Winter photography is a challenge I often don’t succeed in, usually coming home with cards full of badly composed shots, boring overcast exposures and many failed attempts at trying something different to suit the environment I'm in. It sometimes makes me feel inadequate. However, when I do succeed, the feeling is euphoric and those are the moments I patiently wait for. For me, winter seems to bring the best results. What excites me about winter photography is the challenge of getting up when you are cold and tired, enduring chilling winds and occasional showers or snow in the hope that a small window of opportunity that can set this shot apart from any other photo. When I do succeed, the feeling is euphoric. The hard work pays off.

In winter, snow simplifies the landscape. It gets rid of all the clutter and all the distractions that surround a prominent subject. What survives the suffocation of snow is usually an interesting subject that is for the most part worth investigating with the camera. It limits your options and forces you to think in a different way. It forces you to create artistically and takes away the temptation of copping out and taking just another ‘panorama from the carpark’. Snow sets a challenge for the willing and passionate photographer, often teasing your limits and occasionally beating you and your gear. There have been many times where I have given up halfway through a hike, or swore at the elements from body fatigue and cold feet. But then again, looking back at some of the images i've taken when in that place makes me appreciate the dialogue between earth and photographer.

Snow is also a good recipient of colour. There is nothing better than getting up early, and capturing the subtle wash of purple and blueish tones in the alpine glow that transform the pre-dawn landscape. It changes the mood of the mountains and valleys. During my four-day trip into Aoraki National Park, I was lucky enough to experience this just once. Although my feet were frozen stiff, to the point where I actually had to walk around in circles for 10 minutes just to get the circulation back into my toes, I was gifted with a small 15-minute window in which I captured the tip of Aoraki/Mt. Cook still in a state of sleep. I felt like a photojournalist capturing a rare candid moment. I'd gotten the image I had hoped I would be lucky enough to get.