evening walk with violet shadows, scooters, loads of snow, and last snowman of winter

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(Edited)

Greetings, Hive! Some of my friends already post pictures of snowdrops, crocuses in bloom and even mushrooms (!). I really can imagine, that at some parts of the world morels are already preparing to pop-up out of the ground. But here, in the north of Europe, there are no blooming rhododendrons on the horizon -- but rather the opposite.

Maybe you've heard this Russian proverb: "When it's March outdoors, you'd better get ready to put on seven pants." That is absolutely true. I guess we'll see no snowdrops until mid-April (but I've already prepared my macro lens that's been lazily sitting on the shelf for most of the winter).

In general, yesterday's blizzard again brought a lot of snow. Since there are no more frosts, the snow was fluffy, sticky, of the same kind that turns everything around into works of art. Returning late at night from the office, I could not resist and uncovered the camera. (At that time I had my heavy 70-200mm telephoto with me). And although the blizzard was not over yet, and snowflakes were spinning around me (I don’t like to risk my camera and lenses and usually avoid taking pictures in such weather), I couldn’t resist - I hid the camera in my jacket, and still took pictures, very quickly :)

This was a post to go with #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay
(Was late to post it on Wednesday, pics editing took me a few hours).

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Is it art? I guess it is! Very ephemera sort of it, tho.

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The city has already started its preparations for the warm season, scooters have appeared on the streets for hourly rentals and rides...

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... and yesterday all of the city suddenly was covered up with a 10cm snow blanket. Again!!! And it is not going to melt!!! Winter has struck again, it's boxing with Spring, and is still full of energy... although of course it's clear that this is already 'a beginning of an end'.

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Alas, the townspeople have to be patient until the asphalt is cleaned and dried, and most importantly until it gets warmer - only then I agree to open the cycling season.

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At some places, melting snow makes the asphalt wet and sparkling like molten mercury; reflections are juxtaposed. At other spots where the snow does not have time to disappear, the surfaces are again draped with a white blanket ... which reflects the light back and turns lighting upside down, paints a completely different light picture. Even yesterday, the same cityscape would have looked completely different in a photograph (not to mention the view in daylight). I love sunny days... but I also adore neon nights. I am an addicted inhabitant of a metropolis :)

В одних местах тающий снег делает асфальт мокрым и сверкающим, как расплавленная ртуть, благодатной подложкой для размножения отражения. А где снег не успевает исчезнуть, поверхности превращаются во внушительный отражатель, который отражает свет и переворачивает кверх тормашками всюсветовую картиу. Еще вчера этот же вид выглядел бы совсем иначе (не говоря уж про дневное освещение). Я люблю солнечные дни... но также люблю и неоновые ночи. Я пристрастный обитатель мегаполиса :)


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A real winter fairy tale! from a scratch, all of a sudden.


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The last captures of my short walk I took at the playground. Of course, kidz did not miss this sudden winter's farewell gift, and momentarily found the right use for snow: made another snowman! (Isnt it too many?!) Big, fatty, and stable. And I have a suspicion that this is absolutely the last snowman of this season. 😁

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Close-up portrait. Note his unusual ears, jaw, and a generally contented expression of the muzzle. Maybe this is a kidz attempt to sculpt a bear? .. @ksteem what do you think - could it be a bear?..

Thanks for walking with me! see you next time.

location: St.Petersburg, Russia March 2023 natural light
camera/lens: Canon 5D 70-200mm raw-conv

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All images taken by me, copyright (c) @qwerrie
My posts at pinmapple.com
Thanks for visiting my blog!


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38 comments
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Pretty impressive walk in winter I think, I miss this atmosphere, maybe I should go there to enjoy winter, amazing. :)

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Love the scooters in the snow, such an awesome capture @qwerrie 😎 beautiful!
The snowman ⛄️ does look like a bear 🐻

It’s interesting, one day it looks like spring and the next day 10 cm snow again. We had the same here a week or so ago. Now all is melted again.

