Early during the winter I made a trip to photograph a beautiful sunset against some amazing natural artwork created by trees which have been blown over exposing their root system which has since been aged by the elements creating some really cool artwork. Earlier in the fall I was fortunate to have a friend and fellow photographer show me this area. Originally we were looking for wildlife to photograph but as a bonus feature of the area we took a few minutes to study these knarly roots and attempt to figure out an interesting way to photograph them. Unable to find an angle at the time we moved on in our quest to take pictures of wildlife (Sandhill Cranes which were posted about here…). During the next couple of weeks I continued to ponder ways of capturing these unique root structures just begging to be photographed. My first thought was to capture them against a star filled sky but this particular area closes at dark making that unable to happen.
After volleying ideas back and forth with my friend we came up with an idea to capture these wooden structures against the setting sun. Now we just had to find a good day to do that where the sun and sky would cooperate. Also I wanted a way to get out to these root structures which are usually surrounded by water so waiting until enough ice formed was another requirement. Fortunately cold weather arrived earlier than usual freezing this water deep enough for us to walk around on it so now all we needed was a sunny afternoon with a few clouds to create a beautiful sunset. One such day finally appeared in the forecast after constant cloudy weather which also lined up on a Friday so no work the next day giving us the opportunity to be a little relaxed on time without needing to be home in time to get ready for an early day. Perfect!
It was a great scene with a beautiful sky as the sun neared the horizon, an ice covered shallow lake with little snow allowing for the sunlight to reflect nicely, and interesting weathered trees now accessible on foot. There’s not much time to figure out the best composition as the sun races to the ground so we kept looking at different angles to try and snapping away. I don’t think there’s one fantastic photograph here but a few nice ones. I’m treating this outing as more of a scouting trip giving me ideas for another opportunity. It was still a fun evening with a beautiful sunset which always makes for a worthwhile expedition. Hopefully there’ll be some great pictures from this location in the future.
