Splash of Yellow | Weekly Photo #125
When I’m out in the woodland with my camera, I try to keep an open mind as to what I might photograph that day. I might have a particular subject or kind of image I’m looking to photograph but to avoid disappointment and to keep my expectations low, I tend to let the environment and conditions lead me rather than the other way round and if something else catches my eye, be it a strong composition, an unusual subject or interesting light, I will head over and to investigate and take it from there.
That’s what happened on this day when I photographed this yellowing birch tree in my local forest.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/8th Second | f/8 | ISO250
In November last year, I took an early morning walk in the forest to discover what was left of the autumnal colours. Winter was fast approaching and although I didn’t have a particular subject in mind, I wanted one last woodland shoot before the beautiful autumnal tones disappeared again for another year. The sky was thick with clouds and as the light levels increased, it became apparent that I wouldn’t be getting any good light on this outing and instead, it would be flat and lacklustre. Undeterred and with an open mind, off I went with my camera in hand to see what I could find.
I made my way up the side of a hill to this spot where I found a carpet of dead ferns and an abundance of Scots pine trees and although I was enjoying the subtle, muted colours of this late autumn landscape, I was struggling to find a photo. The brown colours across the forest floor and dull greens in the trees resulted in a lack of vibrancy and I was not feeling particularly inspired. Not willing to give up just yet, I pushed on and continued to explore the area.
As I walked, a splash of yellow over in the distance caught my eye and with the rest of the landscape deprived of any colour, this inordinately vibrant young birch stood there conspicuously amongst the giant pines so I walked over to investigate.
Establishing that this was probably going to be my only photo opportunity of the morning, I took my time, walking around the tree, looking for a way to frame it. This photo is all about the colour contrast and how the birch stands out so, not looking to overcomplicate things or try to wrestle something different from the scene, I decided to keep things simple. I chose this central composition you see here with the vibrant, yellow birch framed by the earthy tones on the floor and in the Scots pines on either side.
Being on the side of a shallow valley, I decided to take advantage of the hillside and climbed up, further away from the tree so I could use the opposing hill as the backdrop. Doing so meant that I could remove any sky from the frame, ensuring there were no bright distracting areas that would compete with the tree for attention. Being further back, I mounted my 55-200mm telephoto lens for a bit of extra reach, dialled in my settings and took the photo.
With the benefit of being able to view this photo on a large screen, I get to see all of that wonderful detail in the leaves and across the forest floor and that’s part of the appeal for me as this will look great printed. That being said, I know this photo doesn’t have a huge wow factor and certainly won’t do well on the socials when I share it but that’s ok and it won’t stop me from putting it out there. For me, this photo has a traditional, almost painterly look to it which certainly appeals to my taste but above all else, I like it and that’s why I am sharing it.
Until next week.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.