This image was several years in the making or should I say several years in the waiting. I had come across this wonderful series of tree lines a few years back and thought it would make a wonderful image with the fields covered in snow and the trees covered in hoar frost. Photographing it with snow-covered fields would have been easy in the years since but being there during a heavy hoar frost event was another matter.

The term “hoar” comes from Old English meaning “to show signs of old age” and within the context of frost, refers to trees looking like they are covered in white hair. When cold winter conditions are just right, hoar frost creates layers of feather-like white crystals on tree branches. At times, its formation can be very localized, appearing in one area but not in other areas just kilometers apart. And that became the challenge. I needed a major hoar frost event so that when I was seeing it at my home, I knew there would be a good chance of it also occurring 80 kilometers away where these trees stand.

That event finally happened in the last days of 2020 and I was thrilled to see these trees completely covered in hoar frost after driving to the location. It was very cold and the time it took to capture this VAST image took its toll on my fingers and toes, but I finally got the image that had been in my mind’s eye for all those years.