NOIR FLOHAY 2, BELGIUM 2021

On a blustery spring morning I headed for Noir Flohay in the High fens, located in the south-East of Belgium, where a pack of contorted dead trees stand tall against bleak surroundings. From the carpark there is a path that leads you into this wide nature area which straddles the German border. A wooden boardwalk takes you across the untouched barren land and after about 2 km a muddy track must be taken to get to the trees. After some hail and wind I arrived at the spot just as the sun started to peak through the clouds. It was difficult to pre-plan my shoot due to the conditions constantly changing, but it became very clear the moment I was there. My first composition contains a tree in the middle of my frame with stormy clouds behind while the sun lit up the tree beautifully from behind me. After bracketing the first shot, I felt these clouds coming closer and I decided to pack up my gear, which turned out to be a good idea as I suddenly stood in the middle of a storm. Heavy wind and hail started hitting the ground really hard. For a moment I was wondering what I was actually doing here and suddenly it made sense why I was the only person out there. The hail gave way to nice thick snow flakes which covered the area and the trees with a white layer. I felt fortunate and I took two more compositions that opened up nicely. These shots, which one of them presented her, made me smile on the way back while ironically I struggled hard to find the path again that became invisible.