Winter Glow Palouse

I know I have written about this in the past, but wanted to share some images from this past winter that I took down in the Palouse.  Photographing the Palouse in the winter can be kind of tricky.  It seems like more often then not, a good dose of snow will hit the area, and disappear as quickly as it came.  Other times, it will snow really hard, but be so windy that it will blow all of the snow off of the hills, leaving them bare and brown.

Another problem is accessibility.  They don’t plow most of the roads down there, and they never plow the road up Steptoe Butte.  Therefore, the only two options are to snowshoe up, or attempt the drive in a 4WD vehicle with good ground clearance and good tires.  I have snowshoed and skied up the hill, but this year I was able to make it up on each of my attempts in my FJ Cruiser.  It was a bit sketchy a few times, but I didn’t get stuck.

Palouse Winter Afternoon

My favorite time to head out is in the afternoon on a day when a storm system is moving out of the area.  This gives me a chance to catch the sun at a low angle, but still high enough in the sky to light up the hills.  I learned early on that, heading out only just before sunset can result in missing some of the best light of the day.  Often times I find the light more interesting when the sun is high enough in the sky to light up the hills, which just doesn’t usually happen right at sunset.

Winter Tree Palouse

The usual things still apply for photographing the Palouse during winter, such as a good strong setup with enough capacity to hold things steady in the wind.  This means a very sturdy ball head, and very sturdy tripod.  I use a Gitzo 3 series tripod, and a Markins M20 ball head for my telephoto shots.  I also use a tripod collar, and have rigged up a steel plate extension and set screw for added stability to the barrel of my lenses.

Late Spring Snow, Palouse

This last image was actually shot last April, so not really winter but still some snow.  As you can see, snow is a possibility even into April.  This is the first time I have ever seen conditions like this in April.  Usually during March and April, there is heavy rain and hail storms that move through the area.  These are great fun to watch from high vantage points.

Despite the challenges involved in making good images, winter time in the Palouse is definitely one of my favorites.  Last winter, of all the times I went down to photograph, I didn’t run into a single other photographer.  I do see people around though, mostly locals, especially up at Steptoe Butte.  My last trip down I ran into a local farmer and his wife up on their 4 Wheeler just taking a trip to the top of Steptoe Butte.  We had a great conversation on their way down. Winter is definitely a peaceful time of year in the Palouse.

More of my images can be seen on my website: Chip Phillips Photography

Many techniques used on these images are demonstrated in my editing videos available here: Image Editing Videos

 

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