Winter’s Fire | Nature Photography

Out on the Manitoba prairie winter can be harsh and inhospitable. Blowing snow, frozen lakes and relentless winds make it difficult sometimes to enjoy the beauty of the landscape. Sometimes catching a place at its most beautiful means looking for the unexpected moments.

One quiet morning in a rural part of the province I woke before sunrise. In the stillness of the predawn hour, I could just make out a fresh layer of frost in the nearby trees. As the sun rose, the snow and sky took on delicate pastel hues of pink and purple.

I quickly pulled on my coat and boots, camera in hand, to head out into the colourful kaleidoscope of winter light illuminated the frosted forest. Low on the horizon the bold yellow and orange colours of the emerging sun made it appear as if a cold fire burned in the distance. The branches overhead seemed to almost glow with the cool lavender tones of early morning blue skies.

I’ve learned that enjoying winter in this climate requires an acceptance that the daylight hours will be short, but at the edges of each day there is the possibility of some extraordinary beauty. I really enjoyed my morning walk in the frost-covered woods, basking in sunrise colours that I am rarely up early enough to see. The quiet of the calm morning air and the soft crunch of deep snow underfoot added to the magical atmosphere.

I have shared some previous stories about the joys of winter light, which you can read here. Now as the seasons shift again toward longer days and new angles of sunlight, I will treasure the memory of these special technicolor sunrise moments in a quiet Manitoba forest.