Winter has arrived again in the Ottawa Valley. Fewer hours of daylight, colder temperatures and the demands of my job work together to reduce my time—and inclination!—to take pictures. Still, winter comes to the Northern Hemisphere at this time every year, so none of this is news.
All these hurdles can be overcome: my Canon G11 and updated iPod make it possible to take pictures during my work day; light can be added to almost any scene; night photography can be enjoyable and produce impressive results; and daylight can almost always be had on weekends. As for the cold itself, my photographer's gloves let me feel buttons and dials while staving off the chill for a while and an oversized Ziploc bag protects the camera from condensation damage when coming back into the warm air of our house.
This image of milkweed was made in the field behind our house while my younger son and I took a walk on a snowy day. I sometimes struggle with pictures of natural objects, but I'm happy with this one.