The pictures in the series were taken in 18″ of snow on snowshoes. That required a few days of grooming trails around our property (and in the adjoining woods) so that I could swap my trekking poles for my camera.
The pictures were taken in soft light, so I avoided ratcheting up the contrast. There’s ample light reflected in snowy woods, so I wanted to communicate that. Aside from that, it’s been very cold, so I’m picking my pictures carefully. That sort of selectivity can be a good thing and reminds me of when I was shooting 12 images on a roll of 120 film.
The pictures are square format black and whites taken with a short telephoto prime. Sometimes these lenses are called portrait lenses, but to me, they bring intimacy into whatever they’re being aimed at. There’s a coziness in that focal length, and that quality can be manifested in any number of ways when using the shallowest depth of field.
JOHN TODARO 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️— Hi John and thanks for sharing these great photos with us! Wishing you a wonderful Friday…😊⭐️😊
Thanks Philip. Stay warm ✨️
The shadows make the snow, as so often, sometimes hard but usually soft. In the way you depicted the plants in the first square, their shadows also depict the soft undulating spread of the snow. But it sounds heavy to walk with snowshoes in almost half a meter deep snow.
I’ve made about 2 miles of trails so far. The first pass is hard work, but the snowshoes quickly flatten the snow as you continue to walk the paths. It’s been below 12°f for the last few days, so that’s made the surface even firmer. I feel like a kid out there on snowshoes; it’s a lot of fun.
The first image was shot with more relief, but all four photographs had similar light. The upper right and lower left photos were taken in the forest. There’s a gentle brightness in the woods, even under the canopy of hemlocks.
you created such a very intimate atmosphere – I appreciated the additional info too – snowshoes that’s Impressive!
Thanks Laura!
Beautiful silent Winter scenes, John. 👍✋
I appreciate that… thanks Harrie 👋
Snowshoes! Trekking poles! Frozen fingers! And what about shoveling the driveway? 😉
The first image is so lyrical, it just sings. I love the dense blacks and strong-but-gentle curves in the third (under the first). And intimate, yes.
Are you saying that you used a square format in the camera? In-camera format changes are something it’s too easy to forget about.
Yes, I shot all the squares in-camera. Thanks for commenting, Lynn 👋
I thought that’s what you meant, just checking.