Merry Christmas - Windmill

This windmill photo departs from my usual composition because of the cross, now a permanent fixture placed atop a grave of probably an important figure from the convent next door. After a night of heavy snow, I went at the tail-end of the storm to capture a scene so beautiful that had to be seen to be believed; it was one o'clock in the morning. Still blowing briskly when I arrived, and having trouble facing upwind while keeping the lens clear of snow and sleet after setting up the tripod. Fortunately, I had a skylight filter and a Kleenex where I'd wipe, focus, wipe, white balance, wipe, set exposure, wipe, aperture, wipe, set timer, wipe, click shutter, wait for timer to count down, wipe like mad, then remove at the last second - CLICK - and 2 seconds of trying to block the snow from the camera!

The snow and sleet caused reduced visibility to a few hundred feet rendering a gray sky. Fun night except for 6" of slush I had to stand in, but it was worth the effort.