Miranda X

The primary reason to travel up to Woodstock was to take advantage of the local knowledge, and the third location proved that point ten-fold.

Digital infrared original

Accessible only via a fifteen-minute drive down an abandoned rail-bed, the marshland at Linsday initially seemed somewhat of a let-down - the real space we'd been intending to work at was another couple of kilometers down the rail-line, but a deep trench across the railbed (to discourage cars driving along the line) put an end to out plans. Not wanting to just admit defeat however, before backing the car out along the narrow track, Miranda and I got out of the car and took a look at the possibilities the space offered (which, to be honest, wasn't much, given that between the water on one side, and thick scrubby woods on the other was a 3-metre wide rail-bed).

Digital infrared original

Initially, I wasn't sure that there was anything to work with, until just by chance our guide walked into the high grass that grew between the marsh and the railway - while the overall surroundings were none-too inspiring, the glimpse of her against the wall of grass was enough to bring everything to a stop, and provoke me to ask her and Miranda to change places. A couple of minutes later, we'd started working, first with Miranda in among the grass, and then, standing in font of it. Using a portrait lens (a 50mm on the DSLR) on the infrared camera have me exactly what I was looking for, with the unexpected side effect of having the tipos of the grass go dark, an almost magical look for such a mundane space.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

The final set of images in the space were also the most inspiration, leading to the first image I knew would be in theNew Brunswick Portfolio. Just beside where the car was parked lay a small bed off grass, splaying out in a radial pattern - I asked Miranda if she could pose in the centre of this, and within five minutes one of the most beautiful images of the entire week had been created, in the middle of a space that was simply "on the way" to somewhere else.