Winter officially begins with the Winter Solstice, when the Sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn. This year this occurred on the 21 December. In reality though the really cold weather around here doesn't really set in until January/February each year.

The deeper frosts persist, snow may fall, water freezes and the north wind will blow. It's time to wrap up warm and get out and about with the camera.

Dull days set a somber mood and emphasise the cold and bleakness in the scene thus are not to be ignored. Fair weather photographers miss out on a lot of opportunities by hiding away indoors waiting for sunnier days.

In these sort of conditions I tend to use a super zoom like my 12-100mm f4 Pro (24-200mm crop factor equivalent) as trying to change lenses with freezing cold fingers is always an unpleasant challenge.

Despite the cold, there are always some brave folk about to add interest to your composition, it's not just photographers who are mad enough to venture out and be frozen!