Have a wonderful Thursday 👋🏻😊 great photography!
!PIZZA

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I've got an extra version in comments from my friend that it might be a 'Shitdemon' from the 'Dogma' movie. Cant say anything against... (have you seen it?.. )

It’s interesting, one day it looks like spring and the next day 10 cm snow again.

It is cool for kidz and photographers -- but not fun at all for janitors and drivers.
Btw, did you encountered any snowmen at all this winter?..
They are rare nowadays... not like a !PIZZA 😜

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Aha.. nope never heard of it @qwerrie 🤓
Sorry for my late reply, tiling hand made terracotta tiles at the in-laws for the next 2 weeks. Busy days.
Took us the whole weekend to drive 12 hours down south.

I so understand.
Guess what, I even built a snowman ⛄️ myself. Will have to post it one day soon.
I also saw a few up here in the mountains.
Didn’t know they were rare…
Hope they don’t go extinct hehehe 🤭

Have an awesome week 👋🏻😊

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I didnt watch 'Dogma' either 🤓

⛄️

I even built a snowman

tha is very nice of you,looking forward to watch that piece of ephemera art
and I had another sunday walk which resulted even in more S-man tropheys!
on that day we had no !PIZZA, but had coffee - and used it to decorate... er...
I better will keep it for the blog :P

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If there is somewhere where I am enough snow… I always will built a snowman ⛄️
Love making them.

Aawww that’s cool you saw even more. Tag me when you post about them @qwerrie 😊
Thank you, I let you know when I post ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

Oh, now you make me curious… hehehe 🤭 but don’t tell me. I will see 🤓
Have a !PIZZA on this lovely evening 😎

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(Edited)

PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered:
qwerrie tipped deirdyweirdy
@littlebee4(0/5) tipped @qwerrie (x2)
qwerrie tipped millycf1976
qwerrie tipped littlebee4 (x2)

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pixresteemer_incognito_angel_mini.png
Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
Week 149 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
!BEER
11

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You have a special with editing your photos, to keep them real, vibrant, and alive without them looking fake. You are selling the cold to me, and that's something extra-ordinary:)

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Hey, are you buying?! I'd rather suggest to trade, willingly exchange our frost for your warmth !LOLZ

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willingly exchange our frost for your warmth

Oh no! I'm in the Uk where it's wet, grey, and cold. I think you would find where you are, more atmospheric. It's been miserable outside😟

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(Edited)

It's been miserable outside

Understand... Same here, actually. And thats the reason why I always embellish reality in my photos... St.Petersburg is nice city with terrific weather, I do not forget to repeat this to all potential tourists 😉 but we always can brighten our life with coffee and !PIZZA 😘

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I agree on coffee and pizza for a miracle cure.
I'd love to visit your part of the world one day😘

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Finland, Sweden, Norway -- more or less similar environment and nature. (Unless specifically the imperial part of Russian history is considered).

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Ah! I see! I haven't been to any of the Scandinavian countries yet. If I were to guess which one might be the first one, it would be Denmark, because my best friend's husband is from there. Still, my husband would like to do the Trans-Siberian railway trip one day. That would be quite an experience for me.

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Trans-Siberian railway trip! that would be like walking in David Bowie's shoes - I read that he did exactly this sort of a travel back in the days of the Iron Curtain, in 1979, if I'm not mistaken. I wouldn't mind having that experience myself. Ahem. Let's not say "no" 🤑

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Oh wow! David Bowie and Iman normally stayed for 2 weeks at the resort where I worked in Jamaica. He was a warm, quiet, and lovely person, so I'm a big fan.
For now, we can only dream of experiencing such a trip one day 😝

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Is it art? It most certainly is! You have quite the eye ...or maybe quite the camera!:)
Here in Ireland, the spring is sprung, everything around me is blooming and the little birds are flying hither and thither collecting bits and pieces for nest building.

