“October Snow Cheesman Park Denver” by David Pfannenstiel

We were having a blizzard in Denver the day I took this. The shot was taken at Cheesman Park near our home. I decided to get out of the apartment and drive to the park to see if I could get any good shots. Even though it was only a few blocks from the park, the drive was horrible, and I did get stuck a couple of times. The weather alerts had warned people to stay inside, but I wanted to chance to get some good shots, and if I got stuck, I could just walk home. Taking the shots that day was very difficult due to the depth of snow and the wind. i could not use gloves, as this camera is so small, it makes taking photographs impossible. I do not know how many times I fell down or had to cover my camera when a gust of wind came up. I actually thought my camera would be ruined after being out in this weather, but it held up.

I have always been fascinated with this row of trees but never seemed to be able to capture a decent shot of them, no matter the season or time of day, since they are always backlit. Taking the photograph from the opposite angle made the photography boring because the tree with the large branch jutting out would not have been the main focal point.
I tried doing the shot in B&W and it did not seem to come out correctly, so I shot in color. The only real hint of color is from the few remaining leaves and the warmth in the photograph as compared to Black and White, but I think the end result is much better. The way the large snowflakes show in the picture almost gives the shot the look of a painting rather than a photograph. There was not a lot of post-processing done since I do not have any programs for doing such things. I did mess with the contrast a bit. I have to admit, that this photograph and the surrealism really surprised me.

I was using my small Canon G10 Camera, which does not get used very much.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

I like the simplicity of the shot and the almost monotone look to it. The only hint of color is from the few leaves left.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or different?

I think I would zoom in and out and change the white balance more.

David Pfannenstiel shared this photograph in the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

David Pfannenstiel, Denver, Colorado, USA

Equipment and settings

Canon G10, f/4.5, 1/320 sec., ISO 125

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Comments (1):

  1. Daniel Tacconelli

    April 5, 2024 at 18:29

    David – Beautiful image. Well worth the “pain” you endured to make it. Thank you.

    Reply

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