2025’s last hurrah

Not wanting to wish my life away but I was really glad to see the back of 2025! However, on New Years Eve and with thoughts in my mind of my Father (it would have been his 75th birthday), I decided to head out to one of my favourite spots, Fonthill lake for a spot of hoarfrost hunting. The forecasts were looking very good the night before, with a high risk of a hoarfrost and fog predicted for the morning. As we all know these kinds of forecasts can vanish faster than a Venezuelan oil tanker though so there is always a tinge of doubt to take the edge off the excitement for the following days trip!

I awoke at the ungodly hour of 3.30am, the cat staring at me bleary eyed from the end of the bed wondering what on earth his slave was doing arising this early. A peek out of the living room window once I had crept downstairs confirmed that the forecasts had been accurate and there was indeed thick fog and a frost on the ground. Bingo!

As I hadnt planned on meeting up with Dave until 7am I thought I would head out and try out my “new” camera, A Fuji X100s I had recieved for Christmas. I used a custom “Cinestill 800t” setting and shot jpg only.

I liked this one as it reminded me a little of a Todd Hido image.

After this little wander I packed the proper gear and pootled down to Dave’s. After catching up on each others Christmas shenanigans we proceeded to hightail it over to Fonthill. On the way the fog was patchy and we noticed there wasn’t a lot of frost about but once we got up higher or nerves became less frayed as the forst came in thich along with a healthy dose of fog.

The lake itself was looking particualarly nice when we arrived with a proper winters feel about things. The fog did seem to be rolling in and out but as is often the case here, once the sun started to rise things got really interesting, with the fog thickening considerably!

A very icy fishing platform!

I decided to check out one of my favourite spots first, an old fishing platform near the car park. Luckily there was no frozen angler here this morning so that allowed me to precariously walk out onto the platform to get this shot in all its winter glory. I nearly ended up in the water as I startled a Heron from its rest just to the left of these reeds. I am not sure who scared who the most!

After ambling back to Dave’s last known location I realised the hoarfrost wasn’t quite as thick as it first appeared and where it was actually thick on the trees and undergrowth these were really messy scenes that just didn’t work as an image. Dave was having simialr issues so we dcided to head further up the lakes to another favoured spot. Conditions were definitely better this end and I was soon grabbing the first of many images of this gnarly lakeside oak.

Frosty!

As is often the case with sessions that develop as this one did, these early images often get lost as the light improves. However I decided to keep this one as I felt the passing line of Cygnets added a nice tough and some balance to the scene.

We then explored the top end of the lake, heading into the field next to the lake to get some different scenes we wouldn’t normally be able to get due to the livestock that normally was housed there but had been moved elsewhere, conveniantly for us!

The fingers were starting to go at this point!

I often get ads on my social feeds for Valleret gloves and I almost but never quite buy a pair for days such as these. However as I am actually rarely treated to conditions like this it seems like a waste to spend nearly a hundred pounds on a pair of glove I would probably wear three times a year! But I have never been one to be sensible with my money so watch this space!

We worked our way back along the edge of the lake to the other end of the field. I did manage to get this nice image below but sacrificed a leg to the god of the lak in order to get it! Freezing water in my boot and some rather damp toes was, I think, worth it!

What I thought was a couple of inches of water turned out to be a couple of feet! Worth it?

By the time we got back to our starting point the sun was up and starting to put on a pretty special light show for us. It takes a while for the light to hit the gnarly oak as behind it is a large clump of trees on a hillock that tends to block the light out for the first hour or so of sunrise. I stood patiently waiting, slowly counting down the number of toes I could now feel until, finally the conditions aligned and I got this shot.

Those backlit frozen webs make this shot for me!

We hung around for a bit longer and then decided to head over to a wood in Dorset that we thoug ht might still have fog and frost as it was quite high up. On the way we got distracted by some lightrays but with no way into the woods to get some really nice shots we resorted to photographing from the edge.

A very meh scene, even withg those rays.

Sadly, the wood in Dorset was a bust as we arrived too late to make the most of the conditions. I wasn’t that worried though as I felt Fonthill had delivered in spades and anything else would have been a bonus for us. We had also stopped at a nice avenue of trees on the way over and I managed to get this shot which I think came out okay too.

A horse and rider would have been great here!

All in all it was a fun end to a bad year for me and I really appreciated the company of a good mate on a tough day for me emotionally. We are now into 2026 and things are now in motion ready for my lifestyle change in April. I have agreed to buy a neighbours camper van, my notice has been handed in at work and I am in the process of optimising my website, ready for the transition to full time photographer.

Thats it for this week. Happy New Year to you!

Toodles