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50 Beautiful Winter Wonderland Photos
As winter approaches in the northern hemisphere and the nights draw in, our thoughts turn to the beauty of ice and snow. Winter photography, especially in the colder parts of the world, is a specialized niche. Photographers have to take care of their cameras and guard against frostbite and hypothermia. They often venture into remote wilderness searching for the perfect winter landscape. Their reward is stunning imagery.
As a tribute to these hardy men and women, we bring you 50 beautiful winter wonderland photos. We included both colorful photos (especially the colors of sunrise and sunset bring out the beauty of the winter landscape) and black-and-white photos (they bring out the contrast in tones between snow and the landscape). We’ve linked the photographers’ names to their portfolios or websites, so that you can explore their work. We’ve also listed some informative articles about cold-weather photography at the bottom of the post.
You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:
- 35 Beautiful Examples of Rain Photography
- 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
- 50 Stunning Underwater Photos
- 25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
[By the way, did you know there is a brand new Smashing Wordpress Book? Push WordPress past its limits!]
50 Beautiful Winter Wonderland Photos
Last Click
Resources
- 10 Amazing HDR Photos Of Winter
- Winter Landscapes
- ePHOTOzine – Severe cold-weather photography
Interview with cold-weather photographer Jack Jackson. - Surviving cold-weather photography
Learn how to look after your camera gear. - Tips for cold-weather photography
- How to use your camera in cold weather
- Ice safety
Related Posts
You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:
- 35 Beautiful Examples of Rain Photography
- 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
- 50 Stunning Underwater Photos
- 25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
(al)
Andrew Gibson is a photographer and writer. He runs Magical Places Fine Art, an online photography magazine and another great photography resource.
- 90 Comments
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November 23rd, 2008 4:00 pmSweet 404.
- 3
November 23rd, 2008 4:01 pmVeryy nice list, think i may have a new background
- 4
November 23rd, 2008 4:21 pmoh my god i cold :)))
- 5
November 23rd, 2008 4:31 pmwhat is that white powder everywhere?
- 6
November 23rd, 2008 4:32 pm#1 e_anka is right. 52 by Unknown is just flipped horizontally & changed a little bit. I think it shouldn’t be on the list ;-)
- 7
November 23rd, 2008 4:36 pmphotoshopped.
- 8
November 23rd, 2008 4:38 pmMore web development – usability – page layout – etc.stuff. I click ads.
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November 23rd, 2008 4:41 pmGreat set!
- 10
November 23rd, 2008 4:52 pmwhat’s wrong with using photoshop? is part of digital photography, get over it, people.
- 11
November 23rd, 2008 4:56 pm4, 6 and 18 aren’t ’special’ enough in my opinion. All the others make want to ride sleighs, drink hot choco and take long walks through open snowy countrysides :-)
- 12
November 23rd, 2008 5:03 pmi like *joffo 1 ;)
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November 23rd, 2008 5:09 pmCan’t help but laugh at the phallic icicles of #4.
- 14
November 23rd, 2008 7:25 pmAs always, very nice collection. But don’t you guys think it’s time to find another word other than ‘Beautiful’? No? Just going to keep using that word for every post? Ok, thats cool… way to be.
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November 23rd, 2008 9:41 pmA few of them are IR photos and not truly ‘winter’ but very nice nonetheless!
- 16
November 23rd, 2008 10:00 pmreally excellent and amazing images. very nice…….
- 17
November 23rd, 2008 10:19 pmFeeling Chill :-)
Good Collection - 18

- 19
November 23rd, 2008 10:59 pmWinter is beautiful !
- 20
November 23rd, 2008 11:33 pmisnt the 1st unknown one a xp default image? ^^
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November 24th, 2008 12:09 amFeeling Chill & nice
- 22
November 24th, 2008 12:10 amFantastique, un peu de rêve pour commencer la semaine, cool !!!
- 23
November 24th, 2008 12:18 amThe photo of Eleanor Rigby is an IR shot. The rest not.
- 24
November 24th, 2008 12:20 amI needed cheering up, so thanks. They are stunning!
- 25
November 24th, 2008 12:30 amThank you for showing one of my photos here :) Really beautiful collection.
