The Southwestern Ontario Winter on Film – Don’t be a Fair-Weather Photographer

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invisible summer.”
— Albert Camus

Like many places in North America, Ontario is experiencing a particularly harsh winter this year. I live in the southwestern part of the province, which is famous for its lake-effect snow—massive snowstorms that form over the Great Lakes. Indeed, it started snowing in early December and it feels like it hasn’t stopped even though we are more than two months into the new year.

I grew up in a hard-hitting mining town in Northern Ontario, where winter temperatures regularly dipped below -20°C, sometimes for weeks on end. I spent my youth cross-country skiing and competed in Nordic races across the country. I was at home in the extreme cold.

But in recent years, since moving south, I’ve grown wimpy and become what I always feared: a fair-weather photographer.

Embracing Winter

This season I’ve promised myself to toughen up, to go back to my cold-hearted roots, to pick up my pampered cameras and drag them kicking and screaming into the Canadian cold. It’s not been easy. I’m not the man I once was. My beard hair is thinner. My circulation is worse. My long johns are too tight.

But when the first snowstorm hit, I looked at my Leicas sitting cozily in their dustproof cabinet. I glanced at my soft, warm hands and slippered feet. I said: “Come on team! What are we, a bunch of sissies?” I then grabbed my black-paint MP by the neck strap, slapped on a priceless Summilux 50mm aspherical, and headed into the blizzard with my seven-year-old son in tow.

We soon found ourselves at the local sledding hill surrounded by children of all ages having the time of their lives. I put the thoughts of water damage, condensation, and a frozen light meter behind me and started clicking away. From that day on, whenever it began to snow, whenever the temperatures dropped, I trekked outside with my cameras to capture the moment on film.

Cold but Better Off

As I write these words, I’m sipping on a hot cup of coffee, warming up from my most recent outing. The cameras are recovering in their cabinet, still shivering and damp from the morning effort. But when I gaze deep into their eyes — their rangefinder windows — I know they are happy and are better for it. As am I.

So, if you’re feeling the winter blues this season, get out and exercise that index finger on an ice-cold shutter release button. You won’t be sorry.

More Winter Photos

If you enjoyed this article and would like to see more of my photos, you can find me at Leica Fotografie International and Instagram.

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