This year, the first few snowfalls came at night. On four occasions I grabbed camera and tripod and went for a little walkabout... it's such a different look!
On this particular evening the snow wasn't falling straight down or on a slant; wind gusts were making the big fat snowflakes dance and swirl. I started with the street light at the corner of my property, and shot a series using varying shutter speeds. Every shot was different, and I liked this one best.
More to come...
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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Night shots continue with a view down Centre Street, our downtown core. Needless to say, those of us who choose to live here did not come for the night life. The Christmas lights do add a cheerful touch, though.
To the right is the Palais Royale Theatre, A few doors down is the grocery store, across the street but out of the frame is the hotel and watering hole. The cenotaph commemorating those who served in past wars sits at the end of the street, with one of our two grain elevators looming behind it.
And that's about all there is. Not in this shot: motels and other accommodation, the library (open two days per week), Post Office, school, self-serve gas station, eco-museum/art gallery/internet café/coffee shop (closed all winter). You can hire a carpenter locally, and maybe find someone to troubleshoot your car. You can buy local eggs, beef, and pork at certain times of the year, and there is a farmer's market on summer weekends. You might even be able to find a photographer!
But for most people, living here would be unthinkable. Which is one of the reasons I love it here. Traffic is only bad in the summer. Once I had to wait for not one but two cars to pass before I could back out of my driveway. That was ten years ago, but I remember clearly how frustrating it was...
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: night snow snowing early winter main street downtown cold vehicles prairie village Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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A year ago there was no snow on Christmas Eve. No snow on New Year's Eve, either. I've experienced that very few times in my life. Once in Quebec, when I was a kid, our first snow came on Christmas Eve.
Even on the notoriously rainy west coast, both in Vancouver and later on Vancouver Island, most years we had a little snow. Or a lot.
So it was strange in 2023, hiking the wild prairie, brown grasses burnt brittle by a long-ago August heat wave. Fortunately, things are back to normal this winter. After photographing the main street scene (yesterday's post), I wandered some of the side streets - there aren't many - of this little prairie village, where I found the cozy scene you see here. Snow falling steadily. A parked pickup. The protective trees - a natural wind-shield. A welcome touch of colour from the Christmas lights. Can you sense the quiet?
Things look different at night.
One more to come from this night-time walkabout...
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: night snow snowing winter Christmas lights pickup truck parked trees snowfall square peaceful quiet prairie village Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024 4tografie
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Wind has driven the snow hard, plastering it to these cottonwood trees at the edge of the village. Plains Cottonwoods are among the few trees that grow on the northern prairie (others include Manitoba maple, trembling aspen, green ash, willow and chokecherry). In photos of Val Marie from 90-odd years ago, there are no trees. Pretty bleak compared to what thrives here today. Cottonwoods provide food and shelter for a large % of prairie wildlife, and that includes nesting sites for raptors.
In this shot, across the dark field where Carmen pastures her horses we can see Christmas lights at Maurice Lemire's, behind his trees, which include an extensive spruce grove. He planted them all many years ago. Now they attract birds year round including nesting Great Horned Owls, and serve as a wind break for his house and garden. We need trees as much as the critters do.
That's the last from my night walkabout; not sure what I will post tomorrow but it won't be a night shot.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: night snow snowing Plains Cottonwood Populus deltoides trees street winter dark walkabout quiet cold prairie village Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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And once more, the palette changes... the yellows, golds, and earthy browns of fall have vanished beneath the first layer of winter white... as they must. When I saw the snow coming down shortly before midnight, I quickly threw on my winter clothes, grabbed my tripod and a single lens, and went for a walkabout. So different!
I made this shot outside the Seniors Centre on Railway Avenue. Clean fresh snow. Sleeping village in the background. I hoped no one was awake, watching, perhaps thinking I was creepy. I'm not even slightly creepy. Just chasing the light, trying for a different look.
From a 1970 song:
"Now you know what they say about snowflakes
How there ain't no two the same
Well all them flakes look alike to me
Every one is a dirty shame
My ears are cold, my feet are cold
Bermuda stays on my mind
And I'm here to say that if winter comes
Spring is way behind"
- Jesse Winchester, "Snow"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEnfFe9qn0&list=PLB0A8CF23C4...
More to come. Of course there's more.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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