February gets a bad reputation. The assumption is that winter photography means waiting — waiting for spring colour, waiting for the leaves to come back, waiting for something to look at. I've found the opposite to be true. When the trees are bare and the light is low, you can finally see the shape of things. The ridgelines are visible. The structure of the landscape is exposed. There's nowhere to hide, and that turns out to be exactly what I need.
The light in February on the Foothills Parkway is unlike any other month. It comes in flat and diffuse when it's overcast, and on the rare clear days it hits at an angle that southern summer light never reaches. Long shadows. Hard edges. A kind of visual honesty that I find I can't get any other time of year. I've started planning at least one dedicated winter shoot into every year, and I've never left without images I'm proud of.
— Michael