End frame: Friston Forest by Edd Allen

James Elkington

I am a full time landscape and travel photographer, based in Yorkshire. My work takes me into Cumbria, the Dales, the North Yorkshire Moors and the Scottish Highlands. I am drawn to the myths and old legends of these ancient places and try hard to bring them to life through the photographic medium.

jameselkingtonphotography.com

When I was a small boy living in Canada in the 1950s, we would often visit my Aunt and two cousins who lived in a remote log cabin in the Laurentian Mountains. I remember they used to pick us up in some sort of Jeep-like contraption, and we would drive for miles up old rutted logging roads until we reached the cabin. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods.

One Autumn afternoon, my two cousins took me to see a raft that they had made at the side of a lake. As they were older than me, they wouldn't let me sail on it, so I stayed at the side of the lake all alone whilst they paddled off across the water.

Getting bored, I decided to head back to the cabin without telling them and promptly got lost. I had somehow missed the path, and it was getting foggy and dark. I shouted for help, but no one came. I was getting very scared. I remember reaching a clearing, and dripping branches were reaching down – like claws wanting to grab me.