Montpelier in the Snow

On January 26, 2026, the city of Montpelier got close to 16 inches of snow. I woke up this Monday morning to at least 6 inches of snow already on the ground. The sidewalks were covered in snow, and only the roads had been cleared, or as clear as they could be with the steady, constant snowfall. It was truly a winter wonderland, and the world seemed to be moving more slowly to enjoy it or maybe despite it. 

With this much snow in the valley, even more had fallen in the mountains, so naturally, all schools were closed. But alas, I am not in school anymore and do not work at a school, so work was still on the table for me. Since I live within walking distance of my work, I could still go into the office. My walk to work involved walking on the road because the sidewalks had not been plowed. Once at work, I was one of the few people in the office, so it was a quiet, slow day where I spent more time than I care to admit watching the snow fall outside my office. It was so beautiful and a bit magical to watch (yes, a very dramatic statement, ha!). Around lunchtime, I decided that working all the way until 5 p.m. was not in the cards for me that day, so I left around 2 p.m. to go enjoy the snow-covered city. 

I have not shot much in the cities. At this point, I have really only done nature-based photography. But being in the middle of a dark, cold winter, I had been doing more scrolling on my phone than I care to admit, and much of the scrolling was photography-based media. I saw many videos on Instagram of people shooting lovely cityscapes from Tokyo to San Francisco to Lisbon, and many more. All of them were quite inspiring, showing works of art created from buildings that many people pass by every day without a second look. Many of these accounts were using Fujifilm cameras and demonstrating the different film simulations that could be used. A film simulation is preset, along with customizable settings built into the camera’s software, that make the photos look as though they were taken with a film-based camera. This software is something Fujifilm is known for. I am a bit embarrassed to say that when I decided to purchase my Fujifilm camera, these simulations were not even on my mind, but now, after seeing what can be done with them, I am excited for all the new possibilities my camera offers. 

Inspired by the videos I had seen during my doomscrolling, I decided to attempt to capture the beauty of Vermont's capital with a film simulation. I am again embarrassed to admit that, as I write this post, I cannot say what settings I used while out shooting that day, but I truly love how the image came out. 

I spent my afternoon walking around the city, taking pictures of the beautiful buildings that make up Montpelier, all covered in snow. Montpelier is a very small capital city, and you can walk through the whole Capital district and downtown in only a couple of blocks. So, though I did not put on a significant amount of mileage during this photography adventure, I did find it quite tiring, as trudging through snow is not an easy task. 

Over the course of a couple of hours, I walked around Hubbard Park and took a few photos of the snow-covered trees as I made my way to one of the best lookouts of Montpelier. From this lookout, you can see most of downtown, which has the character of a small town in a Hallmark movie. The view did not disappoint (featured in the picture below).

From this viewpoint, I walked to the capital. The brilliant golden-domed Capital looked very regal against a backdrop of the grey sky and white-and-green forest. The Vermont State House is always beautiful, and the grounds around it are equally stunning. In the spring, the flower beds are filled with tulips; in the summer, various flowers bloom; and in the fall, the woods behind become a palette of reds, yellows, and oranges. Here, I was able to get some amazing shots of light poles, statues, and the building’s architecture.

After finishing there, I moved my way downtown, stopping to take photos of the History Museum, the courthouse, and the movie theatre. Walking around taking pictures in the snow was so peaceful, but since it was the middle of January, the sun started to set early, and my photography time had come to an end. 

Upon arriving home, I was excited to see how the photos turned out. The best part about working with film simulation settings is that you really don’t need to edit the photos afterward. The edits are applied in real-time with those settings. 

This was truly a great way to spend a snowy afternoon. I hope to continue practicing cityscape photography and also working with film simulations in the future.

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