects the sunset colors in the sky.

  There is a world of color in white snow.