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here in Ireland...

well, Europe have a great gift of the warm Gulf Stream, and the average annual temperatures are 8-10 degrees higher than here ... and we even have May and June frosts, alas, this is a fact. But by the way, there is one similarity: the birds also know that Spring has come - they sing loudly and cheerfully, like spring, already from about mid-February !!!

!PIZZA

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great pictures !

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Grazie Mille! (But confess: I embellished the dull reality a little, .raw processing allows and even encourages this)

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Как по мне - цвета приятные. Даже вечно раздражающий желтый свет не выглядит таким бесящим (у нас в городе вообще повальная мода везде пихать желтые фонари, белый свет можно по пальцам пересчитать :(( ) В общем - зачетно получилось.) Лучшее фото на мой взгляд - с идущим в клетчатой куртке человеком

У нас тоже уже самокаты эти расставили, только другой конторы. Юрент почему то в Самаре не прижился. Народ уже катается вовсю, под колеса лезет.

А вот насчет снеговика... Не уверен насчет медведя, первой ассоциацией в голове возник персонаж фильма Догма - Дерьмодемон.))

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вечно раздражающий желтый свет не выглядит таким бесящим (у нас в городе вообще повальная мода везде пихать желтые фонари, белый свет можно по пальцам пересчитать :(( )

ВООТ!!!!!! как я тебя понимаю. страдаю этим же, меня ужасно бесит эта грязно-оранжевая срань на фотках. (притом что оранжевый вообще по жизни мой любимый цвет). как раз наверное грязь и бесит. а камера именно так видит, и народ по большей части никогда не парится, оставляет как есть. и обычно этот факт подсознательно сразу квалифицируется как "минимальные усилия по обработке", лол.

с "Дерьмодемоном" не знаком,и не уверен что хочется. но вот хорошо, теперь буду иметь в виду что моя версия только одна из, чисто "вскидочная".

чел в клетчатой куртке - нравится тем что "сделано из ничего", выезжает чисто на обработке. кажется неплохим кадром, с кинематографическим ощущением. а мое любимое - скорее #6.

пощупаю, не осталось ли в загашнике !BEER

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Я как то пробовал играться с настройками баланса белого на камере, но слишком муторно, под каждый кадр подбирать значение - лень.)

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мне кажется, это невозможно, да и условия съемки будут разные. а я почти ко всем кадрам отношусь к каждому отдельно, трачу свое время как последний дурак :) кхе, кхе
!BEER

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Beautiful pictures especially the 5th one

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Thank you friend, for choosing your fave.
I would say that #5 has a 'cinematographic feeling' to it 😜

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Lol, nice play on the bear! It looks like a Russian Dancing Bear to me! We also had a "snow squall" last night. Very high gusty winds and only about an inch of snow. Very disappointing actually, we were just starting to see some patches of grass a few feet across and then all covered up again this morning. We are so very ready to be done with the snow this year and see some green again.

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We are so very ready to be done with the snow this year and see some green again.

yes, yes, a dozen "yes". we too. I am missing long photo-walks and street hunting ... miss the sun and warm. on another hand - after few winters without even a half-inch of snow, this was a good one, quite convincing. 😜

ps. one friend told me in comments this actually could be a 'Shitdemon' from the Dogma movie - cant say for sure, havent watched it.

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Отличные фото!
Просмотрела их 2 раза, затрудняюсь определиться с лучшим фото, что впервые со мной.
Все нравятся!
Но ещё подумаю 🙂

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😀😀😘
приятно! пасиба. что-то от вас мало в последнее время картинок. (хотя от меня вот -- еще меньше...)

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Да, но была на это серьёзная причина, к сожалению.
Я написала об этом здесь

Я также обратила внимание и на ваше отсутствие, и уже собиралась задать вопрос.
Хорошо что у вас всё хорошо!

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