Morning Peace

I’m just going to open up with an image I took this week and talk a little about it. There will be a video and many other photographs from this incredible 4am shoot.

91.4mb - 18 photograph HDR Stack - Where it all began - Johnny’s Wood Haydock

This place is filled with memories. Some deeply sad, some incredibly spiritual, plenty of teenage laughs, and now a muse for my photography. I can't ever recall visiting here without feeling connected, moved, and coming away with a clear mind and a happy heart.

This morning was selfishly mine, long before the dog walkers were out. Just birdsong, and I even heard a squirrel sneeze, which made me laugh far too much. But let's jump back to the night before.

I'd been editing, as usual, and needed some air. It's been incredibly hot, so I popped to the front door and was confronted with a James Herbert style fog, drifting slowly up the street. Oh, I was excited, and for a second I actually wondered: could I do a shoot in the dark? Don't be daft, Mali. Let's see what the morning brings. Alarm set for 3:30am, bed by around midnight. Slightly excited, and rightly so. I had local knowledge on my side, I knew exactly where I was going, and it felt like being six years old at Christmas, unwrapping my first BMX, a Falcon Pro Zeta (look it up). That feeling that just takes over.

Driving down the East Lancashire Road, the fog was thinning, and a flicker of rush and anxiety started to creep in. No, I told myself, this is what it is, enjoy the morning, what will be will be, and a good few more clichés besides. Camera: Z8. One lens: Nikkor 24-200mm. A ¼ strength NiSi Black Mist filter, ready to go.

From the moment I set foot on the vastly overgrown pathway, I knew it was going to be magic: birdsong, cool air, gentle and slow, and in the distance, fog drifting through the deep undergrowth. The plan I'd formed in my head slipped into slow motion. It's around half a mile to the beech trees you see above, but along the way you pass birch, oak, rowan, ash and hawthorn. Oh, and hold on, some mighty sycamores too, a tree that gets a bad rap as the intruder, the non-native. Well, I'm sorry, but the sycamore is a glorious tree and deserves the same time and respect as any other, and Johnny's Wood has some beautiful specimens. No prejudice here.

I won't dwell on the short walk that somehow took nearly an hour, let's get to the beech trees. The image above came from a turning-around moment: delicate light, the last of the fog, soft and gentle. I have plenty of other misty woodland shots I love just as much, but this one holds a story. There's a plaque on one of these trees, dedicated to a dear friend who passed away. And there are older memories too, of an abusive dad who first introduced me to nature, and to this very part of the woods. The irony, the plot twists life throws at you, they don't surprise me anymore. I don't have time to dwell on it. I use my time to be a better man, a better dad, to fight the negative and let the trees wash it all away. That's why these trees, this one location, means so much to me. It became mine. It became my solace, my place to make sense of this crazy world, not by thinking things through internally, but by getting to know these trees externally, letting them tell me their stories, seeing the scars of old graffiti carved into their bark, seeing the twists and turns laid bare. And yet they still grow. They still stand proud, and cope with whatever life throws at them.

It doesn't take long before my mind fills with camera chatter, slow and quiet, making decisions based on aesthetics, on the relationship between each tree, the pathway, and the full green understory that makes up this thriving little ecosystem. All the past gets left deep in the dirt, and I am present, heart skipping with joy and creativity. What was once a dark world becomes light. Add fog and mist to that recipe, and well, I'm gone.

I hope you enjoy these ramblings and thoughts, posted each week. This isn't easy for me to do, writing doesn't come naturally, and I often feel I've missed something, or spoken too openly. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please do take a moment to look through my photography and website. Thank you for your time, and I'll sithee!