I like to joke that one of the best parts of my job is that I get to work outside, and that one of the worst parts of my job is that I have to work outside.  On perfect A+ beautiful day, who would not want to be outside?  On top of that, my job is to take beautiful pictures of the beautiful day, and what could be better than that?

On the other side of the coin was Tuesday morning.  I was up by 5 a.m.  It took me over 20 minutes to put on roughly 100 layers of clothing, giving me the overwhelming feeling that I had just mummified myself.  You have to have a strategy for dressing for a blizzard, because you need to stay warm outside, but you do not want to take so long dressing that you work up a sweat.  There will be plenty of time for sweating when you are slogging through 2 feet of snow.

Inclement weather can be a photographer’s nightmare.  Failure to wrap up and protect your camera gear normally results in water damage that can render you cameras inoperable.  Not good when facing an all-day storm. The same protection for your gear makes your cameras harder and highly frustrating to operate. Still, it is better to deal with the shifting of camera’s raincoat than to have a waterlogged Five Thousand Dollar paperweight.

Situational awareness is crucial when dealing with a major storm such as this week’s blizzard.  Stepping on a downed power line will ruin your day right quick, so you always want to stay hyper alert.  I never pause under utility poles or power lines, and normally will walk on the opposite side of the road.  Also, with my head hidden under stocking caps, scarfs and a hood, my vision is limited.  Making it worse is the blowing snow, which stung my eyes every time I looked up.  My hearing was also compromised due to hats, hoods, scarfs and 40 mph winds.  All of this adds a whole new dimension of difficulty in taking a good photo.

Tuesday’s blizzard was also the first time in my almost 20-year career that I had to cover the storm on foot.  My driveway was so buried in snow that I simply could not get my car free.  I would go for hourlong hikes through the snow on foot, usually until I sweat through my inner layers and started to get cold.  Then I would return to my house, change into dry clothes and transmit my photos to the office via my computer.  I went through a week's worth of laundry.  

My only real regret under these circumstances is not having the time to channel my inner Robert Frost and summons the passages of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”  To be out in nature, especially in its full fury, can be amazing to behold.  Breaking news deadlines do not wait for me to daydream, however, and even in the middle of a full blown blizzard, I do have promises to keep, and miles to trudge before I sleep.