Duvall Snow Days

The maritime climate of the Puget Sound lowlands makes snow a rare event here, and rarity creates treasures. Fresh snow transforms the landscape in ways that align perfectly with some elements of photographic composition. It simplifies the scenery and emphasizes shapes and patterns with the high-contrast lines of snow on substrate. But, below-freezing temperatures are so fleeting here that the treasure of snow is highly ephemeral. Of particular interest to me are snow-covered trees and shrubs. Several days into a snow event here in Duvall, Washington the rapid melting of the snow after, or even as, it fell made for very little snowy-tree time during daylight hours. I had accepted that I probably wouldn’t get a good window of snowy tree time when I went to bed on Friday, December 2nd. As it turned out a couple inches of fluffy snow fell as I slept, and the air temperature was still below freezing (barely) when I woke up shortly before dawn. A treasure was laid before me, but like life itself it was fading away by the moment. Breakfast would have to wait, as it usually does for me anyway. After savoring my large mug of strong French roast, I put on my winter clothes and boots, put my 18-55 mm lens on my Nikon D7500 and ran out the door into a cloudy dawn.

A chilly warm-up shot on the way out of my apartment’s driveway. A Beaked Hazel bowed over by the snow beneath Red Alders and a stately Bigleaf maple.

Lake Rasmussen was my first destination. This small lake is a few blocks from my place and the opposite shore of it’s public access side is a nice patch of mixed forest. This is a somewhat eastward view too, so the rising sun added some glow and color to the dissipating clouds. The barely freezing average temperature of the last couple days is seen in the partially frozen surface of the lake.

As I took pictures at the lake it began to sprinkle. This didn’t bode well for my snowy-tree window, so I rushed to the next stop. The rain was fortunately ever so brief and light. I was headed for Cherry Valley, but I saw that it was densely foggy. I love some fog in my landscape photography, but this would obscure too much. Plus all of the morning light sky action was in the other direction, so I headed towards the Snoqualmie River, passing briefly through downtown.

The Duvall Tavern on Main Street/Highway 203, with Rocking E Feeds across the street.

Crossing the street and grabbing another downtown snapshot with the morning-sunlit background.

The light was getting better by the moment, so I grabbed this shot with the Duvall-Woodinville Rd bridge on my way to the river it crosses.

I thought of Dark Tranquility’s ‘The Mundane and the Magic’ as I placed these structures and vehicles in the foreground of this snowy-trees-with-sunrise shot.

Coming up to the river I was taken by the color of this powdery lichen on the concrete. The foremost bridge support and a Bigleaf Maple frame what appears to a support from a previous bridge across the Snoqualmie River.

The old bridge support and a delightfully spreading Bigleaf Maple make the foreground for the soft shapes and colors of this morning sky.

Down the river a bit and I framed the sky with these snowy trees and shrubs.

At the river’s edge I made this reflection image.

Turning upstream I was taken by this view of the bridge and trees reflected in the river.

Zooming in on these Black Cottonwoods for another reflection shot. It’s hard not to make these kinds of pictures by a calm body of water with some nice colors in the sky. I’m not sure what kind of work was going on in the big green building, but whoever was at it was cranking ranchera music inside, and I smiled at the festive atmosphere.

Around the river’s bend I made a possible shot of the day with these snowy maples and that soft morning sky.

Into the shade of the foothills that Duvall is buit on I got more of the snowy trees and shrubs that were my main subjects of the morning. No choice but to overexpose the eastern sky as the sun rose higher, but I actually like to blow out the highlights on shots like these. I feel that it conveys the awesome power of the Sun, whose energy fuels all life on Earth. I also like the juxtapositions here; fire and ice, direct sun and shade.

Bigleaf Maples line the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. These are the same maples seen in the previous photo, but there I was in McCormick Park facing the trail on an eastward perpendicular line. Here we are looking south, and I like the way that the trail bisects the morning sky into the blazing sun in the east and the soft blue and clouds in the west.

Looking back across the Snoqualmie Valley Trail before heading through town to Taylor Park, which won’t be included in this post. What direction am I facing? What kind of trees are these? I hope you’ve been paying attention! ;)

With the sun rising and the clouds parting, the soft morning light was about to end abruptly, and the fluffy snow had melted into wet clumps that were now falling off of the trees. This is where my prime shooting window ended, so it is where I am ending this post. I did some more shooting in the forested Taylor Park, but conditions were fairly adverse to photography at that point. Maybe one or two of those shots will make it on to Instagram and Facebook.

Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed these photographs and the story behind them. While you’re here please visit my store and/or portfolio! The store, which is brand spanking new, has my calendar, some matted prints and a bunch of hand-made greeting cards. As always, various kinds of prints of EVERY PICTURE IN MY PORTFOLIO are available! I hope you’ll browse it a bit whether you’re in the market for art or not, bu if you do find a photo you really love please click “buy” at the lower right of the image to open a menu. Please do leave comments below if you are so inclined. It is my intention to move towards more interaction with you here, and less on social media. Thanks again for stopping by!