I was just wandering through Mount Field and seeing what turned up. That’s usually when things get interesting.

I came across this fallen tree and stopped pretty quickly. It had a strange presence to it. The more I looked at it, the more it started to feel like a face… or some kind of forest creature half buried in the ground. One of those subjects that doesn’t make much sense at first, but you can’t quite walk past either.

The fog did most of the heavy lifting. It softened everything in the background and stripped the scene back to just shapes and layers. Without it, I think this would have been a lot busier and probably not worth the effort.

Instead, it gave the whole scene a quieter, slightly eerie feel. Suited the subject.

I kept things fairly straightforward when shooting. Nothing clever, just working the composition a bit to make the shape read clearly and trying not to trip over roots while staring at a tree that may or may not have been staring back.

Processing was mostly about holding that mood. Keeping the tones subdued and letting the greens sit where they needed to without getting out of hand. It’s easy to overcook scenes like this, especially when there’s a lot of texture to work with.

In the end, it’s one of those images that probably says more about what you see in it than what’s actually there.