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| Pasture White, Chesterfield, NH |
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| Distant Pasture Snow |
There
are several factors which control how falling snow appears. I discussed
some of these in a previous article. They include the intensity of the storm,
the size of the flakes, the wind velocity, and the shutter speed, but one
factor that I didn’t discuss is worth considering. The distance from the
subject and the focal length of the lens required to pull that subject close
can have a striking effect on the apparent intensity of the snow fall. It is
all about the volume of falling snow that veils the subject.
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| Chesterfield Post Office |
I
have always observed that the intensity of snowfall can be enhanced by moving
away from a subject, and then pulling it close with a long lens. This
week I was hoping for a storm that would allow me to clearly demonstrate this
effect.
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| 45 Feet, 32mm Lens |
My opportunity came last Wednesday when a brief squall came
through. I ran up to Chesterfield Center where I had the room to shoot a
similarly composed picture of the iconic Town Hall, first from a distance of 45
feet with a 32mm lens, and then from across the school playing fields out to 480
feet with a 180mm focal length. The results were striking.
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| 480 Feet, 180mm Lens |
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The
foreshortening created by the long lens compressed onto the building all the
extra snow which was present in the intervening distance. Although they
were taken just a few minutes apart, it looked like two entirely different storms.
The point was dramatically clear. If you want to intensify the appearance
of a snow storm, back away from the subject, and then pull it back in with a
long lens. It’s not cheating. It’s just physics.
By
the time the squall had moved on, I had made my point and also had enjoyed the full effect of the rest of
those soft, lazy flakes.
