Taking Pictures in a Snowstorm

On Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, it snowed several inches of heavy, wet snow. Then the precipitation turned to ice, followed by freezing rain, and finally back to snow flurries by late afternoon. Penn State, which almost never has weather delays or closures, announced we would be operating on a two-hour delay.

Which worked out perfectly for me. I took the later (8:30) bus in to work and had a full hour to walk around on campus taking pictures before my attendance was required elsewhere. Conditions were what I would describe as challenging for photography.

Here is a practice activity to simulate my experience of taking pictures in a snowstorm:

1) Getting ready. Pack your daysack for the day. Don't forget money for the bus. Bundle up warm for winter. Grab your umbrella and your music. Go outdoors. But be careful of your step; it's all slippery, every surface covered in ICE! Clip your iPod to your coat somewhere that it won't get wet. Put in the earphones (left? right?). Turn it on. Snow and/or ice is falling. The wind is starting to whip snowflakes in every direction. The hood of your coat has fallen down over your eyes, blocking your view.

2) Balancing act. Push the hood of your coat back so you can see. In your left gloved hand, hold the umbrella, which isn't QUITE large enough to cover both your self and your stuff. Oh, and don't forget, there's a computer and an external hard drive containing all your pictures in that daysack, so by all means, don't let it get wet!

3) Taking pictures. While juggling the umbrella, remove your camera from its bag. (Um, and you did remember to recharge the battery last night, right? As switching batteries in this weather might be more of a hassle than you bargained for . . . ) In your right gloved hand, hold your camera. Make sure to hold it far enough under the umbrella that it doesn't get wet. With the same gloved hand that is holding the camera, remove the lens cap and turn the camera on. BUT DO IT QUICKLY! Don't get any snow on the lens! There now. Take some pictures! QUICK, PUT IT AWAY AGAIN! Oh, and try not to tangle your camera up in your earphone cords . . . and God forbid you need to change the song or the volume; you'd have to be an octopus to accomplish that! And of course you've been watching your step - right? - as it's awfully slippery out! There, now, wasn't that fun?

The soundtrack: Kate Bush, Snowflake, from her album 50 Words for Snow. And I'd like to chime in that at this point in the winter, I might also have 50 words for snow. But some of them aren't . . . quite . . . printable. So I'll try to be a lady and refrain from sharing them here!