So… After writing about the end of winter twice, and getting a new fresh thick pack of snow a day later, I think I can now safely say that it’s over for this year.
Last Saturday it snowed from 6 in the morning until late in the evening and we got about 15 cms of new snow. After that the temperature has gone up and it really looks like things are on the fast track towards spring.
Snow on the streets and pavements is pretty much gone and the huge piles that were shoved to the sides of the roads are almost visibly disappearing.

It’s only a matter of time now…
To wave goodbye to this year’s winter, I give you one final snowy shot. The rabbit which passed here was also on its way to spring.
How poetic…

D200, ISO100, 1/90 sec @ f/16, Tamron 28-75mm

We’ve had a good amount of snow still in the past week, but temperatures are going up and it looks like -slowly- spring’s pushing its foot in the door.

It’s going to take awhile still before all the snow is gone and I’m sure I’ll get a few shots of “winter” still, but in case I might not have the time (if I get buried under a load of work or something *G*) I went out for a little shoot yesterday.
It wasn’t cold, actually it was quite pleasant to be out. I should do that more often…

D200, ISO100, 1/90 sec @ f/4.8, Tamron 28-75mm

D200, ISO100, 1/60 sec @ f/5.6, Tamron 28-75mm

D200, ISO100, 1/125 sec @ f/5, Sigma 10-20mm

in which words don’t need any place…

D200, ISO100, 1/8 sec @ f/16, Tamron 90mm macro

D200, ISO100, 1/8 sec @ f/16, Tamron 90mm macro

D200, ISO100, 1/8 sec @ f/16, Tamron 90mm macro

D200, ISO100, 1/10 sec - 1/15 sec - 1/30 sec @ f/16, Sigma 10-20mm, HDR post-processing in Photoshop

Last summer, when I was in the US doing that photography course, one of our teachers gave us a checklist on what to check before we go out and/or take pictures. It’s become quite an automatism over the past half year to go over that list in my mind. But not this afternoon.

A couple of days ago I was out shooting in the late afternoon. Cloudy, overcast day, and too dark, really, to take pictures. But well… stubborn… I wanted to try anyway, even if I knew better.
Upped the ISO to 1600, screwed up all my pictures, as expected. D200 doesn’t really handle high ISOs as well as the newer models.

Worse, today I shot a couple of pictures and forgot completely to check the checklist. So I left the ISO on 1600.
Bright daylight, so this image wasn’t as ruined as the rest…

Anyway… Rambling…
Doesn’t have anything to do with what I actually wanted to write.

IT’S WINTER!!!
We finally got a decent pack of snow, and cold weather!
Love it, LOVE IT!
It was kind of funny when I shot this picture.

D200, ISO1600, 1/180 sec @ f/8, Tamron 28-75mm

This image is unedited. There was a gorgeous orange sunset behind me, turning everything on the opposite side this shade.
We live a bit uphill and when it’s clear there’s a sunset like this every day. Lasts only about 5-10 minutes, but when I’m home, I’m always looking.
I still have to nick the keys to the roof of our building some time. Set up there and take a shot from bird’s eye view

And this… Well… sunset through a glass pot with some frost in it…
Never mind me…

D200, ISO1600, 1/500 sec @ f/19, Tamron 28-75mm

And you don’t even notice!
I’ve been out pretty much every day, but not early in the morning in the past week and a half or so. During the day it was really pleasant weather. Sunshine (for a change!) and probably some 14 degrees Celcius.
This morning I had to get out early, because I had an appointment downtown. When I got to the car I was kind of surprised to see it all frozen up. And not just a bit, but a good layer of ice that I needed to scrape off.
That layer of ice meant it had been at least -3 to -5 degrees Celcius in the night.

Took me 10 minutes to get the car ice-free!

Well, what can I say?

So… Winter’s on the doorstep. And I’ve seen only a couple of weeks of fall. We’ll probably get a big pack of snow in a couple of weeks…