Steps

The winter stroller is not alone in enjoying this park. He is perhaps not

ready yet to use one of the picnic tables. Critiques welcome.

Busy place! Well seen and taken.

Nice winter shot!

Gregory, Verena and Svetlana. Thank you for your comments. I noticed the traces at ground level and climbed the lookout tower for a more comprehensive view. Happily, it was late afternoon and the sun angle had its part to play.

This photo is both striking and subtle. Striking for the viewpoint and perspective as well as the intensity of the footprints and the overall geometry of elements in the snow. Subtle for the wisps of shadow that emanate from something outside the frame and for the expressiveness of the person walking whose long shadow is almost dagger-like in its effect. The textural quality is evocative and the texture goes beyond just the snow. It's in the way the delicate shadow relate to the solid tables and their shadows, it's in the feeling of the man (person) walking out of the frame. In this case, distance breeds intimacy and the naturalistic approach seems to support the story and underlying currents.

Fred, thank you for commenting and especially for noticing the shadows created by trees and poles that are to the right of the chosen frame, the soft versus hard shadows, their contribution with the low angle of light to the texture, and the man walking through the frame. The latter appeared to me to be essential to the composition (fortunately he wasn't walking too fast and I could place him where he is) and to the the ethos of the place, the winter and the acceptance of the latter by the people of this small (population about 490) community. Without him and his trailing shadow (dagger-like, I like your observation), I think the image would be less appealing.

I may have mentioned it somewhere, but I think anyone who sees this must visit your portfolio and your photo series of the farm in New England that you visit and that provides you continued inspiration, while allowing viewers impressive images of the place and its residents.  Something I look forward in going back to see again.

How come, I didn't commented on this  before. It is  fantastic composition and  very good  graphic  effect a great B&W image. I love the foot  prints,  the person in the  perfect place, the  shadow  doing a lots  of  positive effect  to the  overall composition, the  picnic  tables  nicely positioned  90 degrees  to each  other.  It is  almost perfect. To bad,  the snow  is  not  white.

Cheers.

Bella,

Thank you for your view. I was attracted by the footprints and their mainly diagonal traces, the tree and other projected shadows, and the person who happily entered the frame (It was cold and windy that day up on the observation tower so I was not prepared to wait long periods for that). You made good point about the reduced whiteness of the snow.

In this darkroom print that I first made and then photographed digitally to give the present image the whiteness of the snow is more apparent. A limitation of my camera copying of the silver print digitally meant that I had to lose some of the footprint details and subtle shadows when I heightened the brightness to render the snow closer to white.  I will scan the original negative as a future option and that may yield an improved or alternative result.