When you think of February in the woods, you probably imagine blankets of snow, or wind-driven waves and valleys around the base of trees. Picturesque and classical, for sure, but perhaps more Narnia than true winter, at least in the Mid-Atlantic region.
February tends to be cold here, often home to our annual winter deep-freeze. But that cold tends to last only a few days, and doesn’t necessarily mean snow. This collection of photos is from 2024, but they would look much the same if I had taken them this year; what snow has fallen has been scant, and is usually gone within a couple of days.
So this is the other look of the woods in winter, the trees dormant but anticipating the coming spring, the forest floor strewn with downed leaves, all in a palette of browns. Feeling a bit desperate for some creativity, I was trying to capture the essence of this snowless winter scene and accentuate the cold, the dormancy, the apparent lifelessness of the forest.
To that end, I applied more post-processing, utilizing the split-toning feature to accentuate cold tones in the shadows, and warm tones in the highlights, to deepen the sense of cold stillness in the failing evening light. I think the final shot captured that intent, the trail disappearing amid the leaf litter with the trees taking on an almost spooky aspect.