After I returned from the remote southeast of Utah, we had a cold snap that brought a decent amount of snow to the mountains. I wasn’t ready to start photographing winter yet, as we hadn’t even seen a change in the leaves. Regardless of how I felt about the the seasons, I knew I had to head into the mountains quickly to capture the wintery weather while it lasted.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
I made my way up Guardsman Pass ( an opportunity that doesn’t happen often because the road closes after the first signs of winter) to see what winter scenes I could find. After capturing one image from Guardsman, I made my way back down to Silver Lake outside of Brighton Ski Resort and hiked around in search of moose. While there weren’t any moose to be found, I did find a plethora of interesting images waiting to be captured.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
The snow fell in batches and it was wet and heavy. Not what you would expect when thinking of Wasatch Mountain Snowfall, but it was early in the year and just a few days before the temps were in the 80s. I circled the lake and found an interesting tree that stood out from the surrounding forest. In the dense snowfall, it stood like an aging sentinel guarding the shrouded forest beyond.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
A little further down the path I ventured and came across a nice stream and S-curve. The winter storm was building again on the peak behind and I was afforded a brief moment of subdued light before the weather took a turn for the worse.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
I decided it was time to make my way back to the car and get outta dodge before the storm got too intense and forced me to hang out up the canyon for the day. On my way out I couldn’t help but take a few more images of the early weather.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
The snow came down so hard it was difficult to focus the camera as I wrestled with the rain cover I had to keep the camera dry. After the above image I made it the rest of the way out of the canyon. I looked back and saw the jagged mountainside peeking around the clouds. I set up my tripod one last time and waited for the right balance between cloud and mountainside before I clicked the shutter.
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
© Andrew Lockwood 2019
As I was standing there admiring the clouds moving through the canyon, I noticed the water droplets on these tall grasses at my feet. I lowered the tripod to ground level, changed my aperture, and gently focused on the water droplets on the closest blades. Down at the mouth of the canyon, the rain had yet to turn into snow and everything was completely saturated. About as wet and cold as a dog left out in the rain, I packed up my gear and headed back home with the heat blasting. I managed to get a few good images from the quick trip into the mountains, and was overall pleased and excited to continue photographing the changing seasons.
Next week I chase a storm and get a few epic shots of Mt. Timpanogos and the fall color, and I begin planning for a gallery showing at a new restaurant in town.