Winter Archives - Light and Landscapes

Winter Comes to Old Town Manassas

January 12, 2025 by John Caplis

Throughout January 6th, 2025, Winter Storm Blair blanketed the Manassas area with 8 inches of beautiful snow. I have always wanted to capture an image of the Manassas Train Station covered in pristine, new fallen snow. As the storm was winding down that night, I decided to brave the howling winds and cold to take a walk-about around Old Town Manassas and photograph some of its landmarks and street scenes. The town was still regaled in its holiday lights, banners, and decorations which added to the beauty of these winter cityscapes.

Manassas Train Station blanketed with new fallen snow

I took a time-lapse video to capture the winter vibe:

Harris Pavilion turned into a winter skating rink.

Old Town Manassas Post Office on Church Street

Manassas Museum at the end of Battle Street

The Things I Love Gift Shop on Center Street

Old Town Hall and the Newly Renovated City Hall

Street Seating at Philadelphia Tavern on Main Street

Street Seating at Crossroads Tavern on Main Street

Flag at half-mast for the late former-President Jimmy Carter, train locomotive with lights on at the end of the track.

Related Images:

Snowstorms and Sunsets

January 18, 2024 by John Caplis

The aftermath of a good snowstorm is one of my favorite times to go out and capture the world. Everything is covered in a white blanket of snow, ponds are covered in ice, and if the timing is right, clearing storm clouds can turn the sky into a stunning display of color. The recent storm on MLK Day covered my neighborhood in five inches of beautiful snow. The sunset that followed the next day was amazing, with several bursts of color throughout the twilight period. It’s not often that you have time to try different compositions in different spots during the same sunset.

My initial composition as the clouds turned red. The ice was very opaque because it snowed the entire time the pond was freezing up, which created a very soft diffuse reflection of color.

I decided to try a few vertical compositions to include a snow covered foreground in the image. This was difficult because most of the snow along the shoreline was full of footprints from children that had been playing in the area.

In this image, I was looking for a clean and balanced snow line to frame the bottom of the scene.

As I was experimenting with another foreground spot in the waning light, another layer of clouds lower in the sky unexpectedly turned deep red and remained colorful until the end of twilight.

As the reds in the clouds exploded for the second time, I recomposed this image to capture more of the color in the sky.

You can see a collection of my favorite images taken at this pond over the years in my On Wellington Pond photo gallery.

Related Images:

The Beauty of New Fallen Snow

January 16, 2022 by John Caplis

The biggest storm in our area in over three years, snowstorm Frida, dropped a foot of heavy, wet snow on Northern Virginia. This storm was newsworthy as it damaged trees, knocked out power to thousands, canceled schools for a week, and stranded motorists on I-95 for over 24 hours. From a photographer’s perspective, this storm was also quite unusual in that it flocked the trees with snow that stayed on the branches for several days. I decided to go out and explore our neighborhood walking trails, respecting the requests of local officials to stay off the roads. What I found was a winter wonderland in Wellington that was quite stunning…