It started out Thursday afternoon as rain, and then snow mixed in. When the precip turned to all snow, the flakes were the size of potato chips. The snow stuck to every little twig on every tree. The size of the flakes finally shrunk to a more normal size, but it snowed all Thursday night, and by Friday morning, we had our winter wonderland. I knew it would be beautiful over at the Mississippi Palisades across the river in Illinois. So I spent a little time there Friday morning, and what an amazing time it was. I was treated to an ever changing scene as the sun poked through the variable cloud cover and made dappled patterns of light and shade upon the hillsides of the Palisades as well as the Mississippi River bottom. Here a fast moving short Z train emerges from the shadows into filtered sunlight as the sun made a half hearted attempt to melt the cloak of snow from each tree. By Friday afternoon, strong winds came to the aid of the sun, and knocked most of the snow from the branches to the ground.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
