Three Trees

I had planned to shoot an outcrop of trees on the Whitby Moor. The snow was still fresh and deep. This part of the moor is notorious for heavy snow. The A171 Whitby to Scarborough road is a dangerous road in the winter and the easiest access to my trees is from a small access track to the moor from the main road. I did not fancy parking up the Defender in these icy conditions, so I chose to lay up on the Harwood Dale road and walk  the extra distance. This route took me through thick forest with no paths, so I decided to follow deer tracks as I figured they knew the terrain best.

I scrambled over a barbed wire  fence and I was now on the open moor knee deep in fresh powder snow. I approached my chosen trees very carefully from a distance, as I did not want to leave my foot prints in the foreground of my photograph to be.

I know these trees well and have photographed them several times. Today, was very special because the snowy conditions isolated  the structure of the weathered pine perfectly. I made one 8 x 10 negative using HP5 film with my Deardorff.

Two days later, I listened to the national news and learned that due to an accident the road had been closed. The artic weather conditions forced travellers to abandon their vehicles and take overnight shelter in a nearby Inn. The location of the accident was at the junction of the Whitby A171 and the Harwood Dale junction!