An elfscape is a natural scene on a small scale. They contain a number of miniature plants and usually a piece of wood or a tree trunk. While having an actual elf in the scene is desirable, it isn’t mandatory. However, the scene must appear to be compatible with the appearance of some such wee being. There are more elfscapes in the world than one might think. Look for them in forests and above the normal high tide mark on beaches.

One of the earliest in my photo collection dates back to the mid-1970s, when I was tromping around southern Vermont with a 4 × 5 view camera. I had the flim scanned on to a disc in the early 90s. The colors had faded by that time, and my attempt to restore them in Photoshop™ is not completely successful.

Vermont autumn forest, c. 1975

I have a color print of the image that has not faded. Back in those days, it was possible to get a labor-intensive dye transfer print at a semi-reasonable price. Dye transfer prints are quite stable, and it has long outlasted the Ektachrome transparency. Now archival prints are made reasonably with pigment inks on an inkjet printer.

Here are more recent examples taken with digital cameras in the past year:

Damnation Trail (actually rather pleasant) sorrel and fallen wild azalea blossoms, Humboldt County, California

Drake’s Beach driftwood, Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Mossy stump. No, I didn’t put the leaf on the stump. I’d never do a thing like that. Patrick’s Point State Park, California

Wild beach strawberry, from which all strawberries were derived, and driftwood, Humboldt Lagoon State Park, California

The pattern is to have several elements in the scene, all consistent with the small scale. There is no trick to photographing elfscapes; they are point-and-shoot. You just have to look for them.