CROUCHING TROLL- Timble, Yorkshire

I’ve been to this location many times with the intention of trying to record this very narrow single span foot bridges character as an iconic local landmark. Frustratingly each time I visit, I always seem work the same kind of angles up and down the south bank of this little stream. Now the problem I face with the location is one of an overgrown nature, as there isn’t sufficient gaps in the vegetation to really get some interesting foreground interest whilst maintaining a representational composition. That is without making the shot look a bit crap...

Anyway this time as I retraced my well worn footprints up and down the bank, (cursing bushes for being in the wrong place and wishing that the ford was angled differently, I might add). But this time an old black and white image I had seen in a book many years ago began to play on my mind. It was made from upstream vantage point, many years ago when the bridge must have just been built, as there was hardly any vegetation, (oh bliss). I’d previously overlooked the location for inaccessibility reasons, but this time I figured nothing ventured....Anyway this time I decided to braved the slippery invisible black hole of vegetation and plunge myself into the bottomless void of nettles just hoping that I could find some little space to make something work.

Eventually I made it to this position, like a troll crouching waiting for baby kids I sheltered the lenses from glare and made this 30 second exposure. Man, keeping your hand still whilst crouching like contortionist under a dripping bridge isn’t easy I can tell you!