Fleeting Snow in Black & White

“Omaha!” That’s me calling an audible a la Peyton Manning when I saw the snow Friday morning on my way to work. I took a vacation day and captured some snow covered landscapes. I knew this could quite possibly be the only snowfall I see in my neck of the woods in 2020. Now that I’ve said that, it will come a blizzard in April. That’s Tennessee weather for you. Anyway, I knew this snowfall would last only hours, so I had to act fast. I drove out to some of my favorite sites along the Natchez Trace Parkway and I visited Williamsport Lakes as well as some back roads in Maury County. I had quite the adventure.

There’s a few notable occurrences that added to my adventure. The first one is that I got my car stuck literally a foot or 2 off the pavement of the Natchez Trace Parkway. I was parked on a slight embankment. It was enough incline that my tires could not pull me back onto the road. I had just told a State Trooper that I was ok as he stopped to check on me when he saw my car. I didn’t know that after taking my last photo at the barn, I was going to be stuck. A short time later, a man in a truck stopped by. When he rolled down his window, the first thing I saw was a DSLR and a tripod. He was on The Trace doing the same thing I was. With his help, I was back on the road. It turns out that he was on his way to Nashville. He’s a Pastor and he was on his way to visit someone in the hospital. He made the comment that he might not make it in time because of making stops to take pictures – my kind of guy! 

My next incident occurred off a state highway. I parked my car on the shoulder and walked over to an area that had a pretty scene of snow covered trees. After getting my picture, a woman in a van pulled up to me and asked what I was doing. I stated the obvious and told her I was taking pictures. She responded by saying and I quote, “Are you taking pictures of MY Ridge? I don’t want you taking pictures of MY Ridge!” I responded by saying I was sorry she felt that way. She proceeded to tell me that she would shoot anyone on her property. I told her that would not be a good thing to do. I then told her that I was standing on a public road. She didn’t like my answer and she started trying to take my picture with her phone. I just turned away and went about my business. She then drove off and made a u-turn and came across the incoming traffic lane and ask me if I wanted her to get the cop down the road. I looked at her and said, “Sure!” She then drove to my car and took pictures of my license plate and drove off to get the police. I was already on my way out, so I just got in may car and left. She was not acting very stable and she was doing this with what appeared to be her teenage daughter in the passenger seat. She was so worried about me that she left her gate open and a little dog, which I assumed was hers, got out onto the road. It dodged a few cars before running back to the side of the road. I hope it didn’t get back onto the highway. I guess the moral of the story is to know your rights as a photographer and stay within those rights. I was well within my rights to take pictures of some trees from a public roadway. There is no expectation of privacy in a public place, period. The other lesson is to never engage in a confrontation with strangers. There’s some crazy people out there and the last thing anyone wants is some physical altercation or worse.

My last worthy mention came when I was taking a picture out at Bakers Bluff along The Trace. Not too long after I parked my car, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Officer pulled up. He was on a mission. He told me he just saw a coyote stalking some turkeys and he was going to walk back down the tree line to see if he could get a picture. He asked if I wanted to come along. I grabbed my telephoto and off we went. I walked behind him being as quiet as I could possibly be. There’s a term used by filmmakers called the “ninja walk.” It’s that steady sure-foot glide used to get that steady footage when holding a camera on a gimbal. That’s what we looked like. I’m sure people passing by was wondering what the heck those people were doing. Well, we walked for a good while and did not see any sign of the coyote nor the turkeys. We walked back to our vehicles talking about cameras and photography. He’s the second person I talked to that day that talked about their Instagram. I’ve been holding back on Instagram, but I might have to take the plunge. 

After curating the photos, I decided to present these in a black and white theme. The white snow creates some nice contrast with the landscapes. You can tell as time moved on between photographs that the snow was becoming less and less. I’m glad I started my venture first thing in the morning. I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Maury County

Maury County

Maury County

Maury County

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

Williamsport Lakes

The snow vanished just as quick as it came. I’m glad I took the time to capture it before it was gone. Follow me at Shuttering Thru Life to catch my next outing. Thanks for reading!