Explore Your House

The past few weeks in New England have been bitterly cold and there's a ton of snow and ice around. On these days I rarely go out to photograph (fresh fluffy snow is great, but this frozen slush is the visual pits), but I still have the urge to take pictures. One thing I've taken to doing is just prowling around the house with my camera looking for interesting little vignettes--like these two colored bottles sitting in a front window (the slats are partially opened blinds).

You'll be surprised what interesting finds you can make, especially in windows. One night during an ice storm my neighbors left their porch lights on all night and they were illuminating a frozen window in my living room. I set up a tripod and shot several long exposures and two of those photos ended up in my book The Joy of Digital Photography. I've also learned that having a few good houseplants in flower during the winter helps me keep my macro skills well honed.