Duck, Duck...Goose!

Today was snowy, cold, windy, and perfect for fun photos! I love the cold and the snow and when you add kids to winter weather it can more often than not equal good images.
I was a bit disappointed with the last winter storm we had here. Sure Denver got two feet of snow, but Pueblo was spared and didn't get much more than a couple of inches. This is not nearly enough snow if your plans include hitting your little brother in the head with a snowball.
When I started my search for a weather photo today there still wasn't much snow on the ground, but as the day progressed the amount of snow increased and so did my chances of finding a photo. I drove past a lot of the hills I have on my mental checklist of places to find sledders. Unfortunately I didn't find a single kid on a sled at the first few locations I drove by. Then I drove through City Park and came to the top of a hill just as I saw a sled disappear over the horizon. I parked, got out of my truck, grabbed my cameras and headed toward the hill just in time to watch four young figures walking away from the hill pulling their sled. I thought I had missed my opportunity. I climbed back in my truck and took another trip through the park.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw that the foursome that I had seen walking away from the sledding hill had stopped near the small lake to bury each other in snow. I had seen this done with sand on a beach but I had never seen someone lay still on the ground as others piled more and more snow on top of them covering them completely. Yet here it was happening right in front of me.
I grabbed my camera bag and camera and walked toward the group. I found that of the four, three were girls and the youngest, the lone boy, was the one being buried in the snow. I talked with them as I photographed them and they continued to go about their business as I talked and make pictures of them.
Then something happened that I wasn't expecting. A large number of geese started honking and walking toward us. They must have thought that we had food for them. I realized that here was an opportunity that I should try to take advantage of. I got the 14mm lens on the camera, kneeled down and starting photographing the parade of water fowl as they marched up to us and then changed course just before getting to the young boy in the pile of snow. The circumstances combined to make for some pretty fun photos, but it wouldn't have been nearly the fun image without the look on the boy's face. It was priceless. Luck smiled on me today and this time I just happened to be ready for it.

A little later I had my camera trained on the same boy when he was hit in the head by a snowball launched at him by one of his older sisters. I am not sure who had the luckier shot, me or the youngster's sister.
Let it snow, let it snow.
Happy New Year!
-Bryan