Monymusk Hillrun 8/02/09
A visit to Mary's mum's in Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, coincided with a heavy fall of snow and a day of glorious bright weather. We began our usual route (similar to the Cairn William Hill Race) over a couple of local hills, Pitfichie and Cairn William but the snow was so deep we didn't make it up the latter higher top. Mountain bikers have extended the paths over the hills and there are good trails to follow through the woods. Normally we would run about 10 to 12 miles over a couple of hours, but on this occasion we took over 2 hours to cover just under 8 miles. However the weather was nearly perfect and although the going was tough trying to wade through the deep snow, it was a memorable day out.
In the video I experimented with focus and contrast - using deliberately blurred images (median controls in photoshop) to try to create photos more like paintings. And boosting the contrast to exaggerate the feeling of such an alien environment combined with the breathlessness of hiking through deep snow.
While it was a delight to have a few good snowy days running this winter I am glad we don't have the weeks of prolonged snow our friends in Portland, Maine have.
First track is a Four Tet remix of Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace, last track is Las Temporadas by Big Sky.
If you have trouble streaming/viewing this film please email and let me know.
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