About this Picture

The Albispass is part of a nature reserve near Zurich and I often enjoy walking along the Albis mountain crest, particularly when the sun is about to set and shines almost horizontally into the woods.

A strong wind was blowing from the west the day this photograph was taken, and I noticed that sometimes snow was being blown from the treetops, which looked nice in the sunlight. I placed myself behind a tree, using the trunk to hide the camera from the sun, adjusted the aperture and exposure time to the particular light conditions, and waited a few minutes until finally a wind gust blew some snow from the trees around me. I kept firing picture after picture, hoping to get one good shot with the falling snow being lit up by the sun. I got covered in snow myself, shook it off my hat, cleaned the camera and got ready for the next wind gust.

Eventually I decided that I had at least one usable picture and moved on.

I like the dynamism that lies in the picture, the snow not being recognizable as snow anymore and actually looking like sparks, the warm color contrast between the warm snow and the cold blue treetops, as well as the symmetry generated by the tree trunk that separates the picture in two.