Durness is not renowned for it's trees. Mountains, beaches, lochs yes. Trees? no. Well to be fair we do have some trees if you're willing to seek them out and one area of woodland is so special to me that it remains my secret! So, occasionally I take a photographic road trip to visit forests and areas of woodland with the hope of finding a great composition but if I'm honest, mainly to get my tree fix. Being amongst trees has always had an attraction to me. The sound of branches and leaves moving gently in a breeze, perhaps the sound of a small burn meandering it's way, all accompanied by a chorus of birdsong, it all makes for the most calming, relaxing feeling of renewal.
I quickly set up the camera on the tripod, quickly checked settings and fired the shutter. The resulting image, 'Gnarly Tree' was my one and only exposure - immediately after reviewing it on the camera's screen the sun disappeared and was absent for the remainder of the day. In actual fact, I did experiment with other compositions regardless but the position of the tree, flowing burn, and the steep bank on which I was positioned made it a difficult scene. I'm actually quite pleased with the result. I love the contrast between the branches illuminated by the sunlight and the deep shadows of the foreground and background. I even like the quirky tall grasses pointing towards the tree (something which many photographers would have 'edited out')
Shooting in woodland can be tricky, with so many visual distractions, compositions can be almost chaotic at times but at risk of using a much overused phrase this one really does 'take me back to the moment'. I hope you like it as much.
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AuthorKevin Arrowsmith LRPS Archives
December 2020
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