The Petrified Oaks of Mundon

For our first jolly of 2016, the Wivenhoe Photography Group jumped in a jalopy and pootled over to Mundon, near Maldon on the Essex coast. I've visited Maldon a number of times over the years, but was unaware of the treasures awaiting down the road at Mundon.


First stop was the beautifully humble Mundon St Mary church, which has been restored by a group called Friends of Friendless Churches.

Mundon St Mary

On farmland beyond the church we came upon a field of petrified oak trees - the main reason for our trip.

On farmland behind the church

Lunchtime on a blustery, overcast day isn't ideal for landscape photography, so rather than getting in close I went for a bit of wide-angled drama.

Petrified oaks of Mundon

I underexposed most of my shots to ensure there was some detail in the sky that I knew could be brought out during editing.

Field of oaks

In fact I decided at an ealy stage that I wanted to derive some drama from the interaction of bare oak branch and sky, so shot from low angles, filling the frame with plenty of sky for the most part.

Two old oaks

This is a place deserving of more than one visit; I'd love to see it covered in deep snow, or during a misty sunrise.

A jagged stump

If nothing else, the pretrified oaks of Mundon are a reminder of the hidden treasures that can lie just beyond our doorstep.

Oaks in silhouette

The Trip

A trip to Fingringhoe where everything appeared to be against us - ok, not literally everything, but there was no skipper for the ferry, so we had to drive there, then after a glorious summer's day, the light turned flat. I therefore decided to play with some different blur techniques - panning, long exposure of moving subjects, zooming, and double exposure (1 sharp, 1 blurred - combined later in photoshop to add some vibrancy to an otherwise flat image).

The Beach

A cold day in April, and little Kat is lost in the wilderness....

Under The Sand

An eclectic Jaywick taster.

Three Colours - White

The best thing about heavy snow is that the landscape become other than it is for a brief moment in time, including transitions into black and white.

On The Waterfront

Here are some views of Wivenhoe that you won't see very often...
Playing with in-camera (and post-production) impressionist techniques once again, this time with a more avowedly fantastical goal.
This set could be subtitled 'pan and scan' as lateral movements and zooming were used rather than the vertical movements of the graveyard set.
Post involved some custom curves and some contrast shifts using 'apply image'. There was also some selective colouring and tinting using various layers.