These images from our back woods remind me that it won’t be long before the snow falls. With new snowshoes and cross country skis, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

A young hemlock in our back woods after a late December snow storm.

A late season snowfall on the shore of McGrath Pond in Oakland.

A foot of new snow weighted down trees and produced a ground cover deep enough for snowshoeing.

The leaves remaining on beech trees through the winter provide a hint of warmer color in a chilly snow-covered landscape.

White pines in a snow storm. Winter photography poses new challenges: cold batteries that refuse to work, preventing condensation on equipment, and  just deciding on what equipment to take along when it’s not possible to easily change lenses. But the results are usually worth the inconvenience. A fresh coat of snow transforms a landscape, often bringing a new simplicity to composition.