the "ahhhh" moment

'Twas the night before Christmas, and the skies were grey.  It was tolerably cold, fresh really, and rain was imminent. That's a tautology of sorts - it's England, rain is always imminent. Looking out the window, there wasn't a soul in sight. 'Perfect' for a bit of photography.

I mentioned in the post before about my two somewhat informal projects. The second project is 'Trees'. I'm obsessed with them. Their beauty, ever presence and ability to give us a window into the past.  I am photographing a bunch of trees through the seasons of the year and winter time is my very favourite time because of the leaflessness of them. I love particularly how they silhouette against the sky - grey, blue or golden.

There wasn't a single person in the park that day. There was an eery mood, made more intense as i started to rain.  I didn't care much about my camera as it was a pretty old beaten up Practika BX20 flim SLR loaded with Lomography Lady Grey. It felt like being on another planet, alone with my thoughts. I could hear my own footsteps and every rain drop. It really was quite an indescribable feeling. I was 'in the zone'. 

And then I saw THE Tree! I stood in front of it for what must have been about 10 minutes, completely hypnotised. I studied every branch, every fractal beauty from the trunk to the tiniest tip my eyes could resolve. And just then, the sun broke through the clouds right between the bifurcation of the trunk into two main branches, causing the tree to silhouette. I estimated my exposure without thinking much, raised my camera to my eye, framed, breathed in deep, snap! and exhaled. The sun then vanished behind the clouds straight away as if it came out just for that photo.

That feeling of calm lasted for the rest of Christmas Eve. Those that have experienced it know what I'm talking about.


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