A photographer’s eye is always looking, noticing. Joe Garza was passing through the countryside near Deerfield, east of Madison, when this scene began to take shape outside his car windows. He spoke with us about how he captured the shot.
What is your favorite thing about this photo? What “makes” it? Obviously, the sky is gorgeous and just flows right into the cool tones of the snow and hills, but I feel like there’s something in the composition/arrangement of the bales that might be the secret sauce here. What did your eye see?
The colors – the pastels and pinks – in this sunrise were the first thing to catch my eye as I drove by. In the next instant, I saw all the hoarfrost on the hay bales and the snowdrifts around them creating some beautiful lines in the image. I was driving past it and had to stop on the roadside, grab my camera and start shooting this incredible scene.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Where is this?
This is outside of Deerfield, Wisconsin, on back country roads. It’s not an area I shoot often but just happened to be driving through on that day right around sunrise.
When and how did you capture this image?
This was shot from the side of the road! I walked maybe 10 feet into the field to get past some undesirable foreground chaos, set up my tripod and started photographing the gorgeous sunrise. This was shot on Feb. 19, 2019.
What do you remember about that day – was there anything special about it?
I know the date, and the temp was minus-3 degrees. I remember the bitter bite of the cold, even without any wind! I’m pretty sure I didn’t have any gloves, either. I watched as the sun came up hoping the colors would persist and to get a few other landscape shots.
Tell us a little about yourself as a photographer.
I’m a full-time professional photographer, born in Westland, Michigan, and now live in Madison with my family. I specialize in landscape and nature photography and absolutely love being outdoors and exploring new landscapes whether they’re mountains, fall colors, Alaskan northern lights, or tropical scenes from Hawaii or the Caribbean. I also lead photography workshops all over the U.S. for people wanting to see some amazing scenes and learn how to photograph them. All of my images, including this one, are available for sale on my website and information on the workshops can also be found there.
Is there anything else you’d want people to know about this photo, yourself or your photography?
This photo is all about being in the moment and taking the time to be in that moment. There’s beauty everywhere you look, and being a photographer gives me the perfect way to be out in nature and capture these landscapes. I love sharing my images with others to help them discover and enjoy the world around us – whether it’s through bringing a print into their home or joining in on a workshop.