- 26
November 24th, 2008 12:47 amSesjusz’s one is infrared too. I think is part infrared (trees) and part not (street, field and grass). ;-)
- 27
November 24th, 2008 12:55 amMay I correct that the link to anders r. naesset’s photo http://pheelfresh.deviantart.com/art/The-Winter-Storm-75326589 is http://pheelfresh.deviantart.com/
- 28
November 24th, 2008 12:56 amSesjusz’s one is infrared too.
No it’s not…
Nice collection! Brrr… - 29
November 24th, 2008 1:07 amWow, these are truly stunning images! These are getting me in the mood for Christmas already. I’m spoiled for choice as to which I’d like for my desktop ;)
- 30
November 24th, 2008 2:05 amAn inspiration to get my DSLR camera out again…
http://www.richescreative.co.uk - 31
November 24th, 2008 3:23 amVery Nice Photos!! I’ s Christmas Time!!
- 32
November 24th, 2008 3:42 amExcellent pics!!! Very nice collection ….smashing rocks…
- 33
November 24th, 2008 3:43 amso cold… nice pics.. breathtaking views in some of them!
- 34
November 24th, 2008 3:53 amHey guys… where are the Images !? i have to click on then to see it? my God!… let’s use pictures like it was before.. about the set.. nice ;)
[ http://www.v8webdesign.com ] - 35
November 24th, 2008 4:34 amDamn thats some nice image.. will use some as wallpaper here.
thanks - 36
November 24th, 2008 4:45 amI have said this before…
Most color pictures just seem to punch you in the face with a contrast festival.
Black and white are much better.
Question: Is contrast becoming a standard to make pictures stand out ? - 37
November 24th, 2008 5:08 am“Founded in September 2006, Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information for designers and Web developers”
How exactly are photos useful and innovative information for web designers? I appreciate a good photo as much as anyone else, but I have actual photography sites I visit when I want to look at those.
Maybe Smashing should open up SmashingPhotographs.com. Top 50 photos alongside jQuery scripting just doesn’t make sense.
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November 24th, 2008 5:47 amAmazing photos, an inspiration to dig out the DSLR. Not as many IR photos as I thought there would be.
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November 24th, 2008 5:54 am@jon
Did you never heard of inspiration or using bits for illustration?Diversity is key! Keep up the good work!
- 40
November 24th, 2008 8:04 amVery beautiful photos!
- 41
November 24th, 2008 8:07 am#6 leszek – in my opinion 52 by unknown is original, and 19 is flipped and photoshopped. You can see it in the details ( darker, more blurred, less detail, blurred wall on the right side of the photo – where on 52 is some broken branch of the tree or vine, removed horizontal bars from lanterns, removed the girl with umbrella – but still part of umbrella shadow can be seen on the right side of the photo :)
I don’t mind using photoshop to postprocess my photos. I do mind using photoshop to take someone else’s photo, change it and display as my own, without crediting photo’s author. - 42
November 24th, 2008 8:21 amYes! It does make country proud, home very so. I like!
- 43
November 24th, 2008 8:25 am19 is def. photoshopped. Drag both images off and open in photoshop and they align perfectly.
- 44
November 24th, 2008 8:56 amThanks for sharing! I should change my background for the Christmas coming…Link[http://www.xmas9.com]
- 45
November 24th, 2008 9:40 amI missed this nice one in the list: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresk/2131371737
- 46
November 24th, 2008 9:48 amNice pictures but I find them more frustrating than anything else – why are they all such low resolution? Monitors get bigger all the time.
I am in need of beautiful wallpapers at least 3360 x 1080, thus I wont be keeping an eye on any of the artists mentioned here :(
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November 24th, 2008 10:45 amTo those whining that this isn’t webdevelopmentstuff …
” i n s p i r a t i o n ” ;p
And besides , I believe every self respecting web designer should be abled to take decent pictures as any self respecting web designer wouldn’t dare use pictures he didn’t make by himself :p
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November 24th, 2008 10:49 amJust the right time to post something like this…. ;-)
I love the “Last click” though it seems so unreal! - 49
November 24th, 2008 11:35 amgreat photos, like always! but i only see one person in ski in a photo. around here everyone skis and snowboards, we should see more of those sometime =D
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November 24th, 2008 1:17 pmI love this picture of an Glacier Sunrise. It’s my wallpaper since several months.
