Daily Photo – Snow In The Maniototo

There is something about a snow-covered landscape that makes the world feel considerably larger than it usually does.

The familiar disappears beneath a blanket of white, fences become faint lines across the paddocks and the hills seem to stretch away forever. On a day like this, the landscape is reduced to a handful of colours and shapes: blue sky, white snow and the dark shadows where the hills fold into themselves.

I like the way snow changes the character of the countryside. A paddock that might normally look ordinary suddenly becomes something almost otherworldly. Every hollow and ridge catches the light, while the mountains in the distance seem to have been carefully carved from the landscape. There’s also a wonderful sense of emptiness. Not quite silence, there’s always the wind, but a feeling that the usual noise of the world has been turned down. For a photographer, snow is generous. It strips away the clutter and leaves behind the essentials. A fence line, a few scattered trees and a range of hills are suddenly enough.