Taken January 19, 2002. The small grove of willow trees pictured above sits a couple hundred feet southeast of my house. As the sun began to rise backlighting the trees, I could see the hoar frost that had formed overnight begin to dislodge from the overhanging branches. Even at a distance I could see ice crystals floating gently to the ground like soft falling snow. Taking a final gulp of coffee, I threw on my boots (but for some reason not my winter coat) and headed out into the minus twenty degree celcius morning. I hardly noticed the cold, I was so excited by the view before me. For fifteen minutes I moved around the scene looking for the best vantage points. The view above seemed the best I could manage for light but I was concerned about all the weeds in the foreground. I wanted to exclude them but struggled with losing the best angle for catching the falling frost as I raised the camera up to shoot over them. Then it struck me that I could use the weeds to my advantage layering the composition and building the three dimensionality of the scene. The light and tones were pure magic. Yellows and blues like I had never seen before or since. The photo has been well recieved and won 'Best in Show' at a juried art show against a strong field of oils, acrylics, watercolours, pottery, sculpture and other photographs. It's hard to pick a best photograph ever, but this is certainly one of my favourites.
It is definitely an astounding photo for the magic that floats in the air. The hues are gorgeous, especially the gold in the back. Perhaps there is a bit too much of sharpening in this print. I'm not sure how to react to the out of focus foreground elements. I would accept them as they give a misty look to the ensemble, but I see them too as protruding somehow.
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