Scenes of January, White Mountains – 2014 has officially started, and it looks like its going to be a great year shooting the White Mountains environment. I'm pretty excited for the New Year! Much of my focus will be on areas of the White Mountains I have little coverage of and forests.

January started off with fresh snow and extremely cold weather. The cold conditions kept most off the trails of the White Mountains so I was able to shoot along trails without getting in the way of hikers. To be in a forest after a snow storm is a great feeling!

Not long into January the weather turned for the worst and it has been an icy mess ever since. Heavy rains caused brooks and rivers in the White Mountains to rise quickly. The East Branch of the Pemigewasset River looked amazing during one of the rain storms. It seems odd making reference to heavy rain in January, but when it comes to New England weather anything goes.

The lack of snow has left many trails passable without the use of snowshoes, but they are so icy crampons or some traction device is needed. The day I spent shooting along Hardwood Ridge I stopped in at Flume Gorge. The floor of the gorge still was not frozen over, but the ice on the gorge walls looked incredible.

I hiked up Mount Liberty with one of my hiking partners with the hopes of photographing the sunset, but as you can see from the above image the weather did not corporate. Not all was lost though, the rocky outcrop of Mount Liberty looks awesome in whiteout conditions. I did manage to photography Mount Liberty from Mount Pemigewasset on another day.

To be a successful nature photographer, I feel a photographer needs to be able to adapt to all shooting conditions. January's weather has consisted of rain, snow, severely cold temperatures and wind. This month has been all about adapting to conditions. It has been a fun month!

I am always interested in issues (good and bad) related to the White Mountains environment so if you know of any feel free to send me an email. To view more images from this month see the new images gallery.

Happy image making..

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Erin Paul Donovan

Owner of ScenicNH Photography LLC

Erin Paul is a professional photographer, writer, and author who specializes in environmental conservation and historic preservation photography mainly in the New Hampshire White Mountains. His work is published worldwide, and publication credits include: Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Backpacker Magazine, and The Wilderness Society.