Immediately Nick and I head up towards the Nature Center where a marked path continues on towards an open field known as Andorra Meadow. It was there that, upon our arrival, the hope was for some warm morning light.
After a couple of wrong turns - the snow having concealed the normally easy-to-follow path - we eventually made our way to the opening out over a meadow. The clouds were just parting, the glow of the sun gilding the high, dry grass, and creating texture where snow lay upon the ground and hugged the sides of trees. We were delighted, to say the least.
As Nick dutifully set up his tripod I did what I do best, and that's impatiently trot around, finding some trees of interest, then haphazardly back-tracking through snowfall to take some photographs of Nick prepping for his first photograph. While he has the mindset to pause, observe a place, carefully go about choosing a spot to set up his tripod, read the available light and apply filters if necessary, eventually mounting his camera to frame a shot ... I'll have snapped offed at least a dozen images by then. For me, there's always so much to see, so much occurring all around us all the time, I gotta catch it all, you know? Nick's diligence, however, does pay off, with capture of the exact winter landscape photograph he was hoping for.
By the time Nick has finished shooting, packed away his tripod, and changed lenses in preparation to start moving again, I'm halfway across the meadow about a quarter mile's walk ahead. There's sunshine here, interesting tall grass there, lovely snow-covered trees over yonder, some birds in a thicket ignoring the birdhomes specially built for them scattered about the field. We eventually meet up and meander along the path which circumnavigates the meadow, passing alongside a road and some luxury homes, before making our way back into the forest. Conversing over what we've seen and how welcome the snow has been, and overall glad to be out walking through such a picturesque morning as we head back into the treeline.
The woodland buffers the high open meadow and lower-lying Wissahickon Creek, to which we ultimately drop down. There's one more spot we intend on checking out before our customary post-shoot breakfast, and that's an iconic red covered bridge a half a mile ahead along the gravel-laden walking path known as Forbidden Drive. Just before the bridge itself a manmade wall of stone runs most of the way across the creek, opening at the edge closest to the Drive and creating a small, interesting, weaving cascade. Interesting enough to cause us to jump down and make our way precariously over snow-esconded rocks to capture the view of the bridge hovering above the water. (You can decide for yourself from the images below how our efforts may or may not have paid off.)
After dallying a bit by the waterside we head up to the bridge(where I inadvertently step in front of Nick as he was about to take "the perfect photo", as happens sometimes - apologies to Nick), play around by the water's edge, a few mishaps here and there resulting in soaked boots and perhaps pant legs (that'll teach ya), and the passing of another soul happy to be out and about during Philly's first snowfall of the year. We take the long way back up into the woods a bit for a more interesting return but realize, during the descent, that it may have been best to stay on the path, as we were slipping and sliding all the while back. We do end up safely back at the car, plenty of photographs digitally stored in our cameras, and a breakfast appetite ready to be quenched.
Thanks for coming along and enjoy some of the photos from our morning out below!
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Where: Wissahickon Valley Park, PA, USA
When: January 2022
Camera: Nikon D750 with Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8