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November 24th, 2008 1:32 pmLolz… #30 is definetly one of the default Windows XP wallpapers. (‘Winter.jpg’ to be exact)
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November 24th, 2008 1:36 pmGreat list, Andrew. I have a feeling you’re not responsible for image #29…which is one of the four ’sample’ images that comes with the Windows XP operating system. You could always change the credits for that one from ‘Unknown’ to ‘Capt. Gates and the Winter Force’…. :-)
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November 24th, 2008 2:37 pmYou are losing your niche, don’t try to be something that you’re not.
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November 24th, 2008 4:11 pmTruly amazing pics, Do you sell callanders!?.
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November 24th, 2008 9:04 pmAmazing Photos!
- 57
November 25th, 2008 4:21 amWhat ever drugs you take when you go searching for the resources you present here please give me some :D This is hot chilling stuff :D Awesome work guys (and of course girls).
- 58
November 25th, 2008 9:38 am“what’s wrong with using photoshop? is part of digital photography, get over it, people.”
***************
Nothing wrong with using Photoshop, Mona…if you’re tweaking an original image. But taking someone else’s image and passing it off as your own is lame. But, I reckon you liked the cartoony “HDR” images also. More lameness. - 59

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November 25th, 2008 12:43 pmI was hoping for an ice-climber!
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November 25th, 2008 8:30 pmgood
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November 27th, 2008 1:22 amتصاویر بسیار زیبایی هستند
علیرضا - 63
November 27th, 2008 2:21 amExcellent pics!!! Very nice collection.smashing rocks.
very good - 64
November 27th, 2008 3:17 amWonderful images..so cold.. :)
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November 27th, 2008 11:38 amBEAUTIFUL!!! AMAZING!!!
I live in South America (Brazil) and I have never seen snow. - 66

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November 27th, 2008 7:06 pmLOved the photos. thank you
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November 28th, 2008 12:32 amwonderfull !!!
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November 28th, 2008 1:10 amThank U very much for yor interesting images.
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November 28th, 2008 9:55 pmGreat selection :DD! Some of them are so beautiful i could cry ;}..
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November 29th, 2008 3:54 amvery good tank .
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November 29th, 2008 1:36 pmthis is my God powre:)))
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November 30th, 2008 11:02 amAWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
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December 4th, 2008 1:23 amchala bagundi ….
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December 5th, 2008 7:55 amSome of those snow laden tree shots look like infrared photos! Very cool.
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December 6th, 2008 10:18 amhey,the photos are amazing!! sorry for language,I’m italian…..
ok…..bye!! - 77
December 8th, 2008 1:40 pmene yu ve
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December 11th, 2008 8:49 amAmazing! Fantastic.
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December 31st, 2008 12:56 amAmassing, beautiful and lovely…. i want to be there in all of those pics.
Cant think that nature could be so pure and innocent.
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January 3rd, 2009 11:10 amwoooooooooow
I wish I were there - 81
January 27th, 2009 12:20 pmthese pics are great and butiful
(: - 82
February 2nd, 2009 4:04 amBreath taking……….
Want to close my eyes for a second and reopen them & be surounded by these paradise nature…….xxx - 83
February 19th, 2009 11:05 amnice pics XD
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March 25th, 2009 7:34 amHi hi hi hi
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June 10th, 2009 3:49 pmOH MY GOSH those are the most MAGNIFICENT photos i have ever seen
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August 14th, 2009 6:38 ammaster piece
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December 16th, 2009 8:10 amI can,t explain how nice these photos are!they just took me to my past memories
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December 17th, 2009 4:59 amWow…these are very butiful…..really nice and tanke you very much
- 89
December 31st, 2009 4:21 amthe photos are amazing
- 90
January 31st, 2010 10:01 amDefinitly some nice works of art here.
Very beautiful pictures. 5 out of 5 for sure
Thank-you
- 00
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number 19 (Av Clara Lidström) and 52 (Unknown) were taken on the same street, from the same point of view, with the same snowflakes falling… I’d bet 52 is original and 19 photoshopped :)