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Adam Pierzchala

Now retired, I have more time to enjoy being out with my camera looking for scenes and subjects that pique my interest, especially coastal, woodland and close-ups. Although I still have several rolls of 35mm and MF film in my freezer, I shoot almost exclusively digital now

flickr.com

One weekend in late January I just didn’t believe the evening weather forecast for a chance of snow, after all, we hardly ever get any in the London area. However, a light frost was expected so early in the morning I set off to the local woods. It was still rather murky when I arrived and sadly not quite cold enough for the frosted leaves I was hoping to photograph.

I wandered around looking for intimate cameo landscapes, just enjoying being out in nature, when to my surprise a few snowflakes started to appear. Then seemingly out of nowhere, I found myself in something approaching a proper blizzard! The wind had picked up, blowing snow across the scene and in just a few minutes it had settled on the ground and was plastering the trees from one side. Changing my mindset and my lens, I looked for characterful trees hoping to catch their “gesture”; I also looked for more formal compositions of the majestic solid trunks against the falling snow. And yes, I even succumbed to two frames using ICM to get a more impressionistic feel.
With the snow reflecting the diffuse light, the conditions brightened but despite this, there was a certain creepiness in the deathly quiet, with hardly another soul to be seen or heard. I felt very alone. In processing the images I decided to retain most of the cold blue cast; the wood had become otherworldly, almost mystical and a rather dark treatment seemed appropriate.