I wanted to refocus my efforts on posting smaller bodies or collections of work after having neglected my journal here for a prolonged period of time. Despite the significant gap since my last entry, my feeling that the work I have been shooting since then has become more refined & matured. And with that anecdotal information, I’d like to reflect back on a period of shooting just over a year ago in the December of 2022 when we had an incredible spell of perfect icy conditions that granted us the rare occurrence of hoar frost.
As is often the case when cold dry weather approaches, my interest is piqued at the possibility of working with these calm conditions to capture some beautiful imagery and what better conditions could be available than those granting us a significant coating of hoar frost across the country.
Over the course of a week I made three trips to locations relatively close to me that I considered would highlight these arctic conditions well. These were Coole Park outside of Gort, Co. Galway, Cong in Co. Mayo and the ever serene Burren National Park Co. Clare. I have admired the landscape imagery of other photographers who were fortunate to not only experience hoar frost in their locations, but often paired with incredible landscapes.
With cold, calm conditions comes the additional potential of fog and on all three occasions, I was fortunate to encounter it in each of the locations whilst shooting. The first location was Cong, in Co. Mayo which features a beautiful small woodland next to the rushing Cong River. The icy conditions made for crisp images in the shade while the morning sun began to illuminate and create a layer of mist that would begin to rise from the water’s gradually warming surface.
As I have found on a few occasions when trying to capture fog within woodlands, that the deeper one finds themselves within them, the less likely the fog emerges, and so I tended to stray by their perimeter to increase my chances of encountering fog. Gradually emerging along the banks of the river I was greeted with a wide range of striking forms that had been enveloped by the stark winter trees. A subtle variety of cool tones and colours adorned the river bank and my chances to make the most of a variety of compositions was always my priority before or if they were to vanish before me!
My venture to Coole Park in the same conditions was equally met with awe as the significant hoar frost coverage truly transformed the place into a winter wonderland. The stillness and silence in the air was cathartic and being one of less than 5 people I met over the 4 hours I spent photographing meant the solitary nature of my experience was incredibly serene.
There were numerous interesting smaller scenes that I would encounter; trees frozen into the soil from lying bodies of water, or shards of ice that created intriguing forms as they froze around the base of tree stumps creating abstract patterns. These conditions are rare but the photographic opportunity to explore them creatively was a pleasure.
Perhaps my most fruitful of each of the trips was spent in the Burren National Park. For reasons I am still to understand, I have found the Burren has been one of the most consistent locations that if fog is predicted, it will occur, and on this particular morning, it was a creative blessing. With the sub-zero conditions the Burren was a playground of photographic opportunities. Fractal abstract patterns along the lakes edge, lone trees drifting in and out of the fog and hoar frost coated reeds all presented beautiful subjects to compose and work with as there was no frustration with constantly changing weather and lighting conditions.
As many landscape photographers will attest to, typically we may only experience maybe an hour or 2 at the most of optimum conditions that we capture our subject of choice in the best light, and even then, for optimum success of a worthy image, that means committing to one or two compositions. This particular morning grated me an amazing 6 hours of photography, something I could not believe but was appreciative of as the conditions remained perfect even till after I left but alas, hunger got the better of me!
Ultimately the incredible hoar frost conditions have since become one of my favourite to work within as more than anything, their stability with zero winds means time to approach our work can be more considered. I have become stressed when the sometimes panic-activated phase of trying to capture beautiful imagery that can overwhelm us when the lighting conditions are quickly fading and we are without a worthwhile subject, composed pleasingly means we might not walk away with something to be proud of. And although sometimes that is not the overall intention of going out with the camera, and the outdoors experience is superior to the captured moment, it’s reassuring to know that when the next coating of hoar frost occurs, I’ll be equally if not more so excited to venture out and capture the Irish landscape.