Some mornings I wake up early. It’s not often that it happens. I’m a late sleeper, always have been. But when I do wake up at the crack of dawn and it’s snowing outside, I will get out of bed, put on some warm winter clothes, grab my camera and head out for a walk. Today was one of those days.

As I write this, about three hours after taking the photos, it’s still snowing lightly. This was a good snowfall. We’ve had some other ones this year, of which one in particular sticks in my mind. It happened earlier this week, with snowflakes almost as big as my palm. That was magical — but it didn’t last. With -1 degrees Celsius outside right now, this snowfall looks like it might last longer than a few hours, so that makes it the first good snowfall of this winter.

As always, I hope you enjoy the photos. These were taken in the historic town center of Medias — known as Mediasch in German and Medgyes in Hungarian — and known to me as my hometown.

A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania
A dawn walk through the historic town center in Medias, Transilvania, Romania

Places

A morning walk through the snow

Places

Blue hour and snowfall!

This past Sunday morning, I woke up to a beautiful snowfall and luckily for me, about 10 minutes before the blue hour (which actually lasts less than an hour). I tiptoed down the stairs so I wouldn’t wake up my wife and child, put some clothes and shoes on, and because it was snowing heavily, I took my Canon 7D (my only weather-sealed camera), along with the 10-22mm EF-S lens (which is also weather-sealed). I wanted an ultra-wide perspective to the photos and also the ability to shoot without a tripod at low shutter speeds. An ultra-wide lens lets you do that because of the “reciprocal rule”: as long as the shutter speed matches the focal length, you should get a good photo (provided you have steady hands). A 10-22mm lens would let me use shutter speeds as low as 1/10th of a second, which is just what I did on some of the photos. Enjoy the gallery!

Taken during a mid-February snowfall in Medias, Romania

For those of you who love looking at camera gear (I know I do), here is a photo of the camera and lens I used.

Canon EOS 7D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f:3.5-4.5 Lens

Places

A hike through the hills of Moldova

These are photos I’ve taken during a couple of hikes through the hills near the village of Strugari in Moldova, Romania. Here’s a map of the area.

A map of the region around Strugari, Moldova

It was the middle of March (the 14th and 15th) and spring had just arrived. Most of the grass was dry and leaves hadn’t sprouted yet. As a matter of fact, no buds were even apparent on the branches of the trees in the area. A friendly little mutt that belonged to friends of ours accompanied me on the hikes (you can see him in the photos). A late snowfall introduced an element of adventure to one of the outings. It’s lovely to be in the middle of nowhere and to be suddenly surrounded by myriad falling snowflakes. A magical quiet sets in, sounds are muffled and a feeling of wonder takes over.

Enjoy the photos!

A shepherd tends to his flock of sheep on a distant hilltop.

Puffy white clouds cast shadows on the hills and valleys below on a sunny winter morning.

A late winter snowfall starts to cover the hills and valleys.

Tall grass, dried by the long winter and downed by strong winds, on a hilltop somewhere in Moldova, Romania.

© Raoul Pop. All rights reserved.  Available for licensing and purchase.   Website - Raoul Pop.  Photo Catalog - Raoul Pop Photography.

Tall grass, blown every which way by the wind and dried by the same, covers this abrupt hillside somewhere in Moldova, Romania.

Moldova, Romania

Snowfall caught me in the middle of a walk in these hills, somewhere in the region of Moldova, Romania.

A crumbling old country house sits unused at the bottom of a hill in a little village in Moldova, Romania.

A thick forest of conifers cover the hill in the background while a quiet little stream winds its way through thickets and sparse trees in the valley below.

Atop a large hill, a wide plateau is used for farmland. In winter, it sits unused and barren.

Video Log

Finally, some snow!

After an unusually warm, humdrum winter in Romania, bereft of snow, we finally had some fairly heavy snowfall these past few days! I drove through a snowstorm the day before yesterday and when I got home, I got to enjoy the beautiful winter weather from inside our house, safe and warm.

I made a short vlog about this which you can watch here or on YouTube. Enjoy!

Glad to be back home!

One of the first things I feel in the morning is my daughter kissing me on the face and whispering “Daddy…”, usually followed by a request for food or cartoons or playtime. She’s our alarm clock, whether we like it or not, though I have to say, no matter how tired I am, waking up to a little angel giving me a kiss and calling me daddy is a pretty good way to start the day.

Yesterday morning, even though I’d worked till 2 am and she was waking me up at 7 am, I got up and took her in my arms and started walking together toward her playroom. I looked casually out the kitchen window and (this happens every year) let out a “Yoo-hoo!” because the first snowfall of the winter had already covered our yard. Sophie did the same — after all, she wants to be like her daddy — and we both giggled as we looked out the windows at the pure, little ice crystals coming down in a hurry.

Still, I needed my sleep, so I got a fire going in her playroom, got her some food and shuffled back to bed. By the time I got up again, the snow was still falling, albeit in less of a hurry, and blustery winter winds had begun to blow. You know the kind, the chill goes right to your bones and makes you shiver no matter how many clothes you have on you.

After breakfast, I had to grab a camera and go out to photograph the snowfall. It had started coming down a little heavier again and this was a chance not to be missed, in spite of the cold weather.

I did just that. The streets were mostly deserted, which is just the way I like it, although the tracks of hurried morning traffic were visible in the snow. It was odd weather. The warmer ground had turned the freshly fallen snow to slush and yet high winds were blowing down, carrying more snow from up above and spreading it everywhere. It was not a good time to walk around with a camera in hand. My fingers began to slowly freeze and become unresponsive. I’d forgotten how this felt. A warm summer will do that to you. My nose and ears seemed to be in a parallel plane where the sensations consisted mostly of prickly pins being shot at them. The cold started creeping up my legs and in spite of the old saying that goes something like “I’m freezing my a** out here…” it wasn’t my derriere that was suffering, it was my kidneys. Weird stuff…

Anyway, I persisted, walked throughout the historic district and photographed what caught my eye. I hope you’ll enjoy these photos. It was a fun and partially frozen experience…

Historic district, Mediaș, Romania

By the way, high wind advisories are still in effect throughout Romania. Meteorologists are saying that some regions are expected to have winds up to 60-70 km/h. Should be interesting!

Places

Raoul Pop

One man's life

Tag Archives: snowfall

A morning walk through the snow

Blue hour and snowfall!

A hike through the hills of Moldova

Finally, some snow!

First snowfall of 2016

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