Cold Exposure

It’s been hellishly cold lately, especially at night. And most night photography involves long exposures with a metal tripod and hands free of restrictive gloves. One recent evening I took off my gloves to take a couple of shots; the freezing air almost burned my fingers. I made sure not to touch the icy tripod with my bare hands.

And people wonder why I hate winter.

But despite the harsh weather, I still try to capture night scenes. The other evening I noticed a view in the parking lot where I live, a naked lifeless tree outlined by an eerie cloud. The shifting backdrop was formed by steam slowly rising from the paper mill down the street.

I took a number of shots, each at fifteen seconds exposure. Thanks to the wintry time dilation, fifteen seconds can pass by like fifteen minutes as you try to stay warm and concentrate on capturing the image.




As I waited for my digital camera to record the image, I watched the steam cloud, imagining that it was about to freeze in place and crash to the ground, shattering into a million crystallized shards.