The first snow of winter 2025 came later than usual. I took the Tamron 50-400 to the Summer Palace the morning after — the kind of light you get maybe twice a year. Flat, diffused, every branch outlined in white against grey sky.
The telephoto compression at 209mm did something I didn’t plan for: it flattened the traditional architecture into layers, almost like a paper cut. No depth, just planes of white and dark tile.
I’ve been thinking about how constraints produce accidents. The long lens was there because I was too lazy to swap — and it gave me the shot.