[Top] Canon 30D, handheld Tamron 10-24 at 10mm, f13 1/160 at ISO 250 [Bottom] Canon Elan IIe, handheld Sigma 28-105 at 35mm Fuji Provia 100 f22, 1/250 second

Still happens occasionally

The original image that I had here (still found below) dated from a wicked snowstorm in January 2000. Meanwhile, the featured image above came from a storm that blew through as I was finalizing the gallery updates in January 2018. Now, I grew up in central New York, so snowstorms are routine for the winter months – not that I was particularly fond of them. Don't get me wrong: snow is fine. But I never really got into winter sports, so I don't have specific activities that rely on it. Far worse, however, is the entire idea that, regardless of treacherous road conditions, some large corporations cannot cope with the idea that production or sales might be nonexistent for an entire day or three, and demand that people risk their lives trying to get into work. That's utter bullshit. If your business cannot handle a couple of snow days a year, you have no idea how to run a business.

North Carolina only sees storms of severe magnitude every few years, so it tends to be a 'big thing,' bigger than central NY where it's more-or-less routine. The most noticeable difference between the two states, weather-wise, is that NC will often follow up with perfectly clear skies the next day, allowing nice blues to offset the stark sunlit white snow, while NY will often remain hazy at best, usually completely overcast. That was one of the worst things about winters up there, because they're so grey and depressing.

Comparing these two images is interesting, too. The saturation and contrast were up a bit for the digital image above, to bring out the colors, but it seems to have exceeded the naturally high contrast of the slide film at right – if asked, I would have said they were comparable at those settings. The blue above is nicer, but the contrast almost surreal. Feel free to pic your favorite.