Virgin Snow

The wife and I spent a good part of the past couple of years taking photographs. During this time I've had the habit of checking my photos as I go to see what I've got and to make adjustments as necessary. There are two problems with this though. One, if you are spending time checking pictures you have already taken, you are not actively taking more photographs. Two, the image viewer on the camera, at least on our cameras, is much much worse than viewing the image on a computer or in print.  So, it's worth waiting until later to make any irrevocable decisions about deleting photos. 

Last month I decided to quit checking my photos during a shoot in order to break my habit of looking at every picture. Unfortunately, this approach is a bust too. On a recent walk in the snow I wasn't paying attention to how bright everything was. A couple test photos would have prevented me from overexposing every shot that day. Lesson learned, the dose makes the poison, check a few photos but not all. 

The picture above was the only photo from that day I was able to salvage. Luckily, it was the photo I like the most. St. Louis is a rather Catholic city, relative to my experience, and religious lawn decorations are common. What made this one stand out to me was the contrast of the fake flowers in the snow. It's kitsch, but it's earnest kitsch.