One of my favourite activities lately is to grab a coffee when I get home from work and then browse through all the wintry gorgeousness in the 100 Days of Winter flickr group. There’s such a range of images, all beautiful in their own way and each one restoring my faith that winter might actually be the most photogenic season of the year, after all!

Here are some of my own wintry offerings, foresty ones. Not from today, but wintry none-the-less.

On dark winter evenings, if there’s no opportunity for photography, there’s always the chance to have a tinker in Photoshop…

It occurred to be the other day that I hadn’t used my beloved Polaroid SX-70 for ages. I do find it takes the best photos when there’s LOTS of light – almost too much light, so what with it being dark and wintry and all, conditions aren’t exactly ideal.  However, whilst these aren’t amaze-ulous or anything, it was very satisfying to hear and feel that click and whirr again as the photo popped out.

On the other hand, just look at these photos – they’re from the 100 Days of Winter flickr group and I’m totally gobsmacked at how amazing they are and how great they look together. I feel so inspired – winter is awesome!

1. To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold., 2. firewood., 3. afternoon snack., 4. just before sundown, 5. Weird clouds, 6. dreaming of play time, 7. winter captured, 8. Winter has come, 9. decorating closeup, 10. christmas cocoa, 11. njosnavelin, 12. 17/365., 13. Sunday love, 14. Winter flower, 15. Picture Inspiration | Week Thirty Nine, 16. Skating in Somerset House, London, 17. snow boots for sure, 18. a little snow art, 19. Untitled, 20. 1210036 fog, 21. saturday afternoon, 22. oak, 23. 2011-11-25 – Foggy Forest under the Rainbow Sky, 24. Fortnum and Masons #5, 25. Starbucks.

I was rummaging through my camera drawer (I could really do with a camera room, but a drawer will do for now) and I (re)discovered my Diana Instant Back.

Being the impatient sort I loaded it with film right there and then and proceeded to skip to the back garden so I could photograph the first vaguely photogenic thing I could find. The twiggy branches of a tree are always a safe bet.

Taken with Diana + Instant Back + FujiFilm mini instant film

Now I know it must be winter, as I’ve had my first mince pie of the year! And a coffee too, although that wasn’t even my first one of the day, let alone year.

I’d earned a treat after fighting my way through the crowds in town – so many people!

I could quite easily spend the whole winter taking photos of berries. They are so very well behaved and cheery to look at, and certainly brighten up a cold, old winters day, don’t you think?

PS – There’s lot’s more wintry cheer to be found in the 100 Days of Winter flickr group