Another abstract. Winter lends itself so well to these kinds of photos, I think. The lack of color in the Alaska landscape during much of winter is also a lack of stimulation to our visual senses. I don’t mean a lack of stimulation like it’s not beautiful. I think it’s absolutely incredibly beautiful. I mean stimulation like what happens when we walk into a convenience store, or toy store, and everything is loud colors; reds and oranges and light blues and greens and yellows. Those colors grab our (and especially children’s) attention very immediately. Duller tones, and particularly whites and blacks and grays, don’t clamor for our attention the same way.

So in winter I tend to see more of the patterns and shapes and smaller things. In the summer, i get so caught up my the array of colors so constantly surrounding me; it’s difficult to quiet that down and watch more subtly. ‘Listen with your eyes’, as a friend of mine says. In winter, I do a lot more listening with my eyes, and the result is I tend to make more photos like this one.

Black and white photo of a ridgeline, covered in snow, winter, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alsaska.